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Experts offer tips to avert teen suicide

Houston conference follows recent reports of deaths in Houston area and around the nation

By CINDY GEORGE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Oct. 2, 2010, 12:28PM

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TEEN SUICIDES

Teens experience stress, confusion, self-doubt, pressure to succeed, financial uncertainty and other fears while growing up. Trauma, the formation of a new family with step-parents and step-siblings or moving to a new community can be very unsettling. For some, suicide may appear to be a solution to their problems. Always take statements like "I want to kill myself" and "I'm going to commit suicide" seriously.

Suicidal signs

• Change in eating and sleeping habits

• Withdrawal from friends, relatives and activities

• Violent actions, rebellious behavior or running away

• Drug and alcohol use

• Unusual neglect of personal appearance

• Marked personality change

• Persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating or a decline in schoolwork quality

• Frequent complaints about physical symptoms often related to emotions such as stomach aches, headaches and fatigue

• Loss of interest in pleasurable activities

• Intolerance of praise or rewards

A teen planning suicide may:

• Complain of being a bad person

• Give verbal hints such as "I won't be a problem much longer," "Nothing matters" or "It's no use"

• Put his or her affairs in order, such as giving away or discarding valued possessions, or clean room

• Become suddenly cheerful after a period of depression

• Have signs of psychosis, such as hallucinations or bizarre thoughts

• Source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

Where to get help

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK or www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Houston's Crisis Hotline: 713-HOTLINE or 713-526-8088 (español)

Texas Suicide Prevention: Visit texassuicideprevention.org for additional resources.

While bullying may have played a role in a recent string of nationally publicized teen suicides, experts warned Friday that taking one's life is often the result of multiple issues.

The trio of deaths — including a 13-year-old Cypress boy — might have been avoided with simple interventions, said experts who spoke Friday at a suicide conference on the University of St. Thomas campus in Houston.

Asher Brown took his life last week after allegedly being bullied at a Cypress-Fairbanks ISD school. Cyberbullying is believed to have prompted Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi, 18, to jump to his death on Sept. 22. The catalyst for Colton Tooley, a 19-year-old University of Texas at Austin sophomore, to kill himself Tuesday in the campus library is unknown.

"The emphasis on bullying is both good and bad," said Thomas Joiner, a clinical psychologist and Florida State University suicide researcher. "The good part is: It's a public health problem that causes a lot of problems.

"The bad part, though, is that it encourages our tendency — which we already have — to think simplistically about suicide as if bullying caused that. Well, it was one factor. Keep in mind 33,000 of our fellow Americans are dead this year from suicide. Very few of them were bullied."

85 suicides a day

Every day, roughly 85 people in the U.S. take their lives. The toll includes thousands of adolescents annually. Suicide is the third-leading case of death for youth ages 15 to 24 and the sixth-leading cause of death for children 5 to 14.

Among the victims: Bennisha Davis of Houston, a 14-year-old who survived a triple-fatal crash this summer that killed her best friend and her half sister, but shot herself a few weeks later. She had received no counseling for her grief.

"In some populations, and adolescents are probably the best example, there are features or characteristics of the death that have more impulsive qualities," Joiner said. "But to focus on that misses the larger point that to die by suicide whether you're 12 or 85 is a fearsome and daunting thing that people are just not able to do like they are able to do other spur-of-the-moment, impulsive things."

He also stressed that hot lines offering access to concerned counselors can thwart suicidal plans because "caring undermines intent."

Most people who die by suicide have a mental disorder, most commonly depression, according the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Clementi took his life after a roommate allegedly placed a webcam in their dorm room to capture Clementi's sexual encounter with another man, then broadcast the video online. The roommate and another Rutgers student have been charged with invasion of privacy.

David Rudd, a suicide researcher and professor at the University of Utah, said the Rutgers incident shows a clear connection between suicide and stress that activated Clementi's vulnerability.

"You just don't wake up and want to die," said Rudd, a former psychology department chair at Texas Tech University. "There are events in your life that make you more vulnerable."

Parents should monitor their teens for dramatic changes in sleep, behavior and attitude because "as we've heard over and over today, it's not just one thing," said Pam Greene, chief nursing officer and senior vice president of patient care services at The Menninger Clinic, a Houston psychiatric hospital.

She said recent high-profile cases give adults an opening to talk with teens about suicide, bullying and appropriate use of social networks.

"Parents are more likely, I think, to say something to their kids like: 'This kid — he died — and they say there's bullying. Are you being bullied? Is there bullying at your school?' " Greene said. "Hopefully it drives families back to looking at how they are doing. It's simple things. Are families stopping to have meals together and really connecting? Turn that TV off, turn off the cell phones, turn off the gadgets and really look at each other and sit down and ask 'How are we doing?' and find out how things are going in each other's lives."

Monitor social media

Depression and suicidal feelings can be treated and suicide can be prevented, said Merily Keller, an Austin-based suicide prevention consultant, reached by phone late Friday. Her 18-year-old son took his life a decade ago.

She encourages parents and educators to monitor Facebook and other social media, and if suicidal comments pop up, to take them seriously. She also suggests parents post help line numbers and websites on social media pages to get the information to children.

"Most teens tell another young person that they are considering suicide, but that young person doesn't know what to do with that information," she said.

Keller said she hopes every youngster learns to advocate for his or her mental health.

"If someone is bleeding, you go to stop the blood," she said. "You can look at the warning signs of suicide as emotional blood, but we don't treat it that way."

cindy.george@chron.com


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