Teen Suicide On The Rise

It's a sad fact that 43,000 teens, average was girls aged 10-14, committed suicide in 2014. Teen suicide rates have been on the rise for the past decade. Just this past year, one in twelve high school students attempted suicide. Why? A myriad of reasons that all could have been dealt with, probably preventing most of these tragic deaths, if there were more programs to inform parents, schools, and other teens what signs to look for. The next three blogs I do are going to deal with information I believe will help alert and inform people what we can do to help. First are risk factors that signal teens are needing help. *Changes in eating and sleeping habits. Take notice of anything out of the ordinary and check-in with your teen as far as how they are feeling. Are they sick? Is there something going on at school? Home? *Lack of interest in activities the teen has previously spent a lot of time enjoying. *Sudden unexplained withdrawal from family and friends. These are a few of the warning signs to watch out for. Make a point of connecting with your children on a daily basis. Engage with them in some of their favorite activities, invite them to do something with you that both of you would enjoy, find time to talk with one another in a neutral zone-in the car, at the park, or while going out for ice cream. Start while your kids are young and keep building that connection. They need to know you are there for them and not too busy or judgmental about what is important to them. My latest book, 50 Things Your Kids DON'T Want To Tell You, hits on many items that could be factors that would lead to suicide or attempts thereof. In the next post, I will list a few more risk factors that we should be aware of, that will help us to battle this horrible attack on our children.