1. Recognizing Signs of Hurting Self or Others

2. What Do You Think?
How is a two-year-old (who falls in the middle of a pool and is drowning) like a teenager who is depressed or suicidal?
Both need someone to help them or they will die.
Both do not have the skills they need to help themselves.
As the child goes deeper into the water, so does the teenager get deeper into their depression.
Both can be prevented.
Both need professional help.
Source: Deb Tackman, Outrageous Teaching Techniques in Health Education

3. 2011 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens
Of students in grades 6 -8:
24% of students who felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities during the past 12 months.
20.8 % seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year
13.1 % made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during the past 12 months
9.5 % reported attempting suicide
Same risk and protective factors for suicide and other problem behaviors such as drugs, violence, risky sexual behavior

4. 2011 NC Youth Risk Behavior Survey
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for teens
Of students in grades 9-12:
28.3% of students who felt so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they stopped doing some usual activities during the past 12 months.
14.3% seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year
13.5% made a plan about how they would attempt suicide during the past 12 months
5.0% reported attempting suicide
Same risk and protective factors for suicide and other problem behaviors such as drugs, violence, risky sexual behavior
5.0% reported attempting suicide - this is a decrease from 2009, but the question was changed to read “students who made a suicide attempt during the past 12 months that resulted in an injury, poisoning, or overdose that had to be treated by a doctor or nurse.”

5. Depression
Depression is more than the “blues” or the “blahs.” It is more than the normal everyday ups and downs.
Clinical depression is a medical condition. It is when feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and despair persist and interfere with a person’s ability to function.
Many adults and teenagers do not recognize the symptoms of depression in themselves or others.
“People with clinical depression are subject to a deep and long-lasting sense of sadness and loss of pleasure. Imagine having feelings that severely disrupt your ability to work, play, eat, sleep, and concentrate – then imagine having these feelings for weeks, months, or even years. That’s what clinical depression is like. Sometimes major clinical depression occurs in a single episode and somes it recurs – but, either way, it can be treated. (source: USDHHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)

6. Depression Depression affects people of all ages.
It will affect more than 19 million people every year.
Some people experience only one episode of depression in their entire life, but others may have several episodes of depression.
Depression can begin suddenly for no apparent reason, while others can be associated with a life situation.

7. Warning Signs of Suicide
Insomnia
Change in eating patterns, either overeating or not eating
Daytime sleepiness
Aggressive or destructive behavior
Risk-taking behavior
Difficulty concentrating
Loss of interest in activities one used to enjoy
Decline in school performance, skipping class, dropping out of activities
Withdrawal from relationships with friends and family

8. Warning Signs of Suicide
Isolation
Fatigue or lack of energy
Feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, excessive guilt feelings
Trouble concentrating
Beginning to use alcohol or drugs
Changes in personality or behavior
Frequent thoughts of death
Death themes in artwork or written work
Apathy

9. Warning Signs of Suicide
Statements such as “I wish I were dead” or “No one cares”
Planning a suicide attempt or a previous attempt
Giving away prized possessions
A sudden lift in spirits because he or she feels the problem will soon end

10. Self – Hurting Behaviors
Self-injury is the act of deliberately destroying body tissue, at times to change a way of feeling.
It is an intentional act, repetitive, and results in minor to moderate harm without the intent to cause death.
Self-injury often occurs in secret – person hides the self-injury from others.

11. Self - Hurting Behaviors
Cutting
Burning
Pin-Sticking
Carving
Scratching
Branding
Marking
Head-banging
Picking and pulling skin and hair
Abrasions (scrapes of bruises
Biting
Hitting
Breaking bones
Tattooing
Excessive body piercing

12. Why Do They Hurt Themselves?
To escape from emotional pain, such as anger or anxiety
To release tension
To physically express pain
To express feelings of emptiness, loneliness, helplessness
An attempt to feel/be more in control
To protect themselves from pain
Not understood by others
To induce a pleasure state from the endorphins that are released

13. Signs of Self - Injury
Frequent or unexplained scars, cuts, bruises, and burns (often on the arms, thighs, abdomen)
Consistent, inappropriate use of clothing to cover scars
General signs of depression
Secretive behavior, spending unusual amounts of time in the bathroom or other isolated areas
Social or emotional isolation and disconnectedness
Substance abuse

14. Signs of Self - Injury
Possession of sharp instruments, (razor blades, thumb tacks, pins)
Indications of extreme anger, sadness, or pain
Images of physical harm in class or creative work
Extreme risk-taking behaviors that could result in injuries

15. Depression / Self-Hurting Scenarios
Read your scenario.
or underline the symptoms of
depression is this situation.
Circle

16. Getting Help

17. Giving Help Let him or her know that you care and want to help.
Acknowledge that your friend has a problem and that the symptoms are serious. Ask about suicide.
Convince your friend to ask for help. This may include your talking to a trusted adult.