Suicide Risks – Do You Know What To Look For?
Posted on September 17th, 2009 by Dennis Beckner
I read a great article today over at YouthMinistry.com about suicide causes, signs and preventative measures. I like that the article is written mostly in bullet points. It makes for easy-to-read-and-absorb information.
I highly recommend reading through the article so you’ll be more likely to see the signs of suicide. Being aware of this information can help us make our ministries free of the environmental risk factors of suicide.
Click here to read the article.
Here’s a clip of what you’ll read:
- According to HopeLine.org untreated depression is the number one cause of suicide.
- Bullied teens are 4 to 8 times more likely to be suicidal, according to a report released by fightcrime.org. Also, children who are victims of direct bullying (name calling, threats, being hit or kicked) and indirect bullying (ignoring, excluding and backbiting) are more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-bullied children from a study of pre-teens in the Netherlands appearing in the journal Pediatrics.
- Teens who have been teased about their weight are more likely to be suicidal, according to research appearing in the August 2003 Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
- Sexually active teens are more likely to attempt suicide compared to their abstaining counterparts (14 percent and 5 percent, respectively), according to analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health as conducted by the Heritage Foundation.
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It’s interesting to read this article after an experience my youth group had last year. It talks about all the possible signs of a suicidal teen, similar to many articles I had read as a youth leader, hoping to be prepared for something like this (but hoping I would never have to recognize these signs in any one of my kids).
We had a volunteer youth leader who was 2 years out of highschool and seemingly had the perfect life… great family, great girlfriend, great friends, strong faith… a stable life all around. On the outside at least. Then one Sunday afternoon I got a call that he was in the hospital after attempting suicide. They disconnected the life support system the following day. His death had a profound impact on our youth group, and on my life.
I tell this story because I was watching for the signs mentioned in this article, even as that young man was still in youth. But there were no visible signs that something like this would happen. It has led me to take on a whole new approach. Now my group talks about the “hard-to-talk-about” things on a very regular basis, which is something that before his death wasn’t part of the curriculum (according to church leaders) because it wasn’t “fun” and it was “too serious” and would turn the few kids we had in youth away, leaving us with no students at all.
My advice for any youth leaders would be to follow your instinct when it comes to talking with students about these serious issues. It won’t be “fun” and it will be “too serious”… but it is extremely important, and will go a long way in students understand the importance of talking to someone when they’re feeling like the walls are closing in.
I pray that God leads those who are in similar situations as what our group has gone through.
Frank,
Thanks so much for your input. I’m sorry you had to go through that, but I’m incredibly thankful you’re using your experience to reach your students and help other youth ministries.
Dennis