Youth suicide is a community issue

Suicidal ideation can be a lonely torment for individuals. But suicide is a public health issue that afflicts us as a community, especially when it comes to young people.

Suicide rates in Colorado for children and youth have stayed elevated. It’s still one of the leading causes of death between the ages 10 and 24.

State experts foreshadow a rise in mental health needs for youth. We tackle public health issues through individual, familial, school, community, and societal interventions. Youth suicide prevention involves us all.

To help youth, we must first change the mental health attitudes within ourselves. Pulse, a Colorado Health Foundation poll, reports that more than half of 2,275 Colorado adults have experienced an increased mental health strain as a result of the pandemic. This includes added anxiety, loneliness and stress.

It is no surprise that children and teens are also feeling the stress. They are also growing up in a political climate that’s hostile. Coming of age in a volatile American psyche doesn’t help.

But suicide is a complex issue. There isn’t a single cause.

Young people today face an uncertain future, laced with blatant racial injustice and an economic downturn. A social media bombardment of negative messages and violent images. They live in an America where President Donald Trump told the Proud Boys, a right- wing extremist group, to “stand back and stand by.”

Add other risk factors like mental illness, substance abuse and adverse childhood experiences. Combined, these can leave youth feeling unsafe, overburdened, misunderstood and alone.

Suicidal youth need environments where they can reach out for help. They need spaces where they can build resilience and understand their purpose. They need positive messages at home, in schools and communities.

Educators, parents and guardians can help normalize mental health support. Adults can change negative social norms and address stigma. We can also check hateful behavior and attitudes both in- person and online.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth are particularly vulnerable. LGBTQ children and teens don’t suffer from being themselves. They suffer from the discrimination inflicted on them by other children and adults.

Boys and young men are one of the most frequently harmed groups. As expected, they too suffer from sexist and patriarchal ideologies in our society. Toxic masculinity proliferates emotional suppression in boys, and that denial can become a dangerous barrier for boys and men to seek life- saving help.

But young people are resilient. And many of them are experts in survival. They have stories of hope, healing and recovery. I know because I was one of them. Trusted adults and attitude changes helped me survive and later help others.

At 13 my suicidal ideation began. A combination of childhood trauma, racism and homophobia wrecked my mental health. Cutting was my preferred harm- reduction method. By the time I entered high school, I attempted suicide twice.

With proper help and family support, I began to heal. Three years later a friend confessed she was having suicidal thoughts. As a sixteen- year- old, I had to override social norms and attitudes that told me, “Don’t be a snitch; don’t be nosy. These aren’t your problems.”

But I knew the hopelessness she felt too well. I spoke up and school staff intervened. Betrayed, she never spoke to me until recently, when she messaged me on social media. She was grateful I told someone all those years ago. And so was I. This is proof that there is hope. That survivors help others live.

Some romanticize and glorify their own childhood and believe that younger generations are coddled, fragile or overly catered to. They tag younger generations as snowflakes. We must make it clear that speaking about mental health is not a weakness. A young person who reaches out for help despite social stigma is brave. The true weakness is our inability as a society to support them in their time of need.

The reality is that young people need only one trusted adult — a counselor, older sibling, parent, grandparent, educator or coach. Someone who will listen.

Young people need to hear reinforcement that their issues are real, that they’re important, that they’re loved, and that they deserve to live.

Stand forward for our youth and act now. Be that trusted adult. Be the confidant a young person needs today.

Mimi Madrid is a Denver- raised writer who works as a communications content writer at a non- profit providing nursing care for new mothers and has worked in nonprofits serving youth, LGBTQ survivors of violence and Latinx communities.