Suicide is the third-leading cause of death in young adults aged 15-24, after accidental injury and homicide (Cimini, et. al, 2014). For this reason, involving the community as a whole in developing a plan to recognize, intervene, act to create awareness and reduce the suicide incidence in this age group is detrimental.
The plan is to raise awareness, engage stakeholders and decrease suicide rates of adolescent suicide among Native Americans 15 to 24 years of age. This awareness can be implemented immediately by Involving teachers, parents, school nurses, law enforcement, healthcare providers, counselors, tribal leaders, clergymen, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, caregivers, women and if possible, suicide survivors to provide counseling
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Gatekeepers are members of communities trained to identify and respond appropriately to the warning signs for suicide (Cimini, et. al, 2014). If member find that a participant show warning signs, referrals will be made.
It is important for the stakeholders and community to know what to look for as a sign of “being at risk for suicide” in this group. The warning signs of depression will be incorporated into the education plan. According to MedlinePlus (2017) the common signs of depression are: irritability with sudden burst of anger, sensitivity to criticism, withdrawal from people, not enjoying activities they enjoyed in the past, feeling tired and sadness.
Healthy Children.org (2015) shared key tips for parents and everyone involved in educating to recognize mental health in teens: a) Open, honest conversations should be maintained with these adolescents and young adults; they should be able to know that they can come to us for help. Sharing our experience when we were their age is helpful for them to feel that they are not alone. b) Understanding that mental health disorders are treatable. We need to our research and seek information about mental health. c) Be attentive to your teen’s behavior. We all know that changes during teenage years are normal, but we should be on the look-out for drastic changes, which can be an indicator of a mental health problem
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The master’s prepared nurse is able to provide the needed resources at education that this particular population needs. The SOS Signs of Suicide program with White Mountain Apache strategies will educate tribal leaders, teachers, parents and clergy . The education component is essential to the communities understanding and knowledge development. According to Crosby, Ortega, & Stevens (2013), living in poverty on a reservation, Native American graduation rates are lower, they die younger, and substance abuse as well as obesity rates are higher than that of the national average (cdc.gov). The program is best delivered with guidance of the Public Health
“If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones” (Mclntosh, 2002, p. 99). For this reason, I cannot fully understand the pain that Attawapiskat is going through. I do have personal experience with friend’s committing suicide and my own depression, however, it is not the same as what this community is going through. As a Child and Youth Care practitioner who is not of Indigenous descent, I would need work next to the community and walk with them, being a friend and partner and not let there be any power
Signs such as, “feelings of sadness, or hopelessness, declining school performance, loss of pleasure/interest in social and sports activities, sleeping too little or too much, changes in weight or appetite, nervousness, agitation or irritability, and substance abuse.” Wager warns parents of teens that are expressing these types of behaviors to notify a doctor or therapist before the situation gets worse. Teens with a sense of hopelessness tend to believe that suicide is the only way out. Wager states, “America’s young people with thoughts of suicide all having their own unique circumstances leading them all to the same conclusion: Suicide being in their mind a sane decision to what they feel to be an insane situation.”
Adolescent Native American females have a four times higher suicide death rate than a white American female. In 2014, suicide was the leading cause of death for Native Americans girls and young women (ages 10-34), and the second leading cause of death for overall Native Americans (ages 10-34) (“Office of Minority…”). With federal budget cuts, tribes are not able to fund mental health services for those who need help. The Oglala Tribe in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, is seeing the negative consequences those cuts have created. Cathy Abramson, chairwoman of the National Indian Health Board, said at a Senate committee meeting in Washington, “Since the beginning of the year, there have been 100 suicide attempts in 110 days on Pine Ridge.
While the suicide rate for aboriginal females is only 35 per 100,000 compared to only 5 per 100,000 for non-Aboriginal females. (“Health Canada,” 2015) This shows that the suicide rate
Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among youth aged 15-29 (WHO). Among the Canadian indigenous population, the suicide rate was 24.3% which is a striking 3 times higher than non-indigenous people (Stober). The short story ‘Mr. Gizmo’ by Drew Hayden Taylor takes a look into what that is like for a teenage boy who struggles with finding the willpower to continue living. By embracing his indigenous background the main character comes to terms with and learns to value his life, since he and other young indigenous kids are the future—the Elders of tomorrow. When the main character beings to embrace and relearn his culture, he finally gains more confidence in himself.
