Nancy Merritt

About the author: Nancy Merritt is with the Do It Now Foundation, an organization formed in 1968 to spread accurate information about drugs, alcohol, sexuality, and other behavioral health topics.

Teen suicide attempts and completions have risen steadily since the 1960s. Surveys have found that more than 25 percent of high school students and 10 percent of college students—a rate four times that of 1950—have seriously considered suicide. Suicidal teens generally fall into one of three groups: well-adjusted, but living in stressful conditions; depressed or anxious; or impulsive, aggressive, or self-destructive. Therefore, any teen who mentions committing suicide should be taken seriously.

To be or not to be"

It's a question that's thundered throughout history and one that pulses inside each of us, at one time or another in our lives. Still, never has...