Myths vs Facts – Suicide - Behavioural Management Systems - Rick Harper - Behavioural Management Systems

Myths vs Facts – Suicide

MYTH VERSUS FACT

Knowing truth from fiction can make the difference!

Myth: Teens who talk about suicide never do.

Fact: Most of the time, people who attempt suicide have provided significant clues to their intentions.

Myth: Nothing can stop someone once he has decided to take his own life.

Fact: Most adolescents who contemplate suicide are torn. They are in pain and want their suffering to end. They don’t necessarily want to die to make that happen, but they can’t conceive of another way, and too often their cries for help go unheeded.

Myth: talking about suicide with a teen may give them ideas.

Fact: While teens at risk might follow the model of a peer who committed suicide, talking about it in order to prevent it will not encourage him to try it.

Myth: Only certain “types” of kids commit suicide.

Fact: There is no specific type. Socioeconomic status, intelligence, and culture don’t make a teen any more or less vulnerable to suicidal thoughts or actions.