Conversations Across America
Call To Mind is partnering with public radio stations across the country to produce conversations with experts intended to further the understanding and care of mental health issues among young people living in those areas. Call To Mind’s correspondent Alisa Roth will elaborate on the topic discussed at each event.
SUICIDE AMONG THE YOUNG
More and more young people have been dying by suicide. It’s the second leading cause of death among young people. (The first is unintentional injuries, like car accidents.) Call to Mind recently held a conversation about kids and self-harm at NET, Nebraska’s PBS and NPR stations. Here are Alisa Roth’s takeaways:
Suicide is a big problem among young people and it’s getting worse
The rate of suicide went up more than 50 percent among people aged 10-24 in the decade between 2007 and 2017. And it appears to be getting worse: Overall rates rose faster between 2013 and 2017 than they did from 2007 to 2013. In Nebraska, for example, suicide is the leading cause of death for 10- to 14-year-olds and the second leading cause of death for those between 15 and 24.
Dig into the numbers and the story gets even more alarming. Rates of suicide among Black boys have gone up 75 percent over the last 25 years. And it’s not just the deaths that are worrying. According to a national survey of risky behaviors in high school students, more and more have thought about hurting themselves, and a growing number have gone so far as to make plans to hurt themselves.
And none of this takes Covid-19 or the killing of George Floyd into account, both of which many mental health experts expect will have significant effects on young people’s mental health in coming months and years.
Read more …
Teen suicides are increasing at an alarming pace [The Washington Post]
The millennial mental-health crisis [The Atlantic]
Why now?
Julia Hebenstreit
Nobody really knows why more kids are hurting themselves these days, though people who study the problem point to possible causes including social media, bullying and even lack of sleep. Kim Foundation director Julia Hebenstreit, who participated in the event in Nebraska, thinks technology may contribute. She says kids are connecting online, but not in person.
Michael Lindsey, executive director of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at NYU, thinks not getting mental health care contributes to the problem among Black and Latino youth. Lindsey is the lead author of a study published in the journal Pediatrics last year that showed that suicide attempts were up dramatically among Black high school students, both boys and girls, and that Black boys were also more likely to sustain serious injuries from those attempts.
“We have to be able to engage Black youth and their families in culturally competent ways,” he said.
Read more …
Mapping out the causes of suicide in teenagers and children [The Washington Post]
Trends of suicidal behaviors among high school students [AAP]
What parents, teachers, and other kids can do about it
Experts say it’s important for people who interact with kids to be aware of the warning signs that a young person is at risk of suicide. Those include giving away things they love; talking about hurting themselves, even jokingly; and pulling away from family and friends. Kids with a history of depression and substance use are also more likely to try to hurt themselves.
NYU’s Michael Lindsey says it’s important to note that Black kids are much less likely than white kids to have been diagnosed with depression before trying to hurt themselves — perhaps because they are less likely to have been getting mental health care.
Dave Miers
There is a long-standing misconception that asking somebody if they are thinking about suicide may prompt them to become suicidal. But experts say that’s not true, and that it’s critical that adults address suicide openly. “We need to start asking questions. You know, ‘Hey, how are you? Are you suicidal?’” said Dave Miers, co-chair of the Nebraska State Suicide Prevention Coalition at the event. And he and others say people -- adults, especially — need to get comfortable asking those questions about suicide, and about mental health more generally.
For kids, a sticky scenario may come up if a friend confesses to suicidal thoughts, but swears the friend to secrecy. “We often hear that, well, I don't want my friend to be mad at me. You know, they disclosed this to me, they trusted me,” said Hebenstreit of the Kim Foundation. “But what we always tell them — and it's kind of a harsh truth — you would rather have your friend here next week and mad at you, then not here with you.” She says it's important to remind kids that they can go to any trusted adult: a teacher, a coach, even the person who serves them lunch in the cafeteria.
Read more …
Teen suicide: Learning to recognize the warning signs [Stanford Children’s Health]
Suicide prevention, children ages 10 to 19 years [New York Department of Health]
Can people really be treated for suicidal thoughts or trying to hurt themselves?
How suicidal behavior is treated depends, in part, on how serious it is. If a person is at immediate risk of hurting him or herself, he or she may need to go to the emergency room and be admitted to the hospital. If the situation is less urgent, the person may be able to get outpatient care from a therapist or psychiatrist.
The treatment itself usually includes therapy, medication or a combination of the two. It’s important to remember that it can take several weeks for the medication to take effect. And it can sometimes take a while to find the right medication or combination of medications.
Dave Miers, from the Nebraska suicide prevention group, says having suicidal ideation — thoughts of suicide — when a person is young makes it more likely that a person will have thoughts about suicide later in life. Likewise, having mental illness is a risk factor for having thoughts of suicide. But, he said, with treatment, people can and do stop feeling suicidal.
Read more …
Suicide and suicidal thoughts [Mayo Clinic]
Some organizations are taking a broader approach to suicide prevention
After several kids at Boys and Girls Clubs in the area around Columbus, Ohio, confessed to suicidal thoughts last year, the organization’s leaders reached out to the American Association of Suicidology and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to create a training program for their employees. In August, they also offered a (virtual) version of the training for employees of Boys and Girls Clubs all over the country.
In 2016, a student at The University of Wisconsin-Madison launched the Green Bandana Project, an effort to raise awareness and end stigma around mental illness. Since then, other colleges have launched Green Bandana Projects of their own. Supporters are encouraged to tie a green bandana on their backpack to identify themselves as somebody a person can approach if he or she is looking for mental health resources or wants to talk about mental health.
Read more …
Keeping kids safe: Preventing youth suicide [Boys & Girls Clubs of America]
The Bandana Project [NAMI-UW]
NAMI-UW advocates for mental health through Green Bandana Project [The Daily Cardinal]
If you, or someone you know, is thinking about suicide — wait. There are free, trained counselors available 24/7.
U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call 800-273-8255 (TALK)
Editor’s note: Updated to remove references to the Crisis Text Line. Reporting from Politico shows the mental health crisis organization shared conversation data with a related for-profit company. Learn more.
Alisa Roth is a correspondent for American Public Media's Call to Mind project and a 2020-2021 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow.