Youth Suicide Awareness & Prevention

Hope Hutira-Green, MS, NCC Program Manager The Jesse Klump Memorial Fund, Inc.

Jesse Klump Memorial Fund, Inc

www.JessesPaddle.org

1. Scholarship Fund 2. Suicide Grievers’ Support Group 3. Awareness Program 1. Teach warning signs 2. Describe effective response Jesse Klump

5/26/1991-2/27/2009

Prevention may be a matter of a caring person with the right knowledge being available in the right place at the right time.

Workshop Goals

 Recognize prevalence of youth suicide  Identify warning signs of suicide  Provide an effective response to youth at risk of suicide

Why talk about suicide?

Tragic reality in the lives of our youth!

SUICIDE: A permanent solution to a temporary problem!

Youth Statistics & Suicide

 3 rd leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds 1  1st Leading cause of death among LGBTQ youth  5 th leading cause of death among 5-14 year olds 1  For every completion there are 50-200 attempts 1  Approximately 2 million adolescents attempt suicide per year 1  Every day approximately 11 youth suicides occur

Bringing it home…

 Worcester County  1 st in state for suicide rate 1  47.5 % higher than state average 1  1 of top 5 counties for teen suicide 1

Today’s Youth

In the last year (2009) MD 9-12 graders reported:     10.4% made a suicide attempt  210 students in Worcester Co. HS 14% seriously considered suicide  294 students in Worcester Co. HS 11% made a suicide plan  231 students in Worcester Co. HS 2 out of 3 students who attempt suicide return to school the following day Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System March 1, 2011. http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/YouthOnline/App/Results.aspx?LID=MD

“I’m a daughter hiding my depression. I’m a sister making a good impression. I’m the girl sitting next to you. I’m the one asking you to care. I’m your best friend hoping you’ll be there.”

Young Life = stress

 Family Pressure  Divorce/ New marriage  Single parent  Death  Abuse/Neglect  School Related Issues  Grades  Fitting in  Bullying

Young Life Cont.

 Peers  Social media   Drugs/Alcohol Break-up  Discrimination   Being excluded Being made fun of  Sexual orientation “I’m sick of crying, tired of trying, yeah I’m smiling, but inside I’m dying”

Beliefs about Suicide…

 Talking to someone about suicide will put the idea into his/her head.

 Suicide is generally preventable.  Suicide happens without warning.

 Most people who attempt suicide have gotten it out of their systems and won’t try it again.  People who talk about suicide won’t do it; it is the people who don’t talk about it we need to be concerned about.

Suicidal Behavior

 An attempt to solve a problem of intense pain with impaired skills

The Brain…

PET scan of the brain for depression http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM00356

Risk Factors

 Clinical depression  Access to lethal methods, guns  Past suicide attempt  Plan to attempt suicide  Family history of suicide  Impulsive/aggressive tendencies  History of abuse  Stressful life event(s)  Perfectionist http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=54 &ContentID=23041

Means Matter

Harvard School of Public Health  85% of firearm suicide attempts are fatal  82% of firearm youth suicides (17 & under) used a family member’s gun, usually a parent’s

“How much time passed between the time you decided to complete suicide and when you actually attempted suicide?” ( Simon 2001 )

   24% said less than five minutes Another 47% said an hour or less 33% of youth who died by suicide had faced a crisis in the previous 24 hours http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/index.html

Warning Signs

Thoughts

“I just can’t take it anymore” “I wish I were dead” “No one cares” “Everyone will be better off without me” “All of my problems will end soon” “No one can do anything to help me now” “I won’t be needing these things anymore” “ I won’t be a problem for you much longer”

Feelings

Hopeless Trapped Burdened Alone Purposeless Guilty Angry Desperate Worthless

Behavior

Giving away possessions Withdrawal Aggressive Behavior Sudden mood change Alcohol/drug use Disturbed sleep/appetite Recklessness Impulsiveness

Warning Signs of Suicide

Ideation – Threatened or communicated Substance use or abuse – Excessive or increased Purposelessness – No reasons for living Anxiety – Agitation/Insomnia Trapped - Feeling like there is no way out Hopelessness - There is nothing to live Withdrawal – From family, friend, school, activities, etc.

