CW: Suicidology education

**MINITHREAD: Suicidality in kids"

Many youth, parents, teachers, & physicians I work with don& #39;t understand the scope of *suicidal thinking* in youth. It& #39;s actually relatively common, and it does NOT mean that the child is going to die of suicide.

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Suicide is a top cause of death for children, but at the same time, death is quite rare for children. It& #39;s important to put this into perspective.

Using https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten"> CDC mortality & youth survey data, we can see that last year, 18.8% of high school kids "seriously considered suicide."

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But the context is key. In 2018 (the last measured year available), the suicide rate was 0.0075% of youth 10-19. Overall, youth are about ~2900 times more likely to consider suicide than to die by suicide.

(https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇦" title="Flagge von Kanada" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Kanada"> 10-19 rate 6/100k, https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten"> rate much higher at 7.5/100k)

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That being said, suicidal thinking does have a moderate correlation with suicide rates. Here, by changing the axis - blue (left) is suicides per 100k and orange (right) is % seriously considering suicide - we can see a moderate correlation, with an r^2 of 0.33

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It is hard to hold on to scope and relative large numbers like that, so I& #39;ll try to do some quick math.

In a class of 30 kids, about 6 will seriously consider suicide. But in 450 such classrooms of 30 kids each, there will be one suicide.

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Parents, teachers, doctors: do not panic if a child expresses suicidal ideation. IT DOES NOT mean they need hospital or medication. Take it seriously. Listen. Discover risk factors/stresses. If you suspect depression or another mental health issue psychiatry is available.

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If you are worried about immediate safety, or there is a health reason, please help the child get to the nearest hospital or urgent service.

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Youth: if you are thinking suicide, you aren& #39;t alone, just seeking attention, or strange. It is common, & feeling "unlike others" is how these thoughts can grow.

Please hear: Your stress matters, your pain is real, and you can&will get through this.

https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/how-cope-thoughts-suicide

/8">https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/...

Youth:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇨🇦" title="Flagge von Kanada" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Kanada">
text CONNECT to 686868 or call 1-800-668-6868

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇺🇸" title="Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge der Vereinigten Staaten">
text HOME to 741741 https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏳️‍🌈" title="Regenbogen-Flagge" aria-label="Emoji: Regenbogen-Flagge">1-866-488-7386

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⚧️" title="Transgender-Zeichen" aria-label="Emoji: Transgender-Zeichen"> 1-877-565-8860

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇬🇧" title="Flagge des Vereinigten Königreiches" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge des Vereinigten Königreiches">
text SHOUT to 85258

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇮🇪" title="Flagge von Irland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Irland">
text HELLO to 50808

You do NOT need to be "majorly" suicidal to reach out to these #& #39;s. Anxieties, sadness, struggles, it& #39;s OK.
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