Suicide is a serious problem, especially within the youth demographic because struggling can be underestimated due to age. Youth suicide is growing at an alarming rate and is one of the top health concerns today. It is the second leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 24 (Youth.gov). Here are some statistics I found alarming. Over 38,000 youth die from suicide every year, with the highest suicide rate being during springtime (Gray, 2014). Approximately, one person loses their life to suicide every 16 minutes and intimately affects 6 other people.
Most youth that commit suicide suffered from depression at the time of their death. Depression that is untreated is very dangerous and is the number one cause for youth suicides. For every 25 suicide attempts, one person succeeds. Lastly, about 50 percent of suicides are done with a firearm. Suicidal distress can be caused by psychological, environmental and or social factors and can change with age, gender, ethnic group, family and stress. According to a 2016 fact sheet distributed by the National Institute of Mental Health, research shows that risk factors for suicide include depression and other mental disorders, and substance abuse disorders (Rosenberg, Smith, Davidson, & Conn, 2017).
Approximately, 90 percent of youth that commits suicide struggled with at least one of those factors. Many efforts have been made to combat youth suicide like school education programs, crisis enter hotlines, and media guidelines. To help combat youth suicide, I have created a behavioral health program that allows youth struggling with suicidal feelings to check themselves in voluntarily to get help or family members and friends the ability to refer a loved one to get help.
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Youth years are essential in shaping the person people become. It’s supposed to be the phase of one’s life filled with happiness. However, even though most youths are healthy, physically and emotionally, one in every four to five youth in the general population meet criteria for a lifetime mental disorder that is associated with severe distress (Youth.gov). In 2008, 8.1 percent of youth ages 12 to 17 and 8.7 percent of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 had at least one depressive episode (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
2008). In addition, 6 percent of 12 to 17-year-olds and 5.4 percent of 18 to 25 year-olds had at least one major depressive episode with severe impairment (Youth.gov). Furthermore, in a 2008 study of students attending private and public high schools revealed, 13.8 percent reported that they had seriously considered attempting suicide, 10.9 percent had made a plan for how they would attempt suicide, 6.3 percent reported that they had attempted suicide one or more times within the past year, 1.9 percent had made a suicide attempt that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or an overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse (Youth.gov) Suicide is a deadly health problem that plagues many young people. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 10 and 24 and results in approximately 4,600 lives lost each year (Suicide Statistics). However, youth suicide is only a part of the problem since more youth survive their attempt at suicide than actually succeed.
Suicide prevention efforts have come a long way and have provided valuable information on risk and protective factors. My Youth Behavioral Health program’s mission statement is to provide care, hope, and encouragement to those youths who are struggling. No organization similar to mine has the same idea for their mission statement. For example, the American Association of Suicidology’s mission statement is, ‘ To promote the understanding and prevention of suicide and support those who have been affected by it’ (Mission). This mission statement focuses more on the people not struggling with suicidal thoughts learning to understand signs and learn preventative measures (Mission).
Whereas my mission statement focuses more on the individual going through the struggle. Youth patients will receive help from a trained health specialist who will provide a variety of mental well-being services. At Youth Behavioral Health, many different programs were created to specifically fit each patient’s different needs. The programs range from inpatient care, outpatient care, and partial hospitalization programs (Behavioral Health). Depending on the patient’s state, they can decide what they believe would get the best fit for them and have as little disruption to their lives as possible. However, if the patient is not in the right state, Youth Behavioral Health can get a judge order to hold the patient anywhere from twenty-four to thirty-six hours.
Patients can receive help in many ways. One way to receive help is to visit the Youth Behavioral Health location and speak to an onsite doctor about their struggles. If the doctor believes the patient is in danger of hurting themselves, they may ask the patient if they are willing to voluntarily check themselves in for inpatient treatment. Inpatient treatment is designed for patients who need immediate stabilization, crisis support or other short-term intensive care (Inpatient Programs). Inpatient care is best for patients who appear to be a danger to themselves and others and need to be monitored multiple times throughout the day and night. For inpatient care, Youth Behavioral Health with has highly trained, skilled doctors, social workers, therapist, and nurses that create treatment plans for every patient. Treatment plans can consist of family therapy, group interaction, therapeutic recreation, medication and other approaches (Inpatient Programs).
