What Parents Should Know about Teen Suicide and How to Prevent It

Every single one has encountered a teenage suicide case, directly or indirectly. It is always very tragic when a young life fades away due to staggering hopelessness and frustration. It is so immense a loss to the family, friends, and the community at large that they are left wondering if there was something they missed and could have helped prevent teen suicide.

Hence in this article, you will get an insight into teen suicide.

Talk facts about teen suicide

Here are some facts about teen suicide you should know:

The reasons as to why teens commit suicide or attempt suicide are myriad and intricate. Children 's suicide cases are unheard of, but as they grow into the adolescence stage, the cases take a toll on them.

Accidents and homicide are the leading causes of death, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Third on the list is teen suicide, between ages 15 and 24, to be precise. Plus, for every suicide committed, there are about 25 attempts.

What makes teenagers and kids susceptible to suicide is the availability of firearms in their residence. Research shows that in almost 60% of cases, the mode of suicide was a gun in the United States of America. Hence, as a parent in possession of a firearm, ensure you keep it out of reach of kids and always unloaded to help prevent teen suicide.

Another popular way of attempted suicide is overdosing with over-the-counter (OTC) drugs, prescribed and un-prescribed. Therefore, it is crucial to keep drugs out of reach of children in your home. Also, teens tend to exchange medicinal drugs at school stored in their lockers or backpack.

Teen suicide rates are different in girls and boys. For instance, girls are known to think about and try committing suicide at least two times as often as boys. They go about it by overdosing on drugs or slitting their arms. On the other hand, boys die from suicide nearly four times as often as girls, probably because they opt for pretty deadly ways like guns, hanging, or jumping from frightening heights.

In the next parts, you will get educated on how to help prevent teen suicide by knowing the signs and how to use a parental control app to monitor any attempts.

Which Teens are at Risk of Suicide?

Can you remember what it was to be a teenager? Trying to let go of being a child and adopting into adulthood? It surely was a challenging period of growth, and keeping up almost did drive you nuts every dawning, right! You have to excel in your academics to make it to college to pursue your dream career, struggle to fit in with your peers, and keep up with all that's "what's up" and be a responsible young adult, especially if you have younger siblings! Oh my, the pressure!

Let us not get started on discovering your sexuality. Adolescence stage is the period when kids identify with their sexuality and develop relationships with others. They get the urge to be independent, and their attempts end up clashing with the rules and regulations put up by parents.

Moreover, kids suffering from mental health problems like bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, or insomnia, are extremely more likely to contemplate suicide. Besides that, teen suicide attempts and cases are of teens experiencing significant and sudden life changes such as parents divorcing or separating or relocating, going away to work in the military, or financial reforms. Bullying victims are also likely to get suicidal thoughts.

Below are bullet points on factors that fuel up teen suicide among kids:

• Psychological disorders depression, bipolar disorders, alcohol, and substance abuse.
• Teens experiencing discomfort, fretfulness, and perturbation
• Hopelessness and worthlessness associated with depression
• Previous suicide attempts.
• Depression or suicide history in the family
• Abuse emotional, sexual or physical
• Lack of support from the family and surrounding community when going through bisexuality or homosexuality.

These factors are not only reasons for deaths through teen suicide, but also suicide attempts and complete cases in adults as well.

What Can Parents Do about Teen Suicide Prevention?

Many a time, parents tend to brush off most of the teen suicide signs as ways of seeking attention. However, instead of ignoring these signs, here is what you can do to curb teen suicide:

1. Keep an eye out and be attentive

When dealing with a depressed teenager, you need to be very watchful and try to understand what they are going through. See to it that the teen can openly and freely reach out to you whenever and make them feel cared for, supported, and loved. Better yet, if your teen doesn't feel comfortable opening up to you, find someone that can help them.

2. Be inquisitive

As much as it is difficult to ask your child if they have any thoughts of ending their lives, doing so helps in explaining why you had to ask. You could have noticed how withdrawn, and distant the teen has become, ask them why.

3. Immediately get help for the teen

The moment you find out that your child is contemplating committing suicide, don 't think twice about getting help for them. There are direct helplines you can call besides being referred to the appropriate psychiatric department by a doctor. Also, family disputes and conflicts should be dealt with constructively, minimizing emotional and traumatic damage to kids.

4. Hold the teen 's hand when dealing with loss

When your teen loses someone close to them to suicide, first of all, acknowledge the well of emotions they are experiencing. Tell them it is fine to feel whatever they are feeling and make them know they can talk to you about it any time, whenever they are ready to. In cases of survivors of suicide attempts, teach your teen to avoid refraining from the topic. Instead, urge them to connect with suicide survivors.

So, parents, losing a child to teen suicide is excruciatingly painful and incredibly challenging. Therefore, parents who lose children to suicide get referred to counseling and join support groups in their healing process. Also, take all the necessary precautions, including FamiSafe software, to help you in teen suicide prevention.