Regardless of the age of the youth, it is important to NOT leave the suicidal teen alone and to offer to get help. We must remember that the suicide “invitations” can be very subtle and don’t always come in the form of words, “I am thinking about killing myself”.
Look and listen for:
- negative self-talk and/or
- poor interpersonal problem-solving and/or
- black and white thinking and/or
- drug and alcohol use and/or
- a diagnosed mood disorder and/or
- experience of loss, like a relationship break-up, incarceration, or family separation.
Sometimes teens resist help because they do not understand what will happen in counseling or sometimes they have had a bad experience with one counselor and assume the next one will be just the same. Thinking about suicide or making a suicide attempt does not automatically mean that a youth needs to be in admitted to a hospital. The medical team in the hospital’s emergency room will evaluate and make a recommendation about an impatient stay. Just as thinking about suicide does not always necessitate hospitalization, not every teen that is depressed and suicidal needs to be on medication.
In the State of Washington youth over the age of 13 can access mental health services without a parent or guardian’s permission. There are different types of services that are available including crisis services, outpatient counseling, and immediate (or acute) hospitalization; and there are different providers of these services. Each county or region in the state has a crisis line to help you access the most appropriate services- check the front of your local phone book for your local crisis line number- or you can call 1-800-273-TALK.
A youth over the age of 13 has the right to make decisions concerning his/her treatment, but if a designated mental health professional determines that the youth is a danger to him/herself and there is not a less restrictive alternative than hospitalization, the youth can be detained in a psychiatric hospital bed without his/her consent or the consent of the parent or guardian.
Suicidal behavior that results in hospitalization is more common for females, ages 13-17, than for males in this age group; while males are three times more likely to die by suicide. Why? Male teens tend to choose more lethal means than females; they are less likely to seek help and they are typically socialized to solve problems, not talk about them. Females more often create opportunities for intervention because they tell their friends or family.