Family therapy is scheduled three times a day. All the patients at Youth Behavioral Health are assigned to smaller groups. When it is time for a family therapy session, a group will meet in a room and talk to one of our on-site therapists. Group interaction consists of participating in activities, like arts and crafts or miniature trips, with other patients. Our on-site doctors have one on ones with every Youth Behavioral Patient when they are first checked in. In this meeting, the doctor asks a lot of questions to get an understanding of what the problem is.
From this meeting, the doctor will prescribe medication if they feel it will benefit the patient. With these inpatient tools in addition to some outpatient tools, patients are equipped to begin their road to recovery once they complete the program and doctors feel like they are no longer a danger to themselves or others. On the other hand, our outpatient programs are for patients that doctors believe are not an immediate danger to themselves or others. Our outpatient programs allow patients seeking help to get the medical help they need with no interruption to their daily life.
Youth Behavioral Health’s main programs are Action Way. The goal of this program is to help and provide resources for patients struggling mentally with suicidal thoughts and those who have made suicidal attempts to find other ways to cope. ActionWay is an intensive outpatient program that teaches patients how to make treatment apart of their daily life. For example, learning to manage medications, how to identify triggers that could delay their healing process, becoming aware of and learning how to express their emotions, skills to change negative attitudes, build self-esteem and interpersonal skills, healthy goals, and how to stay motivated (Inpatient Programs).
For this outpatient program, sessions are only three days a week for four to six week. The sessions are led by out on site licensed therapist and nurses. Sessions are normally held Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Youth Behavioral Health. In addition, every fourth Saturday of each month, we hold an extra session for patients who might have missed during the week. Youth Behavioral Health also has its own twenty-four-hour hotline number for patients to call whenever they feel like they need someone to talk to that will understand. Youth Behavioral Health was created to provide help, give hope, and present tools to start the healing process for youth who are struggling with suicide.
Although there are many organizations in the world created to help those struggling with suicide, there are no organizations like mine. Many organizations do not offer inpatient treatment programs. The Mental Health of America organization shines a light on mental health and helps to transform care by participating, volunteering, donating, and advocating (NIMH). Their services include mental health education, resources, and supportive services. Their education focuses on suicide intervention skills and training (NIMH).
The resources they offer range from mental health screenings, mental health speakers, information, and referrals (NIMH). Lastly, their supportive services include crisis centers, mental health services, and support groups (NIMH). This organization offers short-term help, whereas Youth Behavioral Health is an extensive program that works with patients one on one until doctors believe they are in the right headspace to be out on their own without being a danger to themselves or others.
Becoming a patient at Youth Behavioral Health is easy and can be done in a couple ways. What many people do not know is many hospitals are trained and equipped to help out patients that come in seeking help because they feel suicidal. Youth Behavioral Health has partnered up with a few local hospitals in Fort Wayne, Indiana but plans to expand in the future. Once registered, the patient will be shown to their room and given a hospital gown to put on. After some time has passed, the assigned nurse will come in and complete the basic procedure.
However, since the patient voluntarily came into the hospital for suicidal thoughts, the nurse is trained to call our Youth Behavioral Health so we can ask the patient a couple questions to help us better assess the type of treatment they need. After the question, nurses and doctors at Youth Behavioral Health will decide whether to provide inpatient or outpatient treatment based on the patient’s answers. If the patient is deemed safe to themselves and others, Youth Behavioral Health will call the nurse back on the hospital phone and give the nurse the first day of treatment to give to the patient. After the patient understands, they are free to leave. However, if Youth Behavioral Health feels like the patient is a danger to themselves and others, the doctors will ask the patient to voluntarily commit themselves to inpatient treatment.
