Crisis Resources
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