Too often, we hear stories of young people taking their own lives and we find ourselves asking what could have been done to prevent these tragedies. Suicide is a public health crisis in this country, and youth suicide rates are striking and concerning: It is the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10-18 and according to the CDC, suicide rates have increased significantly for all age groups across most states between 1999-2016.

WHAT IS A PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCY? (Source: American Academy of Children & Adolescent Psychiatry)

Reasons to bring your child for an emergency mental health evaluation include:

Risk of harm to self, such as:

• • • • • Saying in person or online that they want to kill themselves

        • Searching online about how to kill themselves

        • Taking steps to kill themselves like stockpiling pills, making a noose, or getting a gun or other weapons

        • Writing a suicide note

        • Giving away favorite belongings or making a will

        • Cutting or hurting themselves in order to die or not talking about why

Risk of harm to others, such as:

• • • • • Saying in person or online that they plan to kill a person or large groups of people

        • Becoming more violent towards others

        • Starting fires, destroying property, or harming animals

        • Threatening a person with a weapon

Changes in behavior or thinking, such as:

• • • • • Acting strangely or not making sense

        • Losing touch with reality

        • Seeing or hearing things that are not there

        • Becoming paranoid