Youth Suicide Prevention — What You Can Do
Close to 800,000 people die by suicide every year. And for each one, there are more than 20 suicide attempts, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Suicides and suicide attempts have a ripple effect that impacts families, friends, colleagues, communities and societies. But the WHO also states suicides are preventable, and there is much that can be done to prevent suicide at individual, community and national levels. Further, they consider effective mentoring to be a "valid, upstream approach” to youth suicide prevention.
One of the girls in Great Life Mentoring had been struggling with suicidal ideation and depression when her mental health therapist referred her to the program more than a year ago. She was matched with a caring adult who was committed to developing a supportive relationship with her.
The mentor was interested in befriending this young girl and helping her find positive activities to enjoy, giving her a sense of purpose in life and confidence in social settings. These two have become good friends who enjoy their time together. Whether they are engaged in art or science projects, playing with animals or volunteering together in the community, they do a lot of talking. The girl says her mentor is a good listener and, "it’s nice to have her there, especially when it’s been a bad day at school or home."
In addition to being “more positive and happy,” the mental health therapist reports that her client has had no anger outbursts (which had been common) or suicidal ideation since a couple of months after receiving her Great Life mentor.
Great Life Mentoring is an innovative and replicable intervention that utilizes trained community volunteers as mentors to enhance mental health outcomes for youth from low-resource families.
Please contact Great Life Mentoring if you’d like to be part of the suicide prevention solution in your community.