Suicide Prevention and Hope
December 26, 2019
Studies show that around 90% of people who have committed suicide were experiencing a psychological illness at the time. Depression was the most common mental illness reported. Impulsivity and substance abuse, including drugs and alcohol, likewise warning signs for raised suicide risk. It is crucial to keep in mind that suicidal thoughts and behaviors aren’t the natural outcomes of severe life stresses.
People who go through stressful life situations may feel severe sadness or loss, anger, anxiety, or hopelessness, and may sometimes have the thought that they would be better off dead. In many people, in any case, experiences of serious stressful life situations do not trigger persistent thoughts of death, making of a suicide plan, or intent to die. However, if one of these is present, it suggests that the individual is suffering from serious depression or another mental issue and should look for professional treatment.
About Teen Suicide
The reasons why a teenager’s suicide or attempted suicide can be intricate. Though suicide is very rare amongst children, the rate of suicide attempts and suicides increases enormously during teenage. Suicide is the third-highest cause of death for 15 to 24 years old, as indicated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after homicide and accidents. It is likewise thought that at least twenty-five attempts are made for every teen suicide.
Suicide risks significantly increase when teens and kids have access to guns at home, and almost 60% of all suicides in the US are done with a firearm. That is why any firearm in your home should be locked, unloaded, and kept out of the reach of teens and children. Overdose, using over-the-counter prescriptions, and non-prescription medicine is additionally an extremely basic method for both completing and attempting suicide. It’s critical to monitor all meds in your home carefully.
Additionally, you should know that teens will “trade” different kinds of prescription medicine at school and store or carry them in their backpack or locker.
Suicide rates vary among boys and girls. Girls consider and attempt suicide about twice as often as boys. However, boys die as a result of their attempts about four times as often as girls.
Suicide Rate Is Rising
The timing is pivotal. Suicide rates for United States teens and young adults are “soaring,” as the second-highest cause of death for individuals between 10 and 34 years, says Colleen Creighton, the executive director of AAS, the country’s largest suicide prevention membership and charitable. With rates on the ascension, suicides for youngsters between the ages of 15 and 24 have jumped 30 percent between 2000 to 2016 in the US.
“There were lots of studies and data regarding mental health issues for teens, but the nation over, we began seeing this energy rising from youth who were attempting to make a difference in their society from their lived experience,” says Creighton, the director of AAS. “the thing that was missing was giving a voice to the individuals who had survived or attempted suicide and carrying that energy of hope to tell their stories, to work with youngsters to build bridges and break barriers.”
Which Teens Are at Risk for Suicide?
It very well may be difficult to recall how it felt to be a teenager, trapped in that gray area childhood and adulthood. Of course, it is a period of enormous plausibility; however, it likewise can be a time of pressure and stress. There is a pressure to fit in socially, to do well academically, and to behave responsibly. Also, adolescence is a period of sexual personality and relationships and a need for autonomy that often clashes with the expectations and rules set by others.
Teenagers with mental issues —,, for example, depression, anxiety, insomnia, or bipolar disorder — are at higher risk of having suicidal thoughts. Teenagers experiencing significant life changes (parents’ separation, parental separation, a parent leaving home because of military service, financial changes), and the people who are a victim of bullying and abuse are at higher risk of having suicidal thoughts.
Factors that increase the risk of suicide among teenagers include:
- A mental issue, especially bipolar disorder, depression, and drug and alcohol use (in fact, about 95% of people who die as a result of this are struggling with a mental disorder at the time of their death)
- Feelings of irritability, distress, or agitation
- Feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness that often accompany depression
- A previous suicide attempt
- A family history of suicide or depression
- Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
- Lack of a support group, poor relationships or communications with parents or companions, and feelings of social isolation
Why Do Teens Think About Suicide?
There is a broad scope of reasons that may contribute to a teen thinking about suicide. These can be identified with their mood, what has occurred previously, what’s going on right now in their lives, how they are dealing with them, and how connected and supported they feel. Teenagers who consider taking their lives often believe that no one cares about them, that they do not belong, and that things are miserable.
They’re mostly depleted by their trouble and unable to think plainly through some other options. They may be troubled to the point that they can’t eat, sleep, or enjoy anything in their life. Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and thoughts of suicide can be a lot worse after stressful experiences.
These may incorporate a horrendous life event, relationship breakup, feeling completely alone and with no family or friends, grief following the death of someone close, failing a big exam, or losing a job. Those with conditions, for example, bipolar issues, depression, substance abuse, and eating disorders, are more likely to have suicidal thoughts.
Preventing Teen Suicide
Suicide is a severe public health issue that can have enduring, critical impacts on youth, families, companions, and communities. The causes of suicide among teenagers are perplexing and comprise numerous factors. Increasing protective factors and reducing risk factors and resilience is crucial.
- Knowing the warning signs is essential: Warning signs for the people at risk of committing suicide include: talking about wanting to die always, feeling miserable, having no reason to be in this world, feeling trapped in an unbearable pain, being a burden on others, seeking revenge; making plans and looking for methods such as buying a gun or searching online; increasing use of drugs or alcohol; acting agitated or anxious; behaving wildly; sleeping too much or too little; isolation or withdrawal; and extreme mood swings and displaying rage.
- The risk of suicide is higher if the conduct is new or has increased, and if it appears to be identified with an excruciating event, change, or loss.
