A new pilot study on suicide is being launched in Colorado to see if reducing a suicidal teen’s access to firearms and medications will play a key role in whether that person attempts and completes a suicide. A recent study of firearm suicides among youths ages 17 and under, 82% used a firearm belonging to a family member, usually a parent. Most efforts to prevent suicide focus on why people take their lives; but the suicide prevention field has become increasingly interested in the fact that how a person attempts suicide plays a key role in whether they live or die.
Maeve Conran speaks with Carol Runyan, Professor, Epidemiology/ Community & Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health about the study.
