The number of teens that commit suicide is higher in rural areas of the U.S. compared to urban areas. It sounds surprising, but it's certainly true.

A study from 1996 and 2010 showed the suicide rates for teens and young adults between 10 and 24 years of age was twice as high in country areas compared to city areas and it's continuously increasing.

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"These kinds of surveillance studies can really help us identify areas to target our prevention efforts, and it's clear we need to target rural areas for primary prevention of suicide," said clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and lead author of the study Cynthia Fontanella.

In reality, the suicide rate for young men is four times higher than for young women.

When a rural child gets depressed, it's not that easy for that child to get the best care. This is a big problem for most rural children since it's difficult for them to receive psychotherapy in rural areas, said John Campo, chair of psychiatry and behavioral health at Wexner Medical Center.

About 20 young males per 100,000 in rural areas commit suicide each year compared to just 10 per 100,000 in urban areas.

For females, the rate is 4 per 100,000 versus 2 per 100,000 in urban areas.

There has been a 59 percent increase in the gap between rural and urban males and a 93 percent increase between rural and urban females.

Authorities hypothesize this may be due to a lack of mental health services, isolation, better access to guns and poor economic conditions than those who live in urban areas.

It should also be taken into consideration that self-reliance is encouraged and this attitude later turns out to be a major problem along the way.

"There is a lot of pride around taking care of your own problems and turning to neighbors rather than professionals for help," Fontanella added.

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