A teen suicide is an alarming event and a serious threat to everyone. If someone you know makes a suicide threat, take it seriously and encourage them to seek help.
The teen years are an important time for learning and growth. But they can also be a time of great stress and worry.
Risk Factors
Suicide is a major public mental health problem that causes a lot of death and pointless suffering on a societal scale. It’s caused by a complex interplay of genetic, biological, psychological and social factors that are highly individual and unique to each person.
Risk factors for suicide include a history of mental disorders, a history of previous suicide attempts, personality characteristics, genetic loading and family processes in combination with triggering psychosocial stressors. These can include the loss of a relationship, death of a friend or loved one, physical injury or illness, being bullied and restricted access to lethal means of self harm.
Kids who have good problem-solving skills and strong connections with family, friends and community are less likely to attempt suicide. These also include having access to health care and counseling when needed, especially with someone who is trained to treat depression.
Symptoms
Throughout adolescence, young people experience major physical, social and emotional changes that can leave them feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes these changes can lead to feelings of hopelessness, helplessness and stress, and may make them feel like their life will never improve. This can result in suicidal thoughts or behavior.
Some warning signs of suicide in youth include a sudden withdrawal from friends, family and other activities they normally enjoy; sleep and eating changes, such as insomnia or oversleeping; a dramatic change in appetite; self-mutilating behaviors like cutting or burning oneself; and a sense that their problems will never be resolved. If you notice any of these, call 911 for immediate help.
Anyone who has been threatened with suicide should always be taken seriously and assessed by a trained mental health professional. This should be done even if they haven’t told you their thoughts or intentions. It is important that they get a thorough physical exam to rule out life-threatening health issues before being evaluated and treated for any mental illness.
Treatment
Suicide is a rare event so it is difficult to find effective prevention and treatment strategies. Moreover, the methods of suicide can be dangerous and painful. This may explain why many attempts fail and why surviving survivors often feel a deep sense of guilt or shame about the act.
The good news is that there is growing evidence to support the effectiveness of a variety of prevention and intervention therapies. Some interventions have been tested using randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which are considered the gold-standard of research.
For example, one approach has been to train teens in skills to help them cope with stress and adversity. Another has focused on generating hope by asking teens to describe a specific future scene in a detailed and emotionally tangible way. Further studies are investigating how to improve adaptive qualities of future thinking, and other interventions include psycho-education about the signs & symptoms of mental illness and suicide-related behaviors.
Prevention
The youth suicide rate is largely preventable. Youth who are contemplating suicide often give warning signs of their distress, and those around them should take these warnings seriously. Whether they’re asking to be left alone or making vague threats, the best thing to do is to get them expert help.
It’s important to educate parents, teachers and those who spend time with teens about the warning signs of suicide. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that many psychiatric disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia, have their first onset in adolescence. Likewise, drug-induced psychosis is very common among adolescents and young adults.
It’s important to make sure that youth who are at greater risk for suicide have access to care and services, such as removing guns or other lethal means from the home, counseling on how to manage suicidal thoughts and providing ongoing support and monitoring. Moreover, communities should invest in programs to reduce isolation and foster connectedness.