Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

Learning Disabled Youth Students with learning disabilities (LD) are well-acquainted with academic difficulty and maladaptive academic behavior. Compared to students without LD, they exhibit high levels of learned helplessness, including diminished persistence, lower academic expectations, and negative affect. Social behavioral research has found an increased risk for suicide among students with LD that is linked to depression, feelings of hopelessness, and isolation or rejection from the mainstream. Sleep Deprivation in Adolescents A growing body of research shows that many adolescents are sleep-deprived. Even though adolescents require as much as 8 to 10 hours of sleep at night, according to the National Sleep Foundation they simply are not wired to retire early to bed and have difficulty falling asleep before 11:00 p.m. In addition, cell phone calls and messages may awaken them during the night. Most American secondary schools begin as early as 7:30 a.m. Numerous studies have addressed the harmful effects of sleep deprivation on adolescents and found a significant relationship between sleep deprivation and suicide completion for adolescents. Scott Poland responded to suicide clusters in both the Fairfax County and the Palo Alto Schools, and many community concerns were voiced about the lack of sleep for adolescents as a contributing factor for depression, hopelessness, and suicide. The Fairfax County Schools changed the start time of the high school day to 8:00 a.m. or later. Non-Suicidal Self-Injury (NSSI) The most common forms of NSSI are cutting, burning, scratching the skin, and not letting wounds heal. The incidence of NSSI has increased for youth, and the primary theories to explain why they engage in this behavior are to release endorphins or to regulate emotions. NSSI is a complex coping behavior that fulfills a multitude of needs for those that engage in it. NSSI is a strong predictor of suicide as students are essentially practicing harming themselves and schools need to develop training and protocols for staff to help them better understand and respond to NSSI. Key personnel such as school counselors need to be familiar with the most effective treatments. Depressed Youth Research has found that approximately 20 percent of all teenagers suffer from depression at some point during their adolescence, and most do not receive treatment. While suicidal ideation isn’t imminent for every student who experiences depression, it is the most common indicator in suicidal youth. Students may appear irritable, tearful, down, or sullen, and not find pleasure in the activities they previously enjoyed. The key to distinguishing depression from normal teenage behavior is whether it is persistent (more than several weeks) and pervasive, meaning that it affects all aspects of their life (academic, social, and family). Younger children may express depression through somatic complaints such as headaches, bad feelings in stomach, etc. School personnel should know the incidence of depression, be alert to students’ shifting moods, and access community mental health resources. It is particularly important to pay attention to themes of hopelessness and TOOL 10 Additional Risk Factors Related to Suicidal Ideation Florida S.T.E.P.S.