November 2004
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Mental illness, youth suicide: A devastating correlation
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Psychiatrists at Baylor College of Medicine and Ben Taub General Hospital hope a recent federal initiative will alleviate two national concerns that are particularly rampant in the city of Houston - youth suicide and mental illness.
"More people die of suicide in Houston than of breast cancer and AIDS," said John Burruss, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry with the Menninger Department of Psychiatry at BCM and chief of psychiatry for BTGH. "The majority of people who kill themselves have mental illness."
The federal initiative is the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, a three-year grant that gives $82 million to states, Indian tribes, and universities for the development of youth suicide prevention and intervention programs. The act amends the Public Health Act and will provide:
- Funding for campus mental and behavioral health service centers
- Screening programs and treatment referrals for child mental illness
- Training for community child-care professionals
Although the government is showing support for suicide prevention, Burruss says additional assistance is needed to abate skyrocketing suicide rates. In fact, he correlates Houston's suicide rates to the city's deficient mental health coverage. Mental illness is often stigmatized as a "weak" condition, and therefore, the need for proper treatment is trivialized.
Burruss, who is also the medical director of BCM's Trauma and Grief Program, says mental illness should be treated as other serious health conditions. Just as diabetics will not survive without insulin injections, untreated mental illness results in death by suicide too often, he says.
"The fact that the federal government is focusing on the issue will hopefully raise local awareness for the need of improved mental health treatment," says Burruss. "Untreated mental illness is a lethal condition that can result in the loss of loved ones."
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