Managing Distress & Resources Related to Suicide Prevention for Parents/Caregivers

• Educate yourself and others about suicide prevention: Learn the warning signs and risk factors for suicide, how to support someone considering suicide, and familiarize yourself with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
• Visit the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC): Each year, the SPRC creates a resource full of ways to get involved in Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Here is the resource for 2023!
• Read and share SPRC’s new resource: Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for LGBTQIA2S+ Youth: A Resource Guide for Professionals, Families and Communities

To assist parents/guardians and families, please consider utilizing these important resources and guidance documents on addressing mental health issues.

• Directing Change’s What I Wish My Parents Knew (https://www.suicideispreventable.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/2022-WIWMPK-TA-editToolkit-8.5x11.1.pdf)

• NASP’s Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders in Children and Preventing Youth Suicide (https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/mental-health-resources/preventing-youth-suicide)
• NASP’s comprehensive collection of resources included in the Helping Handouts: Supporting Students at School and Home (https://www.nasponline.org/books-and-products/products/books/titles/helping-handouts-supporting-children-at-home-and-at-school)
• Suicidal Thinking and Threats: Helping Handout for Home (https://www.nasponline.org/Documents/S3H14_Brock_Reeves_Parents_Suicide.pdf)
• 12 Things Parents Can Do to Prevent Suicide; guide and video (https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/emotional-problems/Pages/ten-things-parents-can-do-to-prevent-suicide.aspx)
• Teens and Suicide: What Parents Should Know (https://afsp.org/teens-and-suicide-what-parents-should-know/)

What Selfies Are Doing to Self-Esteem
How they can exacerbate insecurity, anxiety and depression.

 

If students/families need support coping with the events of the last few weeks, there is advice and help available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a webpage with information on dealing with fear, anxiety, and stress brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

 

 

 

While nothing in life is certain, the current situation of this pandemic -- with school closures, sports suspensions, calls to work from home and self-quarantine -- serves to make our lives especially uncertain. During this time of uncertainty and quickly changing circumstances, it is normal for people of all ages to experience to feel worried, anxious, as well as a range of other emotions. For some, this anxiety might not be related to getting sick, but other circumstances such as: lack of access to healthcare, financial need that would require you to keep working, loved ones who are more vulnerable to the virus (adults over age 60 or people with compromised immune systems), or past experiences of trauma that left you feeling unsafe or out of control.

 

Family life has been turned completely upside down from recent events. Good resources that guide how to spend quality time together and collectively improve family resilience are vital.

 

Across the United States, school communities and the education agencies that support them, along with their community partners, have risen to the occasions and responded to the challenges of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Educators and faculty have transitioned to distance education, school nutrition staff have prepared and ensured continued food services, bus drivers have delivered meals and more to students and families, school resource officers have conducted wellness checks, administrators have stepped in to fill capacity gaps, and so much more. Most importantly, they have worked together to help ensure continued engagement of their school community, all aimed at health, safety, and resilience. The U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Safe and Supportive Schools (OSSS) and its REMS TA Center sincerely thank you for your continued service to your communities during this challenging time.

 

This story was developed to help young children and families talk about their experiences and feelings related to COVID-19 and the need to shelter in place. In the story, the coronavirus has spread to Littletown causing changes in everyone's lives. From the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

 

Additionally, there are 2 PDF attachments to this email (English and Spanish) from the National Association of School Psychologists.

 

TED TALK: The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage
Harvard Psychologist Susan David shares how the way we deal with our emotions shapes everything that matters: our actions, careers, relationships, health and happiness. In this deeply moving, humorous and potentially life-changing talk, she challenges a culture that prizes positivity over emotional truth and discusses the powerful strategies of emotional agility. A talk to share.
https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_david_the_gift_and_power_of_emotional_courage