Speaker(s):

Shari Scott, M.A., LPC

Presentation:

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. Review past and current statistics related to youth suicide
  2. Examine 10, 000 youth suicide since 2003 to survey precipitating circumstances
  3. Learn how to best talk with suicidal youth
  4. Explore ways to handle grief following the suicide of a young person