Picture this: You’re sitting in your room, the doors locked and your thinking of a way to start your letter, your suicide letter. Your hands are trembling, your heads spinning, your hearts pounding. You have hot tears rolling down your face, and you finally give up. Its 10:00 at night, and you stand up to shut your lights, and hop into your bed. You look around your room, then shut your eyes and whisper “goodbye”, and take your last breath, and end it all. –Diego Sanchez Basurto (arojasr-inspirational-blog.tumblr.com/post/.../teen-suicide-)
Teen suicide is the third most common cause of death between the ages of 15-24. This is also the sixth most common cause of death amongst 5-14 year olds. According to our research teens often commit suicide because of their sexual orientation and are bullied from it or have serious depression and are upset. There is one suicide for every 25 attempted suicides. Did you know that on average, one person commits suicide every 16.2 minutes? That sounds really depressing. (dosomething.org)
Warning signs
• Loss of interest in schoolwork
• Sleep changes
• Changing eating habits
• Low Grades
• Isolates a lot of time from family
• Talks about boredom a lot
• Changes in behaviour/ feelings
• Talking about suicide in general
• Has no desire to take part in favorite activities or events.
• Acting strangely
• Talks about suicide or death in general
What to do?
What to Do
Youth who feel suicidal are not likely to seek help directly; however, parents, school personnel, and peers can recognize the warning signs and take immediate action to keep the youth safe. When a youth gives signs that they may be considering suicide, the following actions should be taken:
•Remain calm.
•Ask the youth directly if he or she is thinking about suicide.
•Focus on your concern for their wellbeing and avoid being accusatory.
•Listen.
•Reassure them that there is help and they will not feel like this forever.
•Do not judge.
•Provide constant supervision. Do not leave the youth alone.
•Remove means for self-harm.
•Get help: Peers should not agree to keep the suicidal thoughts a secret and instead should tell an adult, such as a parent, teacher, or school psychologist. Parents should seek help from school or community mental health resources as soon as possible. School staff should take the student to the designated school mental health professional or administrator. –NASP resources
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