How does a child sink so far into the depths of despair that he sees no viable alternative to ending his life? Most importantly, how can we help him see that his life is worth living?
Suicide prevention is a passion for me, both personally and professionally. As the father of two teenagers, I identify with the mourning parents every time I learn of a child’s suicide. As the director of Shasta County Public Health, it is my responsibility to do everything I can to protect our youth so they can enjoy long, healthy lives.
Suicide is an intensely personal and complex issue. Youth are especially vulnerable to suicide because of the nature of adolescence – they are impulsive, they don’t have the same problem-solving skills that adults do, and because their social relationships carry tremendous importance, when something goes wrong it feels like the end of their world.
If you are a parent of teenagers like I am, you’re probably wondering what you can do to help reduce the risk of youth suicide. Here are some tips:
(1) Ask youth about depression and suicide. Knowledge is the best prevention tool, so we need to break down the codes of silence and empower teens to seek help for themselves or for their friends. Many adults have the privilege of enjoying a special rapport with youth – such as coaches, club advisers, youth ministers and other kids’ parents. Let’s ask youth who those adults are, and train those mentors to be gatekeepers so they know how to ask the right questions and respond swiftly and appropriately when they discover that a child is at risk for suicide. And because peer-to-peer relationships are so highly valued, providing the same training for teens might be a wise plan so they can help each other. You may want to attend “QPR training,” which stands for question-persuade-refer, and is offered locally by the National Alliance on Mental Illness from 9 to 11 a.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at Northern Valley Catholic Social Service. Consider attending this training with a teenager who is interested in helping others.
(2) Familiarize yourself with warning signs and risk factors. We can also protect our children by ensuring that they get professional physical and mental health care, helping them build strong connections with their family and community, teaching them about problem solving and conflict resolution, and by instilling beliefs that discourage suicide.
(3) We can also ensure that youth do not have access to “lethal means” – such as guns and prescription medications. Evidence shows that many people – in moments of intense despair or anger – turn to suicide methods that are easy, quick and deadly. If those methods are not available, the process slows down, which allows for those intense feelings to pass or for an interruption to plans. Therefore, if you have firearms in your home, please ensure that they are stored securely (ideally unloaded and apart from ammunition, in a gun safe to which only you know the combination or hold the key). If you have unused prescription medications, follow these guidelines to dispose of them properly.
(4) Refer youth to hotlines for assistance – call Help Inc. at 225-5252, or 1-800-821-5252 from Eastern Shasta County. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-TALK.
At the speed at which today’s teens communicate, it’s easy to feel out of touch. Be your child’s “friend” on social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Know their friends and teachers. Engage them in conversation about what they would do if a friend approached them and said they were suicidal. Tell them about the hotline at Help Inc., and give them resources to help their peers. And as simplistic as it may sound, listen to them. Most people of any age who complete suicide have talked about dying or made previous attempts.
We need to spread messages of hope, help and strength. This begins with those difficult conversations that show that how deeply we care about them.
Donnell Ewert, MPH, is director of Shasta County Public Health. While at Wheaton College, he participated in the Human Needs and Global Resources program, which included a seven-month internship in Honduras – an experience that sparked his interest in public health. He earned his master’s degree from UCLA after evaluating a program that used goats to increase the nutritional intake of malnourished children. He worked briefly as a health educator with migrant farm workers in Virginia before becoming an epidemiologist for the health departments in Los Angeles and the state of Indiana. Donnell came to Shasta County Public Health as an epidemiologist in 1999, after doing humanitarian health work in Kazakhstan. He has been the department director since 2007. He and his wife, Mary, have two teenage daughters.