In The Program there is a worldwide epidemic of teen suicide. Sloane’s brother and best friend killing themselves, her brother and other best friend getting admitted to The Program has Sloane’s parents thinking that these events will lead her into thoughts of suicide. That made Sloane’s mom decided to put her into The Program. In The Program there are pills that take the “bad” memories away. While Sloane is in The Program she meets a guy named Realm who is secretly working for The Program, but has Sloanes best interest at heart.
Keiski acknowledges that, “Individual therapy with a psychologist or psychiatrist is probably the most common form of treatment for people suffering from any sort of depression or need help through a crisis.” (95). In most cases, suicide is a result of how lonely the victim may feel since they may not fully receive the love and care they deserve. Hence, it is important that professional caretakers reach out to them since they may feel too embarrassed of their negative thoughts. Directly connecting to this idea, most times family members and friends are not too sure about how to address this with the victim since they do not really know how to help.
As of 2015, 5 in 100,000 girls and 14 in 100,000 teenagers commit suicide (Lewis). Teenagers are becoming more vulnerable and schools seem to be taking no notice. If these lives could be saved, it would help so many families across the united states. The National Institute of Mental Health states that there “are as many as 25 attempts of suicide to every one that is actually committed” (Eco Child’s Play). Suicides can be prevented by treatment of the illness.
Suicide. The action of killings oneself intentionally. A word synonymous with despair and tragedy, this act may be taken due to several reasons but if focused on a particular demographic, such as college students, the reasons may be clearer. It is widely accepted that causes of suicides are largely (if not completely) mentally related. With high amounts of stress and pressure coupled with ever amounting expectations on still developing minds, it does not seem difficult to correlate why the rates of suicide among college students is steadily increasing.
We need to be aware of the consequences we are making not only to ourselves but to other people like our friends or family. There’s many opportunities in the world to still live by and there’s local services and programs to help out the teens, adults and even elderly people from suicide prevention. Life is tough and I know we all go to ups and downs, but we need to agree that suicide isn’t the answer to ending our lives and we need to change it. Young and elderly people commit suicide for different reasons and need different treatments.
Introduction: What is the problem? Recently, news about suicide cases on telephone and newspaper appeared frequently. 22 cases were reported since the first academic year last September 2015. The number of cases reached the annual average cases in last five years.
During the years of university, students are overloaded with assignments, projects, presentations, quizzes and exams. These works and exams can create a lot of stress and pressures for university students who are expected to perform excellently in classes. Suicide is the tragic result students choose after facing these incidents. According to Emory Cares 4 U, “Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people aged 25 to 34 and the third-leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24” (Emory University, 2016). The causes of suicide in university students are academic and social pressure, inadequate coping skills with university works and feeling of failure or decreased performance.
An emphasis is placed on the importance of identifying warning signs and risk factors for depression and suicide amongst teens. According to the research conducted by King and Vidourek (2012) early detection and suicidal warning signs is seen to be crucial for effective intervention. Teenagers need to be encouraged to be more proactive when it comes to their personal mental health. Positive coping mechanisms such as problem-solving skills, effective communication skills, and good conflict resolution skills are all essential in lessening the likelihood that a teen exhibiting depressive behaviors will go forth and take their own life. As most teenagers spend most of their time in school, better prevention and intervention programs need to be in place.
In an article by Perri Klass says “The signs of teenage depression include mood changes, like persistent sadness or irritability, and changes in level of functioning, such as school failure (Perri Klass). Horst 2
Occasional bad moods or acting out is to be expected, but depression is something different. Depression can destroy the very essence of a teenager’s personality, causing an overwhelming sense of sadness, despair, or anger. Depression is not just something that spurred out of nowhere. It is THE effect of multiple issues that have never been addressed properly by an individual to his or her elders.