Increased stress and anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, a history of trauma, and lack of social support can all put adolescents at increased risk for suicide. These are largely internal risk factors, hidden from others.
Disuccion 11 post
INDICATORS OF SUICIDAL IDEATION
For this Discussion, you consider observable actions or demeanors that indicate suicidal ideation in adolescents. First, you watch a video of Stephanie Parker, who is an adult talking about her experience attempting suicide as a teen. Then, you imagine how you would have responded to Stephanie as the school social worker at the time.
RESOURCES
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity. Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
TO PREPARE:
· Review the Learning Resources on suicide in adolescents.
· Watch the Parker Family video in the Learning Resources, paying particular attention to Stephanie’s disclosure of suicidal behavior when she was an adolescent.
BY DAY 3
Post your initial response to the following:
· After learning about Stephanie, imagine that you had been the school social worker at the time of her suicidal ideation. Which indicators would you have looked for in Stephanie and why?
· How would you have responded to each of those indicators? What kinds of questions would you have asked her and why?
Please use the Learning Resources to support your response.
BY DAY 6
Respond to two colleagues by proposing an intervention that would address the indicators identified. Explain the potential impact of social work interventions such as this on adolescents’ lives. How might Stephanie’s adolescent life have improved with this intervention?
Congratulations! After you have finished all of the assignments for this week, you have completed the course. Please submit your Course Evaluation by the end of the week.
References
· Singer, J. B., O’Brien, K. H., & LeCloux, M. (2017). Three psychotherapies for suicidal adolescents: Overview of conceptual frameworks and intervention techniques Links to an external site. . Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 34, 95–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-016-0453-5
· Udoetuk, S., Idicula, S., Jabbar, Q., & Shah, A. A. (2019). Suicide in adolescents Links to an external site. . Psychiatric Annals, 49(6), 269–272. https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-20190509-01
· National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.-a). Risk of suicide Links to an external site. . https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Common-with-Mental-Illness/Risk-of-Suicide
Media
· Walden University, LLC. (2013–2021). Parker family (Episode 3) [Video]. Walden University Blackboard. https://waldenu.instructure.com
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FEMALE SPEAKER: I want to take care of her. I really do. I mean, she's my mom, and she's not getting any younger. But I deserve my own life, my own place. And I'm always tired of feeling like I'm suffocating all the time. It's just– It's so confusing. I love her, you know? FEMALE SPEAKER: I understand that you want a place of your own to live. You mentioned before that you and your mother argue a lot. FEMALE SPEAKER: A lot? How about all the time? And all that stuff she hoards, it's just like, I'm drowning in it. It's like there's more room for her junk than there is for us. It just drives me crazy. Right to the hospital sometimes. FEMALE SPEAKER: How many times have you been hospitalized? FEMALE SPEAKER: Let's see. Three times in four years. I think I mentioned to you that I'm bipolar, and I'm lousy dealing with stress. Oh. Wait, um, there was another time that I was in the hospital. I tried to commit suicide. I guess I was pretty lousy at that too, otherwise I wouldn't be here. FEMALE SPEAKER: What made you want to do it? I was a teenager. And when you're a teenager, you find a reason every day to try to kill yourself, right? I was– I was depressed. I remember one night I went out with some of my friends. And, um, they were all looking up at the sky and talking about how pretty the stars were. And all I could think about was that that sky was nothing more than a black eye. It was lifeless, and it could care less about any of us. When they finally let me go home from the hospital, my family– wow– what a trip they were. They didn't want to talk about what I had tried to do. That was off-limits. I tried to kill myself. And I they acted like nothing ever happened. I've never told anybody that before. FEMALE SPEAKER: Are you seeing a psychiatrist now? FEMALE SPEAKER: Um, I go to a clinic, and I see him once a month. I also go to drop-in centers for group sessions, mostly for my depression. FEMALE SPEAKER: What about medications? FEMALE SPEAKER: Hell, yeah. They're my lifesaver. FEMALE SPEAKER: What are you taking? FEMALE SPEAKER: Let's see. For the bipolar I take lithium, Paxil. Oh. Wait a minute. I made a list so I would not forget the medications that I take. Let's see. I take lithium, Paxil, Abilify, Klonopin–