- Paying attention to warning signs of mental issues associated with increased risk for suicide is likewise critical.
No one person (teacher, parent, administrator, counselor, mentor, and so on.) can actualize suicide prevention on their own. The support, participation, and active involvement of families, communities, and schools are crucial. Youth-focused suicide prevention procedures are available. Prevention and promotion services are also available to address psychological health issues. Schools, where teens spend much of their time are often an appropriate setting to support mental health.
The Role of The School in Suicide Prevention
Adolescents and children spend a more significant part of their day in school under the supervision of school administration. Effective violence and suicide prevention is coordinated with supportive psychological health services, engages the whole school community, and is embedded in a positive school atmosphere through students’ behavioral expectations and a trusting and caring student/adult relationship.
In this manner, all school staff members need to be familiar with, and watchful for, warning signs and risk factors of suicidal behavior. The entire staff member should work to establish an environment where students feel secured sharing such information. School physicians and other emergency response team personnel, including the school administrator and school counselor, are trained to intercede when a student is identified for having suicidal thoughts.
These people conduct suicide risk evaluation, caution/inform parents, give recommendations and referrals to community services, and often give follow up support and counseling at school.
What Are the Symptoms Of Suicide Ideation?
The main symptom of suicide ideation is talking about suicide or trying something to harm oneself. If your teen expresses suicidal thoughts or displays self-harming behaviors, look for professional help. There are many risk factors and warning signs of suicide. The list below isn’t comprehensive; however, it is intended to give an insight into what factors might increase a child’s or teen’s level of suicide risk.
This doesn’t imply that if your child or teen has some of these warning signs, then he or she will automatically commit suicide. Suicide risks consider numerous factors and should be persistently checked by a psychological health expert. Keep in mind that many factors come together to lead to a suicidal crisis and might incorporate some of the ones listed below.
Warning Signs:
- Preoccupation with death (e.g., repeated themes of suicide or death in written assignments or artworks
- Intense hopelessness or sadness
- Not caring about things that used to matter
- Social withdrawal or isolation from friends, family, social, and sports activities
- Substance or drug abuse
- Sleep disturbance
- Giving away properties
- Risky behavior
- Absence of energy
- Incapability to think clearly/focus problems
- Falling school performance/increased absences from school
- Increased tetchiness
- Changes in appetite
Where to Get Help
In case of an emergency, call 911 or take the kid to a hospital or crisis center for assessment. If your worries are less urgent, look for help as quickly as time permits from a psychological health expert. The teen’s school psychologist may be able to share resources in your area. To locate a licensed psychologist in your community, make use of the psychologist locator apps. Preferably, look for a mental health expert with specialized training in treating adolescents or children.
The Opportunity of Hope
Alongside its 2018 report on suicide, the CDC released “Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices,” which gives a core arrangement of methodologies to help educate states and communities as they make decisions on prevention priorities and activities. At the beginning of that document, hopelessness is mentioned as one of the various protective and risk factors related to suicide.
Let us take a closer look at the opposite side of hopelessness. Let us focus on hope. Somebody who has hope isn’t probably going to end their life. Things might be hopeless right now, yet people will hang on if they know there’s a slight hope of light at the end of the tunnel and an opportunity to get things better. It is someone who has lost hope that sees suicide as the only option.
The plausibility of ingraining hope is one solid reason that counseling is so significant for teens who are contemplating suicide. Professional counselors are specialists at helping people realize that suicide is a permanent solution to an impermanent issue — and that there’s hope for what’s to come.
Teen Suicide Prevention
If you or one of your friends are feeling this way and have thought about committing suicide, the most critical thing to do is discuss it with an adult you trust immediately. Sometimes friends tell us things, confiding in us and make us promise not to tell anybody else. You might have done this yourself.
Secretes can take on a life of their own, becoming more powerful because they are private. It does not help anyone to keep the secret of suicide—it can really exacerbate the situation. Keep in mind, “Friends Help Friends” – so when somebody reveals to you something that worries you, ensure that you tell a trusted adult immediately.
Suicide is quite a complicated topic, yet it’s too critical to even think about ignoring. Suicide is the second-highest cause of death among young people ages 15 years old to 24 years old. In spite of a typical belief that only adults and teens die by suicide, younger children can likewise be at risk. Suicide and depression, most of the time, coincide. However, not everyone who’s depressed attempts suicide — and not everyone who attempts suicide is depressed. If you are a parent, a teacher, or any individual who spends time with teens and children, it’s essential to learn the warning signs and risk factors. These tools can help you prevent teen suicide.
Mental health services, such as inpatient treatment centers, are one of your best options for seeking treatment for suicide ideation, whether active or passive. Inpatient treatment centers like Hillcrest offer around-the-clock care to help control the risk factors of suicide.
In a residential treatment center, medical professionals — including doctors, nurses and psychotherapists — will work together to create a treatment plan customized to yours or your loved one’s needs. At intake, these professionals will assess your current suicide risk and symptoms of depression to provide the best treatment possible for your needs.
Residential treatment for suicide ideation combines multiple types of treatment to meet your unique needs. This can include treatments ranging from medication to individual therapy to group therapy sessions. All the while, staff will monitor you or your loved one to ensure there is no access to lethal means that can be used to harm or kill oneself, protecting the patient from suicide while they learn how to better cope with their feelings of distress.