Paradise Ballroom C
Speaker(s):
Description
Suicide slipped into the top ten as far as causes of death in the United States (CDC, 2016). Deaths among school-aged children and teens continue to be on the rise; so much so, that suicide has statistically risen to the second leading cause of death among people aged 10-34. Suicide traumatizes those left in its path and how to navigate the grief following a suicide is both tricky and scary. This presentation reviews precipitating factors in youth who die by suicide, as well as risk factors and red flags for youth who attempt it in hopes of informing prevention efforts moving forward. How to best screen kids for suicidality, as well as how to talk to youth who express suicidal thoughts shall also be highlighted. Additionally, this presentation covers common grief reactions in those working through the death of a loved one to suicide and how to best support those individuals.
Objectives
1. Examine 10,000 pediatric suicides to determine factors, causes, and warning signs
2. Identify red flags in suicidal youth
3. Learn how to directly talk with youth who express suicidality
4. Explore steps to take following the suicide death of a student