Vulnerable student populations

The large majority of people with mental health disorders do not engage in suicidal behavior, but those with mental health disorders account for more than 90% of deaths by suicide.

Mental health disorders that are risk factors for suicide

• Depression
• Bipolar (manic-depressive) disorder
• Alcohol or substance abuse
• Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders
• Borderline personality disorder
• Conduct disorders
• Anxiety

School staff can play a pivotal role in recognizing and referring students to treatment to reduce risk.

Students in the juvenile justice or child welfare systems have a high prevalence of many risk factors for suicide. 

• Young people involved in the juvenile justice system die by suicide at a rate about four times greater than the rate among youth in the general population.
• Comprehensive data on suicide among youth in foster care does not exist, but one researcher found that youth in foster care were more than twice as likely to have considered suicide and almost four times more likely to have attempted suicide than their peers not in foster care.

For young people experiencing homelessness, rates of suicide attempts are higher than those of the adolescent population in general.

These young people also have higher rates of mood disorders, conduct disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. One study found that more than half of runaway and homeless youth have had some kind of suicidal ideation.

The rate of suicide among American Indian/Alaska Native youth ages 15-19 has been found to be more than twice that of the general youth population.

Risk factors that can affect this group include substance use, discrimination, lack of access to mental health care, and historical trauma.

The CDC finds that LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning) youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide as their non-LGBTQ peers. The American Association of Suicidology reports that nearly half of young transgender people have seriously considered taking their lives, and one-quarter report having made a suicide attempt.

Suicidal behavior among LGBTQ youth can be related to experiences of discrimination, family rejection, harassment, bullying, violence, and victimization. For youth with baseline risk for suicide (especially those with a mental disorder), these experiences can place them at increased risk. 

Societal factors, in concert with individual factors, elevate the risk of suicidal behavior for these students.

Studies show that those who have experienced suicide loss, through the death of a friend or loved one, are at increased risk for suicide themselves.

Several physical conditions are associated with an elevated risk for suicidal behavior, including:

• Chronic pain
• Loss of mobility
• Disfigurement
• Cognitive styles that make problem-solving difficult
• Chronic limitations
• Asthma
• Multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injuries

A large study in California found that adolescents with parents or siblings serving in the military are at increased risk for suicidal ideation, feeling sad or hopeless, and depression.

The deployment of a family member was associated with a further increase in the likelihood of a student feeling sad or hopeless or experiencing depressive symptoms.

The relationship between bullying and suicide is highly complex, as is the relationship between suicide and other negative life events.

Research indicates that persistent bullying can lead to or worsen feelings of isolation, rejection, exclusion, despair, depression, and anxiety, which can contribute to suicidal behavior in those at risk.