A 2019 report found that the suicide death rate among adolescents had been increasing over the past two decades, with nearly 20% of high school students seriously considering suicide while 16% made a suicide plan.
Suicidal thoughts and ideation can’t be ignored. If you believe that your son or daughter is dealing with suicidal thoughts or has even attempted suicide in the past, it is vital to seek a treatment program that can help. Nexus Teen Academy is a teen mental health treatment center in Arizona that can help your son or daughter work through the emotions and mental disorders that may be causing them to resort to self-harm.
If you aren’t sure what to do or how to help your teen, contact our team at Nexus today. You can walk us through your child’s situation and we can provide insight on how to get your teen help today.
It is important to understand the difference between suicidal ideation and suicidal thoughts as there are key differences between the two that can give you a better understanding of your teen’s situation.
Understanding Teen Suicidal Thoughts
Suicidal thoughts are one of the earliest precursors of potential suicide attempts. As the name suggests, suicidal thoughts refer to an individual thinking about the act of ending their life. This is done on a spectrum, with suicidal thoughts ranging from more general abstractions to specific details or even talk of suicide.
Understanding Teen Suicidal Ideation
While suicidal thoughts are an early warning sign of suicide ideation, suicidal ideation refers to thinking about and even formulating a suicide plan. It is a strong early warning sign for suicidal acts. Suicidal ideation is often broken down into two types: passive and active suicidal ideation.
Passive suicidal ideation: This type of suicidal ideation refers to having loose thoughts and plans for suicide. While this is something to be aware of and a worrisome sign, the problem becomes more severe if it moves to active suicidal ideation.
Active suicidal ideation: This refers to creating a detailed plan and a determination to act on these plans. It can include determining a time and date or a method of suicide. Active suicidal ideation is the more severe and dangerous form of the problem.
Teen Suicidal Thoughts Warning Signs
While suicidal thoughts are a precursor to suicidal ideation and attempts, there are still warning signs and risk factors to be aware of that can give you an idea if your son or daughter may be struggling with suicidal thoughts.
Some of the common warning signs of suicidal thoughts include:
Talking about dying
Feelings of guilt or shame
Social withdrawal
Extreme mood swings
Changes to appetite
Changes to sleep schedules
Drug or alcohol use
These are just a few of the signs that you can look for. Overall, there will likely be an abrupt change in your son or daughter’s overall mood and behaviors.
Teen Suicidal Ideation Risk Factors
Along with some of these warning signs, there are risk factors and indicators that can help you or your spouse identify a lingering problem in your teen and may point toward a potential suicide attempt. Some risk factors can include:
Previous suicide attempts
One of the most common risk factors associated with suicidal ideation and attempts is previous suicide attempts. If your teen has previously attempted suicide, it is vital to seek out a professional treatment program as soon as possible to work on treating the underlying cause of this problem.
Depression
Depression, along with other mental health conditions like anxiety, PTSD, and more, can be strong signals that your teen may be struggling. If left untreated, these problems can exacerbate, leading to more severe symptoms and may even cause a teen to begin to contemplate suicide, especially for those who don’t have positive coping skills in place.
Poor coping skills
Poor and negative coping skills, such as drug or alcohol abuse, are clear signs that your teen is struggling mentally and also doesn’t know how to deal with these emotions and disruptive thoughts. If you don’t seek out professional help, these negative coping mechanisms will only make the problem worse and lead your teen down more dangerous paths.
Teen Suicidal Ideation Treatment
If your son or daughter is struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideation, there is likely an underlying mental health problem that is causing these issues. Problems like depression, trauma, and anxiety may be having a serious impact on your child, leading them down this dangerous path.
Teen suicidal ideation treatment will involve not only reconstructing these unhealthy thoughts with something more productive but also the underlying mental health conditions that are causing these problems in the first place.
To do this, your teen will go through many different treatment modalities, some of these may include:
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy
Motivational interviewing
Along with these, some suicidal ideation treatment centers, like Nexus Teen Academy, will offer help through holistic and experiential means as well. These can include:
Meditation
Mindfulness exercises
Equine therapy
Art and Music therapy
The overall goal of suicidal thought treatment and suicidal ideation treatment is to immediately address these dangerous thoughts and work with your teen to heal the underlying mental health conditions that are causing them.
