Youth driving discussions about suicide

updated 4:01 p.m. ET Oct. 8, 2009

CHICAGO - The topic of suicide makes many people squirm. It's something we've been told we're not supposed to talk about. If you speak it, someone might do it.

But there's a growing conversation about suicide that's happening on college campuses, in high school auditoriums and online — even among youth some might think are too young to consider suicide. The hope is that a public discussion between young people and the teachers and counselors who work with them could inspire peers in distress to get help.

"It's kind of like the sex talk with your children. I think that we should have that talk," says Brittany Langstaff, a 14-year-old ninth-grader in Georgetown, Ontario. She's on the girls editorial board of New Moon Girl Media, a magazine with an online site aimed at teen and "tween" girls that recently took on the topic of suicide. Features on the site include advice from experts about how to deal with suicidal thoughts and a chance for young readers to discuss the topic online in a moderated space.

Nancy Gruver, New Moon's Minnesota-based founder and CEO, knew that addressing suicide with this age group might raise a few eyebrows. But she often sees the topic come up in the site's online chat and in letters, poetry and artwork submitted by its young members, prompting a policy that requires staff to contact a parent when that happens.

"This should not be taboo. It should be talked about because it is something that affects kids in this age range," Gruver says.

A growing problem
It wasn't always that way. Sixty years ago, World Health Organization statistics show that suicide was much more common among the elderly. Since then, it has shifted to become a much more common cause of death among younger populations — and the third leading cause of death among 10- to 14-year-olds in this country by 1997, according to one report in the medical journal Pediatrics.

Suicide warning signs Here are some warning signs that might indicate someone is suicidal. Many also are warning signs for depression. For more information, go to www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org. — Feeling hopeless, taking no pleasure in activities — A change in sleep habits or appetite — Dramatic mood swings — Withdrawing from friends, family and society — Feeling anxious or agitated — Feeling rage or uncontrolled anger or seeking revenge — Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking — Increased alcohol or drug use — Feeling trapped, like there's no way out — Seeing no reason for living or having no sense of purpose in life — Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide when these actions are out of the ordinary for the person — Threatening to hurt or kill oneself or talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself — Looking for ways to kill oneself by seeking access to firearms, pills or other means

In a Centers for Disease Control survey of high school students from 2007, the most recent federal data of its kind, researchers found that 16 percent had seriously considered suicide in the months preceding the survey. Similarly, a University of Minnesota study released this year found that nearly 15 percent of teens think they're going to die young, leading many to attempt suicide, use drugs and engage in other unsafe behaviors.

Bryce Mackie, a 21-year-old student at Columbia College in Chicago, knows all about that. In high school, he made a film about his own experience with bipolar disorder and suicidal thoughts. He first showed the film to his parents and teachers and ended up getting help, and now speaks to other young people across the country about his experience.

"I'll have seven or eight kids after a speech come up to me and, for most of them, this is the first time they've talked about it," says Mackie, whose film "Eternal High" has won awards for helping destigmatize mental illness.

"They had no clue that anyone else felt that way," he adds. "And even if they did, their teachers weren't talking about it. Their friends weren't talking about it."

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