If a teen expresses thoughts of suicide, don't panic. Follow these steps for responding appropriately to the crisis.
In Teen Suicide Warning Signs, I talk about 10 red flags that may indicate a teen is at risk for trying to harm themselves. Your agency or organization should have policies in place that address how to respond to these types of situations. Generally speaking, you should keep the following four points in mind when talking with kids who may be suicidal.
Don’t judge. Resist the urge to mimimize the student’s concerns. Comments such as, “That’s not worth getting so upset over,” won’t take away the teen’s depressed feelings. Adults often think that these types of responses help kids put things into perspective, but they actually do more harm than good. In fact, trivializing his experience may make matters worse by causing the student to misunderstood and unimportant.
Keep Them Talking. If a student has shared this info with you, obviously you are a person she trusts. By showing warmth and caring, and empathizing with their feelings, you can continue to create a safe environment for the teen to share her experience with you.
Refer. Unless you have special training to do so yourself, students who make suicidal threats need to be evaluated by a professional to ensure that they pose no danger to themselves. Resist the urge to decide that, “He doesn’t really mean it,” based on your knowledge of the student. Kids often test the waters by throwing out a seemingly offhand comment or joke about suicide: be sure to take these seriously, as well. Parents need to be informed right away about all such comments.
Supervise. Until parents arrive and/or the student can be assessed, be sure that she is properly supervised at all times. Make sure she has no access to anything that she can use to hurt herself.
