“I want every student to know that they are not alone, and it’s absolutely okay to ask for help. Reaching out for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of bravery and strength,” Maize South High School’s behavioral health liaison, Mandy Herman said.
September is nationally recognized as suicide prevention month. According to the CDC and other sources, suicide makes up for around 11-12% of all deaths for people aged 12-19. Thousands of children and adolescents are taking their own lives yearly. The urgent problem of suicide specifically within teenagers, has been a topic in news and media since the early 2010’s. But what about when this becomes a real issue that affects you or someone you know? Not just something you see on a screen. Where do you go? What steps do you take and how can you be the reason someone’s life is saved within Maize?
Maize High Schools behavioral health liaison, Ashleigh Hughbanks, works within, and outside the district in suicide prevention and mental health care. She talks about what makes mental health issues especially prevalent in people during their teenage years.
“I think there’s a lack of distress tolerance in this age group, and when I say distress tolerance I mean the ability to emotionally manage difficult situations. I see a lot of teenagers that just get overwhelmed and can’t and don’t want to do any of it. I think it’s hard for teenagers to see a situation all the way through,” Hughbanks said.
When it comes to the “lack of distress tolerance” in teens, there is a lot of science behind it. The interaction between the developing frontal lobe and underlying mental health conditions can cause a lack of logical reasoning. This is why teenagers often feel like suicide is the only option. In reality, that’s not the case at all, it’s just brain chemistry.
Experts say jokes of suicide could impact the urgency of real suicidal ideation, according to BMC Psychiatry. Lots of teenagers will use the phrase “I’m going to kill myself” just to express negative emotion around something. This has the boy who called wolf effect. When this type of language becomes so normalized, it becomes much harder to tell when that statement is an insensitive joke, or a cry for help. Hughbanks touches on this topic during our conversation.
“I feel like it is completely inappropriate to say something like that, also ‘you should just kill yourslef’ makes me furious because I hear kids say that and it’s not helpful, and some students are hanging on by a thread and you say something like that and they’re like ‘Oh, proof. Nobody cares.’ It’s just not something to ever joke about,” Hughbanks said.
For students all over the country that struggle with mental health and suicidal thoughts, socioeconomic status can be a huge factor that may cause someone to not receive the help they need. For other students, they might already have a therapist outside of school but don’t want to miss hours of their school day for weekly appointments. Maize offers so many resources within the school and even assistance in payment.
“We partner with Comcare, so we provide therapy in school, just to reduce any barriers to mental health support that we can find. If transportation is a barrier, If missing school is a concern, I had a student last year who had a therapy appointment on the other side of town… so providing therapy in school is convenient and easier for parents, it goes through the summer so it’s just like a therapist in the community. We have a district paid therapist at the intermediate schools, so that therapy service is free…and then we have a district paid therapist to kind of catch the kids that wouldn’t qualify for Comcare, who don’t have insurance…” Hughbanks said.
Most teenagers, and people in general, have suicide attempts that derive from pre existing mental health disorders. This isn’t always just from having depression though. Suicidal thoughts can come from a plethora of other mental health issues like anxiety, OCD, ADHD, bipolar disorder and so many others. Around 49% of adolescents experience some form of mental illness within their developing years, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. This puts almost half of all teenagers at the risk of having suicidal thoughts and actions.
On both high school campuses, Maize and Maize South, as well as both middle and intermediate schools, there is a behavioral health liaison. At all the schools in both districts, elementary through high school, there are counselors that are trained and ready to hear your stories. They would be your first step to ask for help for yourself or a peer. From there, you may get referred to other resources. Herman discusses common red flags to look out for in your peers.
“Some signs that someone might be struggling with suicidal thoughts include talking about wanting to die, leaving notes, making specific plans, showing extreme sadness or hopelessness, giving away possessions, or showing drastic changes in appearance. This list is not exhaustive, and the presence of one or more signs doesn’t automatically mean someone is suicidal. These signs may be a strong indicator that they may need help. If you notice any of these signs, please speak up and tell a trusted adult,” Herman said
You are never alone and are surrounded by so much assistance in the Maize community. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or actions, call or text 988. Say something, take action, and save a life.
