<p>With 4 high school suicides in the past 5 years, our community has put together a community forum to address these problems. The last suicide was a very popular, very nice and extremely intelligent senior (already accepted to colleges).</p>
<p>Our high school is the top school in the county and is very competitive academically and athleticlly. I was just wondering if you all are seeing a rise in suicide/depression/cutting in your community?</p>
<p>That is horrible. I don’t know of any hs suicides in my community specifically; a parent did commit suicide recently and there was a very educational assembly about how most suicides are not about “wanting” to kill oneself but rather are a result of a mental illness and just like any other illness, people should seek medical treatment.</p>
<p>I live in a state with one of the highest suicide rates in the country. An eighth grader at our Junior High took this route a week ago today, and I’m still reeling. It was the first day of finals week. Had long talks with all three kids this week. I’d love any current articles on this topic, especially geared to kids between 13-18 years old. So sorry, chevy. This shakes the foundation.</p>
<p>Nah, my high school focuses on eating disorders, as it has for 25 years or more.</p>
<p>Riverrunner - don’t tell me you are from Utah?</p>
<p>[Depression</a> and suicide rates state by state - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-11-28-depression-suicide-numbers_N.htm]Depression”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-11-28-depression-suicide-numbers_N.htm)</p>
<p>Wow Hawaii, a fabulous vacation spot where many go to get away from stress – Not one I would have suspected to be in the top 3!</p>
<p>I think the states with the lowest incidents are ranked first.</p>
<p>Definitely not prevalent at my high school - the one kid who committed suicide about 7 years ago had an undiagnosed mental disorder, kept it to himself, and that and the inability of those close to him to see what was happening resulted in his tragic death. I think he was the only one to ever commit suicide while at the school.</p>
<p>“Cutting” ( which is often very different from depression and suicide attempts) has become so common in our middle schools +/- high schools, the other kids now assume the “cutter” is trying to hard to be different/“emo”.</p>
<p>Not Utah, but Idaho. The theory is we don’t spend enough on prevention/mental health services.</p>
<p>I would say stress, anxiety and depression are nearly universal at some times of the semester, present in varying amounts in different students.<br>
I think alcohol and substance use are common, although not used at all by many students.<br>
I think that suicide and physical harm are very rare.</p>
<p>alot of people cut at my school, but the only suicides have been accidental OD’s, and only a couple have happened.</p>
<p>Yes, Hawaii is very low on the list, they ranked it backwards.
The problem in Utah, IMO, is religion. The people, especially women ,of LDS faith are required to be always cheerful, always optimistc. Never complain. Just take your Wellbutrin day and night and show up for service all in smiles.</p>
<p>The problem with teen suicide is hormons, IMO again. The best way to cure depression and suicide like thoughts is to take your teen to the hospital to see someone who tried but was unlucky and ended up “brain dead”. A shocker but also a wake up call.
Remember that most people that do commit suicide do not really want to die. They want to be SEEN.</p>
<p>kelowna
You can’t give someone a wake up call out of real depression. Real depression needs treatment just like any other real illness. Would you take a cancer patient to the hospital to see an advanced cancer patient so they could wake up and realize the severity of their illness? The most important way to deal with a depressed teen is to talk with them and get them into treatment with a good doctor. Sometimes medication is needed and sometimes counseling is enough. You can’t tell someone to cheer up and and get over it, that simply doesn’t work.</p>
<p>We had quite a few suicides at our high school in the years right after my kids graduated. The school has started some programs to address this horrible problem.</p>
<p>We get a suicide at the high school level about once every 4 years or so, but I have a D in 8th grade and the many of her close friends are on antidepressants and she knows of several cutters.</p>
<p>Our school, no. But the town has had four since the beginning of school.</p>
<p>In middle school, cutting was a bit of an issue. I agree with shrinkrap that most felt the girls were copycats who wanted to appear emo.</p>
<p>No suicides here thank heavens, but there have been several in nearby communities and I wouldn’t dream of thinking our town was somehow immune.</p>
<p>Cutting is common in our Middle School. A few kids with legit problems, followed by a fair number of copycats looking for attention (or trying to be emo). I haven’t heard of it being an issue in the high school.</p>
<p>There were four suicides within three months at a local high school a few years ago. The school district I was a part of, while not having any suicides for quite a while, has had many attempts. I don’t even think most people know it, but I just happened to be in a position to hear about these attempts…</p>
<p>One of my nephew’s classmates and a childhood friend/neighbor killed himself this week. He was a high school senior and had gotten off-track in middle school. He went Goth and was into drugs and other destructive behaviors. My nephew went “jock”. My sister tried to get the parents to let the kid sign up for little league etc., but they didn’t want to spend the time dealing with it. The kid was on some kind of juvenile intervention this year (a van picked him up for an alternative school). You wonder how things could have maybe been different…</p>