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THE INCIDENCE OF SUICIDE PEAKS SHARPLY IN ADOLESCENCE. IT is extremely rare in children under 10. In the 10- to 20-year age group, however, suicidal ruminations, impulses, and action are a source of serious concern, and suicide assumes proportionately greater importance and ranks fourth as a cause of death (Jacobziner, 1965); (Haim, 1974). Significant rises have been noted in suicide trends in persons under 20 years of age (Diggory, 1976). As much as a 100 percent increase in rates for white males aged 15 to 24 was reported for the periods between 1949–51 and 1969–71 (Linden and Breed, 1976); (Schneer et al., 1975).
Clinicians, faced with the difficult task of correct assessment and management of suicidal risks in adolescence, often find themselves with little concrete evidence or sound ground on which to base their predictions. This may in part be due to the fact that most efforts to elucidate the underlying dynamics of the suicidal gesture are made with little or no differentiation