Signs of Concern
| 1. | Talking about suicide.
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| 2. | Making statements about feeling hopeless, helpless,or worthless.
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| 3. | A deepening depression.
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| 4. | Preoccupation with death.
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| 5. | Taking unnecessary risks or exhibiting self-destructive behavior.
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| 6. | Out of character behavior.
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| 7. | A loss of interest in the things one cares about.
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| 8. | Visiting or calling people one cares about.
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| 9. | Making arrangements, setting one’s affairs in order.
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| 10. | Giving prized possessions away.
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THE SILENT EPIDEMIC OF YOUTH SUICIDE
 | Suicide ranks as the THIRD leading cause of death for ages 15-24 and FOURTH for ages 10-14.
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| Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death for our college age youth as well as for ages 15 to 19, in many states.
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| NHSDA Report / SAMHSA (US Dept. of Health) – In 2000, over ONE million youth attempted suicides in the U.S. That equates to over 2700 attempts each day in our nation by youth, ages 12 to 17.
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| Each week in our nation, we lose approximately 100+ young people to suicide.
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| Even though white males make up the majority of completed suicides, from 1980-1995, suicide among black youth, ages 10-14 increased 233% and in black youth, ages 15-19, suicide rates increased 126%. For black youth in the Southern region of the nation, there was an increase of 214%.
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| In the past forty years, youth suicide rates have almost tripled. Between 1980 and 1996, suicide rates for ages 10 to 14 increased by over 100%.
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| More teenagers and young adults have died of suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia and influenza, and chronic lung disease COMBINED.
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| According to the APA, four out of five people who attempt suicide have given clear warnings.
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