DeKALB – Jason Nicol sees a disturbing trend sweeping DeKalb County that is going largely unnoticed: suicide attempts.

Nicol, executive director of the Youth Service Bureau in DeKalb, said two of the top three concerns his staff has identified in the area’s youth and families are suicidal tendencies and self injury – an observation supported by county statistics.

In 2010, DeKalb police responded to 110 suicide attempts. In 2012, that number increased to 162. Countywide, successful suicide attempts doubled from five in 2010 to 10 in 2012. Nicol said a variety of factors from mental health issues to the increase in fractured families are causing the increase.