Anger (uncontrolled) – Rage, seeking revenge Recklessness – Risky acts, unthinking Mood changes – Baseline www.suicidology.org/stats-and-tools/suicide-warning-signs

ASK

What do I do?

 A

– Ask

 S

– Stay with the person

 K

– Konnect

  ASK Be direct S uicide  “Are you feeling so badly that you're considering suicide?"  "That sounds like an awful lot for one person to take; has it made you think about killing yourself to escape?“  P lan  “Do you have a plan?”  A ccess  “Do you have access to the means?”

STAY

 Do NOT LEAVE ALONE!

 LISTEN! LISTEN! LISTEN!

 Show you care  Reflect what you hear  Know your limits  Know your resources *Do not worry about doing or saying exactly the "right" thing. Convey care!

Listening to a youth



Acknowledge feelings



Clarify what you hear



Summarize



Validate

KONNECT

 Parent  Mental Health Professional  Family Doctor  1-800-273-TALK    911 “We need some extra help” “I want to make sure you are okay”

Do’s & Don’ts

 DO  Listen, Listen, Listen  Avoid accusing/judging  Know your limits   Remove access to means ○ Guns, firearms ○ Ropes, belts, hoses, knotted cords, shoe laces ○ Knives, medicine  Connect with professional help  Always take suicide SERIOUSLY!

DON’T  Promise to keep the secret  Tell a person not to feel that way  Punish a person for telling you  Express tough love   Say high school is best time of life Won’t care about this is 20 years  Leave the person alone

Practice Scenario

Scenarios

Choose One   12 year old - older sibling was abused by step father in their house; feels guilty because didn’t stop or know what was happening; step father in jail; mom upset because step dad going to jail and fear of supporting family alone; daughter does not want to add to her mother’s worries 10 th grader – A student; started handing in assignments late (atypical); dated sporadically on and off (currently not dating anyone); two older siblings in college – one full scholarship for engineering at PSU and other working on law degree; feels like a disappointment to father (who was a great athlete)

Protective Factors

 Sense of Connection!

 Caring relationship with trusted adult  Positive self-esteem  Good coping skills  Access to care  Cultural/religious beliefs

To Do

       Be aware of warning signs Connect with youth/offer ongoing support Complete ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Strategies Training) June, 2 day workshop in Snow Hill Ask us to speak to your church group, your school, community association, fraternal organization, any place where people gather who may one day have to save a life.

May 29 th : “Why s my Child so Moody?” A talk about teen depression and youth suicide prevention. Ocean Pines library, 6:30 p.m. sponsored by the Jesse Klump Memorial Fund and Atlantic General Hospital

Jesse’s Paddle

– July, 20 , 2013 – Snow Hill Out of Darkness Community Walk for Suicide Prevention– September 28th– OC Board Walk

Resources

      

1-800-273-TALK (8255)

 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-422-0009  MD Youth Suicide Line 410-749-4357  Life Crisis 410-629-0164  Berlin Health Department 410-632-1100  Worcester Co. Health Department 410-641-4598  Worcester Youth & Family Counseling Center 911

Additional Resources



www.sptsnj.org

Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide

F ocuses on resources for the competent school community

 

www.sprc.org

Suicide Prevention Resource Center

National resource

www.afsp.org

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Printed materials & resources 

www.maine.gov/suicide/youth Maine Teen Suicide Prevention

Resources and information for teens 

www.suicidology.org

American Association of Suicidology

Data, resources, links 

www.maine.gov/suicide

Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program

Extensive resources and information on youth suicide

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References

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2010). National Alliance on Mental Illness. http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=By_Illness&Templat e=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=54&ContentID =23041 http://www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId

=228&name=DLFE-392.pdf

Mortality figures appearing here are derived or calculated from data in the following

official data source:

obtained 12 September from CDC’s WISQARS website: http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html

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http://www.afsp.org/ http://www.suicidology.org/home http://www.suicidology.org/stats-and-tools/suicide-warning signs * Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore

http://wherelivingwatersflow.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/hope-in-focus.jpg

Your Role as Parents

Talk about suicide 1. Pick a good time 2. Be conversational 3. Be honest 4. Be direct 5. Listen to what your child has to say 6. If you get worried, ask more questions 7. Revisit the conversation