If you’re in emotional pain and thinking about suicide, the first thing to know is that there are people in your life who care about you and who want to help you feel better.
They may not know the perfect thing to say or do to make a difference, but they can help you find a trained professional with experience in situations like yours. There is immediate help to keep you safe, and there are effective treatments that can help you get better and stay better.
This resource provides resources to help.
Young adulthood is a critical time when many people experience mental health issues and significant stress from life transitions like moving from home and beginning college or a career.Seize the Awkward empowers young adults to help friends who are struggling with mental health issues (and who may be at risk for suicide) by encouraging them to consistently start and sustain conversations about mental health with their friends.The new iteration of the campaign, “Whatever Gets You Talking,” showcases the variety of ways young people can start and continue those conversations with their friends, whether that be through a GIF, emoji, call, or text.The campaign drives to SeizeTheAwkward.org, where visitors can explore resources and tools to help them start a conversation with a peer about mental health.
This is a comprehensive resource center for teens to have access to numerous topics related to mental, physical, and emotional health. This would be a good site for students to be made aware of adolescent health issues.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness.
This is a resource that teachers can make students aware of in the event that a student needs emotional support.
The crisis services center team is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. People are encouraged to reach out if they are in crisis. This would be a good resource for teachers to make their students aware of issues facing secondary students.
Brynn had a normal, happy childhood but adolescence brought on difficult feelings and experiences that led her to seek help. This video can be played during a lesson on asking for assistance for self and others.
Listen to math and special needs teachers discuss the strategies geared toward teaching students organizational skills. Learn how to promote self-advocacy among special needs students (such as asking for help when needed). This video can be played when teaching a lesson on how to ask for assistance for yourself and others.
There are options for people with intellectual disabilities to live on their own. Assisted living programs help connect adults to housing in the community and assist them in skill building to promote independence. Cori Piels describes her transition and goals for living on her own. This video can be played during a lesson on promoting independent living and how to demonstrate healthy practices.
Experts in adolescent medicine and suicide research explain the factors that contribute to the rise in youth suicides. Dr. Hatim Omar, an adolescent medicine specialist at the University of Kentucky, and Melinda Moore, Ph.D., a psychology professor at Eastern Kentucky University, both agree that limiting access to lethal means of suicide is crucial to reducing overall rates. This video segment is part of You Are Not Alone, a youth mental health series produced by KET.
Joronda Montaño shares her story of surviving and thriving despite mental health challenges. She and the other voices of Not Broken reinforce the message that teens living with mental illnesses are not broken and not defined by their diagnoses.
The resource is informational material about communicating to trusted adults, specifically your parents, about mental health. The information provides strategies on communicating effectively to adolescents parents. The resource is from Mental Health America and gives other resources about mental health. The overview is about how to communicate effectively to parents, but it also includes teachers, relatives, and guidance counselors. This is a great resource on explaining when input from a health professional, counselor, or trusted adult would be helpful.
This alignment results from the ALEX Health/PE COS Resource Alignment Summit.
This resource is information on how to ask for and offer assistance to enhance the health of self and others- specifically human trafficking. The resource provides additional resources on the topic of human trafficking that you could use to develop a meaningful lesson plan.
This free video resource from PBS LearningMedia helps educate students on suicide prevention. A Kentucky school’s Sources of Strength (SOS) program uses social networks to help prevent suicide among teens and spread messages of hope and resolve. This video segment is part of You Are Not Alone, a youth mental health series produced by KET. Teachers can use this resource to make students aware that social media can be used as a tool to uplift students.
Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.
