
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 11, 1990                   TAG: 9005110504
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Deborah Evans
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SUICIDE PREVENTION PROMOTED

For every teen who commits suicide each year in the Roanoke Valley, at least another 100 young people make the attempt, members of an area suicide-prevention agency said Thursday.

The numbers are typical, especially in Virginia which exceeds the nation's suicide rate, said Amy Barnhart of Community Awareness of Teen/Youth Suicide.

Five teen-agers in the Roanoke Valley kill themselves in an avereage year, Barnhart said. Nationally, one young person commits suicide every hour and 47 minutes, according to agency statistics.

About 100 teachers, clergy, counselors, youth leaders and law-enforcement representatives attended the agency's suicide-prevention conference at Second Presbyterian Church.

Community Awareness of Teen/Youth Suicide was founded in 1988 to promote community awareness of youth suicide, engage in educational activities for suicide prevention, and to advocate for appropriate support systems for at-risk youth.

Barnhart, who also is a guidance coordinator for Roanoke County Schools, said funding is just one of the problems in the treatment of at-risk youngsters.

The services that offer sliding pay scales, Mental Health Services and Family Services of Roanoke Valley, are inundated with clients seeking treatment for a variety of problems, she said.

"When you see an area become more transient, when there is pressure for achievement, you see an increase," Barnhart said. "You certainly see that in Virginia, but society is becoming more mobile."

by CNB