If the patient will not voluntarily go, a doctor from Youth Behavioral Health has to get a court-ordered hold, which can last from twenty-four to thirty-six hours. Once placed on a hold, the patient now cannot lawfully leave the hospital and will be escorted out by the hospital’s security team and driven to Youth Behavioral Health. Once the patient arrives at our facility, a nurse will meet with them in an office and ask basic questions. The last part of this process is called a patient check. A patient check is just to make sure that all incoming Youth Behavioral Health Patients do not have anything on them that they can use to harm themselves or others. For example, bobby pins, sweatshirt and sweatpants strings, and shoelaces. Safety is a top priority at Youth Behavioral Health, so extra precautions are taken to ensure the safety of our patients and staff.
Health care is one of the most important things in the United States. Funding my organization is simple. Since we are partnered with hospitals throughout Fort Wayne, health insurance and donations fund Youth Behavioral Health. Health insurance helps protect you from the high costs of health care. It helps you pay for doctor visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs and important preventive care (Blue Shield). In Youth Behavioral Health, there will be a team of people responsible for billing and dealing with insurance.
To attract attention and gain business, Youth Behavioral Health will be advertised as much as possible. Since my organization focuses on helping youth, there will be a team of people from Youth Behavioral Health that go to various high schools and give presentations. These presentations will go over suicide statistic rates, how to notice signs someone is struggling, and talk about what Youth Behavioral Health does, and why it is important to the community. At the end of these presentations, Youth Behavioral Health flyers will be passed out to students to make sure they never forget that if they are ever in a situation, Youth Behavioral Health is a resource that is always available to get help.
Youth Behavioral Health can help out many of those youth struggling. Not only does my organization give immediate care, but it also gives patients resources to survive when they get discharged. I am passionate about my organization because an organization just like mine changed my life. Summer is a time where students are excited to go home and reunite with family and friends. However, last summer was a very hard time for me. I wasn’t myself and spent the whole summer isolated struggling with my thoughts. It got so bad to the point I had formulated a plan to take my life.
However, deep down I realized I was too afraid to go through with it. One night, in particular, I was very low. I was on my bed overthinking, crying and praying for the pain I was feeling to go away. At this time, I worked at Parkview with their public safety department and I remember a co-worker telling me about Parkview Behavioral Health (PBH). That night I ended up going into the ER and asking for help. It was one of the scariest things of my life. I ended up being put on a seventy-two-hour hold because I was not willing to go to on my own.
My first day I was reluctant to get help, however, being in PBH was the best thing to happen to me. I received many forms of treatment, gained resources, and got my mental health back on track. Since being in PBH I have not had any more suicidal thoughts and have not hurt myself. I am forever thankful for PBH because, without PBH, I might not be here today. I know since PBH helped me, Youth Behavioral Health can help many youths like me.
References
- Behavioral Health. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.parkview.com/services-specialties/behavioral-health/behavioral-health
- Blue Shield. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.bluecrossmn.com/healthy/public/personal/home/shopplans/shop-individual-family-plans/shop-how-health-ins-works
- Gateway to Health Communication & Social Marketing Practice. (2017, September 15). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/toolstemplates/entertainmented/tips/SuicideYou
- Helpline Information. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.parkview.com/services-specialties/behavioral-health/help-line-information
- Inpatient Programs. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.parkview.com/services-specialties/behavioral-health/programs-services/inpatient-programs
- Youth.Gov. Prevalence. (n.d). Retrieved from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/youth-mental-health/prevalance-mental-health-disorders-among-youth
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). 10 leading causes of death, United States, 2008, all races, both sexes. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System.
- Read ‘Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative’ at NAP.edu. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/10398/chapter/10
- Rosenberg, M. L., Smith, J. C., Davidson, L. E., & Conn, J. M. (2017). The Emergence of Youth Suicide: An Epidemiologic Analysis and Public Health Perspective. Annual Review of Public Health,8(1), 417-440. doi:10.1146/annurev.pu.08.050187.002221
- Suicide Statistics. (n.d). Retrieved from
- SAVE. ‘Suicide Facts.’ Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. Accessed February 25, 2014
- Gray, Deborah. ‘Why Suicide Rates Increase in the Spring.’ Health Central. Accessed February 26, 2014
- Mission. (n.d). Retrieved from https://www.suicidology.org/about-aas/mission
- NIMH. (n.d). Help for Mental Illnesses. Retrieved from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help/index.shtml
