Photo by Jon Anderson.
Anna Gaston, the mental health services coordinator for Vestavia Hills City Schools, trains teachers about mental health issues on Aug. 2.
With suicide being the third leading cause of death among people ages 10 to 24 in Alabama and increasing across the country, Vestavia Hills school officials say they take the matter seriously.
“Emergency rooms right now are seeing a major increase in kids, teenagers and even adults coming in with suicidal ideations,” said Anna Gaston, a student assistance counselor and mental health coordinator for Vestavia Hills City Schools. “Emergency rooms are getting very overwhelmed with that.”
In Vestavia Hills schools, there has been a “slight increase” in recent years, Gaston said. She attributes some of that to the COVID-19 pandemic, which created a lot of stress for students and adults alike. The abrupt break in social contact created more isolation for people, she said. That can be particularly impactful for teenagers because social interactions are a big part of their development, she said.
Then returning to school routines amid conflicting community dialogue about health concerns created a lot of anxiety for students, and parents were feeling the stress, too, Gaston said. “It all became very overwhelming.”
Suicidal thoughts are not uncommon, and there are a multitude of contributing factors, said Brandon Boggs, a counselor at Vestavia Hills High School. The end of romantic relationships can be devastating for some teenagers, sometimes even if they’ve only been in the relationship for a couple of weeks, he said.
Serious physical illnesses and pain also can lead students to feel like there’s no hope that their situation will ever improve, Boggs said. Or it may be emotional pain or loss, depression or anxiety, he said. For children who are on medication, as the teen body changes, sometimes medications need to be adjusted, he said.
Whatever the stressor a student is facing, if it gets so bad they’re considering taking their own life, it can’t be ignored, Boggs said. The worst thing students can do is keep that to themselves because then those thoughts begin to fester, he said. Talking about those thoughts actually can bring healing and encourage a student to get help, he said.
At Vestavia Hills High School, students are taught about suicide awareness and prevention in their health classes to help them recognize the signs and get help for themselves or friends. Some of those signs include talking about wanting to die, major behavior changes, social isolation, falling grades, changes in appetite, sudden changes in appearance, agitation and feelings of hopelessness, Gaston said. Age-appropriate lessons also are taught to students in elementary and middle schools, she said.
Gaston herself leads training for faculty each year. She likes to emphasize the importance of faculty building connections with students, so they feel safe in talking to teachers about issues that trouble them, she said.
The school district also partners with the Help the Hills organization to share information with parents. In the past, this has been through a lunch and learn session during the day or “coffee with the counselor” sessions in the mornings after students are dropped off, but Gaston said she would like to have a similar nighttime event for parents who work during the day.
When students do come forward with suicidal thoughts, the first step is getting them to the school counselor, who assesses the student’s state of mind with a checklist of questions to determine how seriously the student has contemplated this and for how long, Gaston said.
Parents are then contacted and invited to the school for a face-to-face meeting, she said. If an immediate threat is determined, the counselor may recommend the parent take their child to the emergency room at Children’s of Alabama hospital for further evaluation. Children’s of Alabama has a Psychiatric Intake Response Center that is equipped for such situations, she said.
In less urgent cases, school counselors present a list of other available resources in the community, including counselors, psychologists or therapists and let the parents choose. If parents lack resources to get their children help or have other obstacles, the school district has a contract with Impact Family Counseling, which provides a counselor for children at school on a case-by-case basis, Gaston said.
One of the biggest problems regarding suicide is the myth that talking about it increases the likelihood that someone will do it, Gaston said. “The more we can talk about it and really get comfortable talking about it, the more likely we can prevent it.”
This story is part of our September series for suicide prevention month. Read our stories on Suicide Prevention Month, suicide rates among senior citizens and suicide rates among veterans for more information.
