February 2019: Signs of Suicide (SOS) Program
A short blog, for a short month, in just under the wire!
This month, the counseling team at Bigelow conducted the Signs of Suicide (SOS) Program for the 7th grade. This program was implemented in Newton during the 2013-14 school year and has continued through the present. It is given to students across the district in 7th grade, 9th grade and 11th grade. SOS is a classroom based instructional model which uses videos and facilitated discussion to cover the topics of depression and suicide. It also includes a brief screening tool which asks the students to self-report about their mood and possible symptoms over the last few weeks. This screening tool requires parental permission. If a student screens in, a counselor speaks with them within 24 hours. All students, regardless of screening status, are given the opportunity to indicate if they would like to speak to a counselor.
At Bigelow, we use one class period to do the program. Our counselors show the video and facilitate discussion to help students understand signs and symptoms of depression, how depression is different from normative sadness, and the potential signs of suicidal thinking or planning. Students are taught the acronym "ACT" which stands for Acknowledge, Care, Tell. They are encouraged to use this acronym to help them remember the steps if they are worried about a themselves or a friend. They first must acknowledge that something is wrong, explain that they care about the person, and then help that person find a trusted adult to talk with about the problems. We emphasize the importance of not keeping suicidal thinking a secret; that it is better to have a friend be angry with you than to be hurt or dead. We also ask students to identify trusted adults in their lives. Parents will be pleased to know that they are often first on the list!
Over the years, we have found that most students who are struggling at Bigelow are known to the counselors before the program is implemented. We have found that many students worry about each other, and are often already talking with counselors or parents or other trusted adults about their worry. A good number of students who screen in are already accessing outside supports such as mental health providers or support groups. Perhaps most encouragingly, as the years have gone on, we have found that more and more students have already learned this information before we present it to them in seventh grade, and therefore, are already acting on it.
While suicide and depression can be scary topics for all, it can sometimes feel the most disturbing for parents. Many parents feel their children are too young to be truly experiencing depression, or they feel that depression is very difficult to untangle from normative pre-adolescent to adolescent development. Others feel that their children don't have any reason to feel depressed or suicidal and are just looking for attention. The reality is that children as young as pre-school age can suffer from depression and that it is never helpful to ignore or refuse to discuss the problem. Often parents are worried that introducing the topic will influence their child's thinking and may even "make" them suicidal. The research says that the opposite is true: when we talk about depression and suicide, we demonstrate that we can handle the strong feelings that come and that we can work through the problems to find a solution. When we ask someone, "Are you thinking about killing yourself?" we offer them a platform to relieve themselves of the burden of these thoughts. It does not implant a thought that was not already present and, in fact, offers a relief for the person who can now discuss their pain and discomfort.
By educating our students about depression and suicide, we can offer them tools to help themselves and those they care about as they enter adolescence and move forward to high school. As with so many areas of mental health, education with facts and open discussion do so much to help keep our students - and ourselves!- healthy.
Stay warm- spring is on the way!
--Dr. J.
Below are more resources about depression and suicide, as well as the SOS program.
Depression in Children
Signs of Depression in Middle School Children
Suicide Resource Prevention Center, Middle School Resources
Signs of Suicide Program
This month, the counseling team at Bigelow conducted the Signs of Suicide (SOS) Program for the 7th grade. This program was implemented in Newton during the 2013-14 school year and has continued through the present. It is given to students across the district in 7th grade, 9th grade and 11th grade. SOS is a classroom based instructional model which uses videos and facilitated discussion to cover the topics of depression and suicide. It also includes a brief screening tool which asks the students to self-report about their mood and possible symptoms over the last few weeks. This screening tool requires parental permission. If a student screens in, a counselor speaks with them within 24 hours. All students, regardless of screening status, are given the opportunity to indicate if they would like to speak to a counselor.
At Bigelow, we use one class period to do the program. Our counselors show the video and facilitate discussion to help students understand signs and symptoms of depression, how depression is different from normative sadness, and the potential signs of suicidal thinking or planning. Students are taught the acronym "ACT" which stands for Acknowledge, Care, Tell. They are encouraged to use this acronym to help them remember the steps if they are worried about a themselves or a friend. They first must acknowledge that something is wrong, explain that they care about the person, and then help that person find a trusted adult to talk with about the problems. We emphasize the importance of not keeping suicidal thinking a secret; that it is better to have a friend be angry with you than to be hurt or dead. We also ask students to identify trusted adults in their lives. Parents will be pleased to know that they are often first on the list!
Over the years, we have found that most students who are struggling at Bigelow are known to the counselors before the program is implemented. We have found that many students worry about each other, and are often already talking with counselors or parents or other trusted adults about their worry. A good number of students who screen in are already accessing outside supports such as mental health providers or support groups. Perhaps most encouragingly, as the years have gone on, we have found that more and more students have already learned this information before we present it to them in seventh grade, and therefore, are already acting on it.
While suicide and depression can be scary topics for all, it can sometimes feel the most disturbing for parents. Many parents feel their children are too young to be truly experiencing depression, or they feel that depression is very difficult to untangle from normative pre-adolescent to adolescent development. Others feel that their children don't have any reason to feel depressed or suicidal and are just looking for attention. The reality is that children as young as pre-school age can suffer from depression and that it is never helpful to ignore or refuse to discuss the problem. Often parents are worried that introducing the topic will influence their child's thinking and may even "make" them suicidal. The research says that the opposite is true: when we talk about depression and suicide, we demonstrate that we can handle the strong feelings that come and that we can work through the problems to find a solution. When we ask someone, "Are you thinking about killing yourself?" we offer them a platform to relieve themselves of the burden of these thoughts. It does not implant a thought that was not already present and, in fact, offers a relief for the person who can now discuss their pain and discomfort.
By educating our students about depression and suicide, we can offer them tools to help themselves and those they care about as they enter adolescence and move forward to high school. As with so many areas of mental health, education with facts and open discussion do so much to help keep our students - and ourselves!- healthy.
Stay warm- spring is on the way!
--Dr. J.
Below are more resources about depression and suicide, as well as the SOS program.
Depression in Children
Signs of Depression in Middle School Children
Suicide Resource Prevention Center, Middle School Resources
Signs of Suicide Program
Comments
Post a Comment