When a teen faces severe emotional struggles, they might experience suicidal ideation, with thoughts of wanting to die. According to the CDC, suicide is the second most common cause of death in children aged 10 to 14, with boys more likely to die from suicide than girls. If your child has emotional challenges or mental health conditions, it is important to recognize and know how to address teen suicidal ideation.
This guide explains the signs of teen suicide risk and what parents can do to help their child renew their desire to live.
Why Do Teens Attempt Suicide?
When faced with overwhelming emotions driven by natural changes, teens have difficulty finding relief from their stress and feelings such as self-doubt, fear, and pressures to succeed. This can affect their mental health and their ability to resolve issues with their decision making and problem-solving skills.
Although we all experience strong emotions as teens related to changes in our bodies, views, thoughts and feelings, today the impact of social media adds further emotional stress. Constant use of social media exposes teens to cyberbullying and can also intensify body image issues. Teens living with depression experience stronger feelings of anxiousness and loneliness after using social media. Also, a nationwide study found that teens who spend over three hours a day on social media daily have an increased risk of self-harm.
There are also life changes that contribute to suicidal ideation such as:
- Family dynamics and issues such as divorce, older siblings going to college or moving out, parent or sibling substance abuse, etc.
- Moving to a new town or transitioning to high school
- Making new friends or losing old friends
- Coping with increasing workload in high school
- Peer pressure
- Loss or grief
When a teen is faced with several problems or is experiencing social issues that become too embarrassing or painful to deal with, they might feel suicide is the only solution.
The Dangers of Suicide Pacts
A suicide pact involves an instigator who entices a cooperator or cooperators to agree to commit suicide together. Often it is depressed males who have a history of suicidal behavior who influence female partners to join them, but it can also be pacts amongst friends. The instigator tends to have a “plan” that includes when, how and where the suicide will take place.
However, pacts can also arise when one person confesses their desire to commit suicide to another, and the idea of the pact develops from that discussion. The final possibility is Cybersuicide pacts which are formed online, often among strangers. These people often find each other via forums where suicide is discussed including encouragement to carry through the idea and even instructions on how to commit suicide. Although suicide pacts are rare, this increases the risk of pacts as people engage in sharing their suicidal ideations.
Recognizing the Signs of Teen Suicidal Ideation
It can be hard to recognize the signs of suicidal ideation as they are similar to depression. In both cases, your child should see their doctor or a mental health professional for diagnosis and treatment to overcome their emotional struggles. Signs include:
- Eating and sleeping changes
- No longer interested in their favorite activities or school
- Withdrawal
- Acting out
- Running away or staying out late
- Substance use
- Not caring about their personal appearance or hygiene
- Risky behavior
- Obsession with death/dying
- Increasing physical complaints such as stomachaches, headaches, etc.
- Extreme fatigue
- Falling grades and truancy
- Complaints of boredom
- Trouble focusing
- Unresponsive to praise
- Expressing the desire to die such as saying they wish they were dead, they want to kill themselves, or saying someone who has died is “lucky”
- Foreshadowing their death such as telling you that you won’t have to worry about them much longer, or that they won’t be around to see something important such as their graduation, the holidays, a family trip, etc.
- Expressing strange thoughts
- Finding suicide notes or texts to friends about suicide
Addressing Teen Suicidal Ideation
If your child is not in immediate danger, you can address their ideation and help overcome teen suicide risk in the following ways:
- Seek professional help immediately, including therapy for yourself to help you overcome your fears and stress
- Avoid leaving your teen alone
- Parental monitoring can reduce the risk of your teen finding suicide forums
- If your child is depressed, checking their internet searches regularly can also indicate they’re experiencing suicidal ideation
- In the case where suicide pacts are possible, removing your child from their environment is the safest way to help them overcome their obsession with death
If therapy doesn’t work, full-time, residential treatment provides an accredited high school program where your teen can continue their education while receiving a wealth of mental and behavioral health treatment options.
See how a full-time residential program can help with suicidal ideation and other behavioral health issues with the assistance of Telos Academy. Click here for more information.