Teens and Suicide
Many teens in South Dakota know someone who has thought about suicide, attempted suicide or died by suicide. On average, we lose one young person in the United States to suicide every 1 hour and 29 minutes. Nationally, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for those ages 10 to 24, second only to accidents for this age group. The same is true for South Dakota youth age 10 to 24, where it is the second leading cause of death as well, again second only to accidents.
These statistics are particularly alarming because this does not have to be the case. Suicide is often preventable if one knows the warning signs to look for and is able to access help. There is not an easy answer to why a young person might want to end their life, as often there are multiple reasons that exist. Sometimes there is an illness such as depression. Sometimes there may be other triggering factors such as a loss or other stressful life event. In most cases, the youth does not want to die but wants a way to end the unbearable pain they are experiencing.
Information provided by American Association of Suicidology
Help A Friend In Need community guide for Facebook
The Jed Foundation, the Clinton Foundation, and Facebook have partnered to create this guide, which provides recommendations about how to recognize content on social media that may signal emotional distress, as well as advice on how to talk to a friend who may be struggling and connect them to help:
http://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/resource-program/Help%20a%20Friend%20In%20Need.pdf
Retrieved from Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Suicide Prevention Resources:
http://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/resource-program/Teens.pdf
Retrieved from Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC).