Suicide Prevention

Menstuff® is actively compiling information on Suicide. If you are in crisis, 1st call 911 while you're looking in the front of your local yellow pages for the number of the local suicide prevention hotline. If you can't get through to either of those, click on Emergency Numbers. Also visit www.metanoia.org/suicide which contains conversations and writings for suicidal persons to read, gay youth suicide at www.sws.soton.ac.uk/gay-youth-suicide and youth: suicide at www.virtualcity.com/youthsuicide .

Disclaimer - Information is designed for educational purposes only and is not engaged in rendering medical advice or professional services.Any medical decisions should be made in conjunction with your physician. We will not be liable for any complications, injuries or other medical accidents arising from or in connection with, the use of or reliance upon any information on the web.

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The Benefits of Teaching Suicide Prevention in Schools
Surgeon General Announces National Plan for Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention Role of...

 

The Benefits of Teaching Suicide Prevention in Schools

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 12 teenagers attempted suicide in 2012. By the next year, 8% of all high school students had actually acted on their suicidal thoughts. When students learn suicide prevention in school, they’re given the resources they need to address their own suicidal feelings, or those of a friend. As such, proper education could lead to a dramatic decrease in suicidal thoughts and attempts amongst teenagers.

Unfortunately, however, most students are not adequately taught about suicide prevention in school or at home. This means that the majority of teenagers are unable to properly handle suicidal feelings.

Why Suicide Risk is High Among Teens

As many of us know, one’s teenage years can be tumultuous. What many don’t fully understand is what could lead teenagers to consider or attempt suicide. The answer to this, however, can be complex, and often involves both environmental and emotional factors.

  • Depression: Up to 20% of teenagers report incidences of depression. This can include feelings up worthlessness, hopelessness, loneliness, or helplessness. Often, teens feel that the only way to end these feelings is through death.
  • Stress and Anxiety: Much like depression, teens experience stress and anxiety at high rates, and cannot find healthy coping mechanisms.
  • Mental Illness or Family History: Teens who experience mental illness or have a family history of mental illness are more likely to attempt suicide.
  • Physical Illness: Teens with physical illnesses often see themselves as different from their peers, which can be devastating during youth, leading to suicidal thoughts and actions.
  • Brain Development: The human brain is still developing during teenage years. As such, many students do not have the capacity to handle feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety, rejection, or hurt.
  • Bullying: With the rise of social media and technology, bullying has become more prevalent than ever. Teens who experience bullying often see no way out of the situation other than suicide.
  • Abuse, Neglect, or Trauma: Teens who experience parental abuse or neglect, or those who have experienced trauma at home (such as the death of a loved one) are more likely to commit suicide.
  • Substance Abuse: Often, substance abuse, other mental illness, and suicide go hand in hand in the teenage community.
  • Access to Means: Teenagers with the means to commit suicide (including access to weapons) are more likely to actually make an attempt.

How Suicide Prevention Programs in Schools Can Help

Proper access to resources is key to preventing and treating any disease, whether physical or mental. As previously stated, teenagers’ brains and bodies are still in development, and as such, they need guidance and counseling to properly cope with negative feelings, emotions, and situations.

Whether students are experiencing a poor home life or an undiagnosed mental illness, a suicide prevention program could help guide them in the right direction. Important aspects of any suicide prevention program should include:

  • Risk factors associated with suicide;
  • Resources for help;
  • Facts and statistics about suicide; and
  • How help yourself or a loved one.

With this knowledge, students and teachers alike can learn how to identify warning signs, whether within themselves or those around them. Once these signs are recognized, students and staff will have the skills and knowledge they need to reach out for help. When suicide prevention resources are enabled, the risk of suicide amongst teens will decrease.

Teens are a vulnerable population of individuals and to maintain proper health, both physically and mentally, they must be given the proper resources. By adding suicide prevention to a school’s curriculum, students are better able to handle and address suicidal thoughts or intentions. Prevention can save lives, especially those of younger populations who are at higher risk.
Source: www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/blog/1633-the-benefits-of-teaching-suicide-prevention-in-schools

Surgeon General Announces National Plan for Suicide Prevention

U.S. Surgeon General Satcher unveiled the National Plan for Suicide Prevention. The Plan acknowledges that males are four times more likely to die from suicide than are females. The federal government is finally beginning to recognize the problem of suicide among men.

Goals

Promote Awareness that Suicide is a Public Health Problem that is Preventable

Develop Broad-based Support for Suicide Prevention

Develop and Implement Strategies to Reduce the Stigma Associated with Being a Consumer of Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Suicide Prevention Services

Develop and Implement Suicide Prevention Programs

Promote Efforts to Reduce Access to Lethal Means and Methods of Self-Harm

Implement Training For Recognition of At-Risk Behavior and Delivery of Effective Treatment

Develop and Promote Effective Clinical and Professional Practices

Improve Access to and Community Linkages with Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

Improve Reporting and Portrayals of Suicidal Behavior, Mental Illness, and Substance Abuse in the Entertainment and News Media

Promote and Support Research on Suicide and Suicide Prevention

Improve and Expand Surveillance Systems

If you want to contact the Surgeon General about the Plan, here is his address: David Satcher, MD, PhD, Surgeon General, 200 Independence Ave., SW. Washington, DC 20201 The full plan can be found at this address: www.mentalhealth.org/suicideprevention/summarytoc.htm

Suicide Prevention

Each year in the United States, more than 650,000 attempt to commit suicide. Of these, more than 30,000 die. In an effort to educate the public about suicide and ways to prevent it, May 6 through 12 has been designated as National Suicide Prevention Week. This falls during National Mental Health Month.

Dr. Satcher and colleagues have set forth 11 goals with 68 measurable objectives to help reduce this number and save lives. He says, if we are successful, not only will it stop senseless deaths, but also will put on end to the harmful after-effects these acts have on families and communities. The program is the result of work done by advocates, clinicians, researchers and survivors. The program strives to change the most basic attitudes about suicide in an effort to change, the judicial, educations, social service, and health care systems.

Some of the objectives set forth include:

Increasing the number of states that require health insurance plans to cover mental health and substance abuse care on par with coverage for physical health care.

Increasing the availability of comprehensive support programs for survivors of suicide.

Increasing the number of professional and volunteer groups as well as faith-based communities that integrate suicide prevention into their ongoing activities.

Increasing the number of television programs and movies that accurately and safely depict suicide and mental illness.

About half of the states have begun efforts to enact their own suicide prevention strategies.

Source: www.chennaionline.com/health/homearticles/sucide.asp

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