The holidays. I love ‘em, but not everybody does. Sadly, the incidence of suicide peaks at this time of year, especially among the elderly and the nation’s youth.

Here are the facts:

• Suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death for young people (ages 15-19 and 15-24); only accidents and homicides occur more frequently.

• Whereas suicides account for 1.3% of all deaths in the U.S. annually, they comprise 12.3% of all deaths among 15-24 year olds.

• Each year, there are approximately 10 suicides for every 100,000 youth.

• Approximately 11 young people between the ages of 15-24 die every day by suicide.

• Every 2 hours and 15 minutes, a person under the age of 25 completes suicide.

• Suicide rates among 15-24 year olds have more than doubled in the last 50 years. They have declined 25.6% since 1995.

• In the past 60 years, the suicide rate has quadrupled for boys 15 to 24 years old, and doubled for girls of the same age (CDC, 2002).

• Boys between the ages of 20 and 24 were 6.6 times more likely than girlss to complete suicide 2001. Boyss between 15 and 19 were 4.8 times more likely than girlss to complete suicide (2001 data).

• The boy to girl ratio of completed suicides was 5: 1 among 15-19 year olds and 6.9: 1 among 20-24 year olds (2000 data).

• Firearms are the most commonly used suicide method among kids, regardless of race or gender, accounting for almost three of five (57%) completed suicides.

• Access to and availability of firearms is a significant factor in the increase of youth suicide. Guns in the home are deadly to its occupants!

• For every completed suicide by a child, 100 to 200 attempts are made. In grades 9 through 12, 8.8% of students attempted suicide in the previous 12 months (6.2% male and 12.2% female). These numbers decrease from grades 9 (10.7%) to 12 (5.5%). A prior suicide attempt is an important risk factor for an eventual completion.

Source: U Life Line

CUT: Teens and Self Injury

a documentary film by Wendy Schneider

“Urgent, searching, and profoundly moving, CUT issues a call to bring the problem of self-injury out of the shadows and reminds us that the first step towards healing is an honest acknowledgment of reality.”

Cut:Teens and Self Injury provides an intimate look at a problem that affects thousands of young people, their families and friends.  Resisting sensationalism and graphic images, the film draws its power from the voices of the teens themselves.

The film’s participants talk about the root causes of their cutting: Their experiences of alienation and inadequacy, their deep desire to feel, their sense of cutting as a part of the world they can control. They describe the resistance and denial that often greets their attempts to talk about their feelings and actions. Finally, they describe how they confronted and often overcame their urge to self-harm.

Interviews with parents and mental health professionals increase understanding of the problem and provide practical ways to address it.

CUT’s highlights include rock icon Shirley Manson’s testimony concerning her own cutting.

Fully aware of the extent of the problem, the film incorporates the perspectives of males and females, whites blacks and Asian Americans.

For CUT event information or to schedule a screening at your school or organization, please contact the director, Wendy Schneider, at :

Wendy@cutthemovie.com
P.O. Box 3253 Madison, WI 53704
608-239-5771

Self-Injurious Behavior

WHY?

Karen (Director, S.A.F.E. Alternatives®)

“Teachers are in a very unique position because often times they’re going to be the first ones who notice this behavior. Kids tend to hide it more at home… If it’s not the teacher that notices it, it might be a friend. Bottom line, you have to talk about this. Self Injury is speaking to a lot of things
that are wrong in our society.”

David

“A safe place-I’ve never had one. My home was a very fearful place. I could tell when violence was going to occur in my house just by what I’d done that day. I knew when my dad was gonna pick me up after work, I knew what was gonna happen. Living with that for 12 years is complicated especially when you have no one to talk to about it. And when I did it to myself, it was really at the point where I realized that I was at this point in time feeling either depressed or frustrated to the extent that it was just overwhelming to no end. Just to get through the night or the rest of the day or whatever the case, just to get your mind off of it, I think, it helped.”

Kaylee

“Cutting, for me, was the only control that I really thought I had actually had… but in the end you just wonder if that is actually your control because you can’t stop sometimes or you need it… it’s the only thing that will make you feel better-and you shouldn’t let something like that control you.”

Do these statements sound familiar?

Are YOU  A Cutter?

A Burner?

A Head Basher?

A Bone Breaker?

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

Seek out a community that understands. Go to S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® for more information.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, OCD, is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent, unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Repetitive behaviors like handwashing, counting, checking, or cleaning are often performed to either prevent obsessive thoughts or make them go away. Performing these “rituals,” however, provides only temporary relief, and not performing them dramatically increases anxiety.

After years of research, doctors and scientists have developed effective treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder; and research is yielding new, improved therapies that can help most people with OCD and other anxiety disorders lead productive, fulfilling lives.

In a continuing series on mental illness,  Globe and Mail writer Siri Agrell introduces us to Alyse Schacter, a young woman learning to live with OCD and teaching those around her to understand and accept mental illness.

An excerpt from that article is included below. To read it in it’s entirety, follow the link at the end.

“She hears a voice in her head that insists she repeat certain movements and words, and has an irrational sense of urgency that causes her to stop in the middle of a sentence to make sure she hasn’t offended anyone.

But two years ago, she was preparing to hear a voice call her name to a roomful of applause. Alyse was honored by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Foundation’s Courage to Come Back Awards.

Alyse, despite her challenges, has made a mark on her community through her efforts to raise awareness about mental illness, and to convey to other kids that “you can still be normal even if you’re being weird.”

Click here to learn more about Alyse and OCD.

Anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness. They strike as many as one in eight North Americans over the course of a lifetime, compared with one in 12 for major depression and one in 100 for schizophrenia.

Social anxiety, the extreme fear of negative evaluation, is the most prevalent form of the disorder. Up to 13 per cent of the population suffers from it, according to psychiatrist Neil Rector, head of the anxiety disorders program at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Despite these huge numbers, social anxiety remains one of the least understood psychiatric conditions and is often the most often ignored.

To better understand the incredible challenge extreme anxiety presents to its sufferers, read the story of Gail Andrews, written by Globe and Mail’s Carolyn Abraham. You’ll learn about the roots, appearance and consequences of her illness. She’ll share triggers, coping mechanisms and strategies to live by. You’ll find an excerpt below as well as a link to the full article.

“It was in the year leading up to her 50th birthday that Gail “took stock” of her life and decided it was time. There was plenty to admire at her half-century mark. She and the man she had lived with for 12 years shared a comfortable home together. She had worked her way up to senior executive at one of the world’s largest accounting firms. She was fit, a long-distance cyclist, as lean and strong as any woman half her age. She was an accomplished musician. She was well-read, trilingual, witty, articulate and pleasant, always pleasant. Not even her dear brother saw through the camouflage hiding the war within.”

Want to read this amazing woman’s full story? Click here.