Last week, with funding from the School District 51 (Boundary) Parents Advisory Council, Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention workshops were presented to students, staff and parents in both Grand Forks and Midway.
The message brought by Kim Leifso and Karin Mattu of Speras Consulting was that suicide is preventable and, most importantly, that there is hope.
According to Leifso and Mattu suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24-year-olds (behind car accidents).
They presented other stats too—Boundary specific data that says 11 per of Boundary high school students said they seriously considered killing themselves last year; 5 per cent of Boundary high school students reported having attempted suicide last year; and 26 per cent of Boundary youth suicide attempts result in medical attention or hospitalization.
There are a lot of pressures on kids these days— relationships, parents, college, expectations, keeping up, fitting in, over-scheduling, etc.
For many who attempt suicide, there is a major crisis event that triggers their decision, while for others it may be something small that feels like the last straw.
When they start feeling that the stresses in their life outweigh their coping abilities they need support. But the Speras workshop also brought the hopeful fact that most youth who thought about suicide last year reached out to someone.
“If you know the signs you can intervene even before it feels like you are intervening,” Leifso told parents at the BCSS meeting. And she redefined the word intervention—not to be the reality TV in your face version, but something as simple as coming along side someone and agreeing with them that, “Yeah this does suck—you want to talk about it?”