Suicide Signs and Prevention Strategies
Youth suicide prevention programmes from various organizations like this suicide prevention charity need to be implemented in three main places to successfully reach teens. The health system, schools and the community. Here we look at school programs and how to recognize suicide signs.
Schools programs for the prevention of suicide
School-based programs will cover both curriculum compliments to educate teens and non-curriculum components that include things like parent suicide prevention training, hotlines, services for intervention, peer groups and more. Preventing suicide in teens takes the whole community and some education. The whole intervention point is to help and protect any student that is in distress. Schools need to have a plan in advance that all staff, as well as teachers, are a part of. There need to be excellent lines of communication and outlined protocols. The result of school-based programs is to;
- Help teenagers cope better with the hard times
- Increase awareness of the issue
- Offer knowledge on the warning signs to look for
- Help staff and students identify other students who are at high risk
- Make sure everyone has the information on what mental health resources are available to them
Signs to look out for
Signs that a suicide prevention charity might teach about that a teen may make the attempt to commit suicide include;
- Signs of mental health issues especially depression
- The topic of death often comes up in their conversations, what they choose to read about, the music they listen to, what they look at and write
- Showing a preoccupation with dying
- Using drugs or drinking too much
- Making threats that they are going to kill themselves
- Taking risks for no reason
- Giving away their belongings
- Marking themselves, self-destructive acts
- Suddenly becoming very moody, angry or withdrawn
- Saying that they are helpless and feel hopeless
- Working out ways of committing suicide
- A dramatic decline in how they are doing at work and school
- Not being able to sleep or the opposite sleeping all the time
How to know if a teen is depressed
Signs that a teen may be suffering from depression and needs help include;
- Havinf feelings of emptiness, being anxious, or sad all the time
- Having their school grades decline
- Sleeping a lot or not enough
- Not showing any interest in things they once liked to do especially socially or sports
- Having no appetite and dropping in weight
How to know if they may be self-harming
Factors that may indicate the teen is self-harming include;
- They may have previously self-harmed
- Their school record is dropping
- They are depressed
- They wear clothing that hides more skin
- There is drug or alcohol dependence in the family history
- They are isolating themselves a lot
- Changes in their personality
- Bursts of anger
- Not eating well
- Breaking down of family relationships
Supporting teens
Ways you support teens that need it include;
- Suicide prevention training
- Encouraging positive thinking
- Listening to them
- Make the family understands what is going on
- Get them doing positive community or school activities
- Get them to write and focus on their positive qualities
- Help them learn problem-solving skills
- Have them help others
- Give them many opportunities to be successful
- Reward changes in behavior
