Teen Help - Suicidal Ideation
Teen Suicide is unfortunately the third leading cause of death among teenagers. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center, almost 2,000 teens kill themselves each year; depression is among the leading causes of Teen Suicide. It's been estimated that over 90 percent of Teen Suicide victims have a mental disorder like depression, and/or a history of alcohol or drug abuse. Depression is considered by the National Institute of Mental Health to be a real medical illness that is treatable.
The questions that raise their heads are what drive a teen to commit suicide? What could be so horribly wrong in their lives that ending it is the only alternative they see fit? There are risk factors involved in Teen Suicide: low self-esteem, peer pressure, a dysfunctional family, stress, and access to drugs, guns, and the unyielding desire to make the pain disappear.
Unfortunately Teen Suicide has and is becoming a pandemic in America and around the world. The youth become entrenched in an ideology doled out by those who seek to control, persuade and coerce teenagers. This is only made worse by the fact that the communication between parent and child has become mostly non-existent. This leaves the teens in a state where they have to fend for themselves in areas they are too young to understand and too eager to become engaged in.
Modern American society through its music, movies and education system has let down the teenagers in the most rudimentary way. Teenagers nowadays lack guidance and care, they are the fabric of society which has been shredding for years and has been reduced to a mere statistic, and as illustrated above Teen Suicide is also a statistic that no one seems to take into account. The importance of self-worth isn't asserted by any child services, nor by the family courts and neither by the teens' caregivers. Over the last decades the basic make-up of the family-unit has dramatically changed, going from the two-parent household in some cases to a one-parent household. In some cases a teen's family becomes his gang members who will feed into the destruction of that teen on a daily basis until one day he or she will become a Teen Suicide statistic. Morality is nothing more than just a word and a concept of the past, and many youths have become self-absorbed in an underworld of hatred and self-loathing.
Teen Suicide is not on the mind of every teenager, but the statistics are certainly frightening. Who or what is responsible for this outbreak? Well most should agree that the parents need to take a stronger role in their child's life from the onset. Teen Suicide doesn't spontaneously come up in the mind of a teenager unless something terribly wrong pushed him or her over the edge. Teenagers don't suddenly choose to die and parents must not allow them to choose that sort of end game.
Teenagers nowadays become depressed, alone, hopeless, angry and helpless. The people in the immediate environment of the teenager, the parents, friends, as educators have to act as guardians of this precious commodity. And these guardians must not allow Teen Suicide to be what the teenagers think is in their best interest. The parents and friends, and society in general have to give teenagers reasons to live, to love, and to become needed and useful members of society.
Parents need to educate and interact with their kids and teenagers in a positive, caring and thoughtful way to ensure they have the proper tools with to grow and gain empowerment.
Troubled teens with suicidal ideation may talk about committing suicide and have a preoccupation with death and dying. Often teens have trouble eating or sleeping, and there is often a noticeable change in personal appearance. You may notice a loss of interest in work, school, or hobbies, and withdrawal from social activities, friends, and family. Sometimes there are drastic changes in behavior.
Those teens struggling with suicidal ideation often take unnecessary risks, as if they didn't care what the consequences might be. Sometimes there is an increase in their use of alcohol and drugs. Suicidal teens needing teen help may display signs of preparing for death by making funeral arrangements or by giving away prized possessions.
If you notice any of these signs in a child needing teen help, you would be wise to immediately consult a therapist, and to seek professional assistance.
The Role of Therapeutic Boarding Schools
Part of this assistance may include finding a residential treatment program or boarding school for troubled teens which specifically enrolls students struggling with suicidal ideation. Such schools can provide 24x7 supervision, support, and regular therapeutic assistance, while keeping necessary focus on academic development and performance.
Finding an Appropriate School
The most common problem, however, with finding a boarding school for troubled teens which assists suicidal teens, is that most schools aren't willing to assume the liability of treating such students. Therefore, finding quality programs is very difficult. Parents are sometimes tempted not to reveal the severity of their teens problems, fearing rejection by the treatment or boarding school. This is a mistake.
Represent Referral Issues Openly and Honestly
Clear representation of your troubled teen's issues is critical when you are seeking an appropriate program. If you are looking for a program to help a suicidal teen please contact us. Although we cannot guarantee the services of any program, we can help you find programs that represent themselves as being strong therapeutically, academically, and from the perspective of caring supervision. We can also help you avoid misplacement in programs that may not be helpful, but may otherwise represent themselves as appropriate.
Don't give up. We're here to help. Contact us.
