No talk of suicide should be taken lightly. It indicates the need for immediate professional help. Any suicidal gesture, no matter how "harmless" it seems, demands immediate professional attention.
Risk getting involved. If you suspect suicidal thoughts or behavior, ask the teen directly if she or he is considering suicide. Don't avoid the subject or wait for the teen to come to you.
Be alert to the teen's feelings. The severity of the problem should be judged from the teen's perception, not by adult standards. If a teen
perceives something as a problem, it is a problem for him or her.
Never agree to keep the discussion of suicide with a teen a secret. Agree to give help and support in getting professional help.
Imminent danger signs include:
- Talking about death and wanting to die
- Suicidal thoughts, plans, or fantasies
- Previous suicide attempts
- Friends who have attempted suicide
- Giving away personal possessions
- Telling a friend about suicidal plans
- Writing a note
Parents and friends should not hesitate to get help and should never leave a suicidal person alone.
Prevent Suicide
Adults can help prevent suicide by fostering open, honest communication with teens. If a teen trusts you enough to come to you with a problem, take time to listen immediately. Delay may only fuel feelings of doom in the teen.
The following strategies may be helpful when dealing with teens and suicide:
Talk about suicide in an open manner. Teens need to be given a chance to discuss suicide by voicing their thoughts and opinions. Candid discussion is important particularly when a teen suicide has occurred in a community.
Let young people know about hotline telephone numbers and crisis intervention services that are accessible locally.
1-800-273-Talk(8255) / 1-800-Suicide(784-2433)
Model healthy behavior and positive problem-solving approaches. Adults can be models for young people by dealing with their own stress in a constructive manner.
Use television shows, films, newspaper articles and other media as a trigger for a discussion of effective ways to deal with stress and depression.
Provide opportunities for group support. Teens sharing problems with other teens who help find solutions can be beneficial.
Adults need to take the possibility of teen suicide seriously even if their community has not experienced one.
Teen depression and thoughts of suicide are more common than many adults assume and there are as many as 50 to 100 suicide attempts for every young person who actually takes his or her own life.