Teen Suicidal Ideation Treatment Center at Nexus Teen Academy
If your son or daughter is struggling with suicidal ideation and thoughts, our teen residential treatment program in Arizona at Nexus Teen Academy is here to help. Led by Clinical Director Hannah Carr, our team has decades of experience working in the adolescent mental health space. We understand the treatment process and work to make it as seamless as possible for our clients.
At Nexus, we offer both evidence-based and holistic treatment options to ensure that your teen gets full comprehensive care programming while at our facility. Along with this, we offer 24/7 supervision to make sure that our clients are safe during their time at Nexus, this is especially important for those struggling with suicidal ideation.
Moreover, we understand the importance of involving the family in the healing process. To account for this, we offer family therapy, weekly family time where parents and siblings can visit with their loved ones, and daily family phone and FaceTime calls.
At Nexus Teen Academy, we can help with your teen’s suicidal ideation and the underlying causes of this problem. To learn more about our personalized treatment options and how insurance can help cover the treatment costs, call our team today.
Reports show that nearly one-third of high school female students reported seriously considering suicide, while 14.3% of high school male students reported these thoughts.
If your teen is struggling with suicidal ideation, it is vital to seek out the help of a professional. Therapists and teen residential treatment programs can help your son or daughter work through these thoughts as well as address the underlying causes of this problem.
Teens and Suicidal Thoughts & Ideation
Published By nexus_admin
Published On November 24, 2024
Table of Contents
A 2019 report found that the suicide death rate among adolescents had been increasing over the past two decades, with nearly 20% of high school students seriously considering suicide while 16% made a suicide plan.
Suicidal thoughts and ideation can’t be ignored. If you believe that your son or daughter is dealing with suicidal thoughts or has even attempted suicide in the past, it is vital to seek a treatment program that can help. Nexus Teen Academy is a teen mental health treatment center in Arizona that can help your son or daughter work through the emotions and mental disorders that may be causing them to resort to self-harm.
If you aren’t sure what to do or how to help your teen, contact our team at Nexus today. You can walk us through your child’s situation and we can provide insight on how to get your teen help today.
Suicidal Ideation vs. Suicidal Thoughts in Teens
It is important to understand the difference between suicidal ideation and suicidal thoughts as there are key differences between the two that can give you a better understanding of your teen’s situation.
Understanding Teen Suicidal Thoughts
Suicidal thoughts are one of the earliest precursors of potential suicide attempts. As the name suggests, suicidal thoughts refer to an individual thinking about the act of ending their life. This is done on a spectrum, with suicidal thoughts ranging from more general abstractions to specific details or even talk of suicide.
Understanding Teen Suicidal Ideation
While suicidal thoughts are an early warning sign of suicide ideation, suicidal ideation refers to thinking about and even formulating a suicide plan. It is a strong early warning sign for suicidal acts. Suicidal ideation is often broken down into two types: passive and active suicidal ideation.
Passive suicidal ideation: This type of suicidal ideation refers to having loose thoughts and plans for suicide. While this is something to be aware of and a worrisome sign, the problem becomes more severe if it moves to active suicidal ideation.
Active suicidal ideation: This refers to creating a detailed plan and a determination to act on these plans. It can include determining a time and date or a method of suicide. Active suicidal ideation is the more severe and dangerous form of the problem.
Teen Suicidal Thoughts Warning Signs
While suicidal thoughts are a precursor to suicidal ideation and attempts, there are still warning signs and risk factors to be aware of that can give you an idea if your son or daughter may be struggling with suicidal thoughts.
Some of the common warning signs of suicidal thoughts include:
These are just a few of the signs that you can look for. Overall, there will likely be an abrupt change in your son or daughter’s overall mood and behaviors.
Teen Suicidal Ideation Risk Factors
Along with some of these warning signs, there are risk factors and indicators that can help you or your spouse identify a lingering problem in your teen and may point toward a potential suicide attempt. Some risk factors can include:
Previous suicide attempts
One of the most common risk factors associated with suicidal ideation and attempts is previous suicide attempts. If your teen has previously attempted suicide, it is vital to seek out a professional treatment program as soon as possible to work on treating the underlying cause of this problem.
Depression
Depression, along with other mental health conditions like anxiety, PTSD, and more, can be strong signals that your teen may be struggling. If left untreated, these problems can exacerbate, leading to more severe symptoms and may even cause a teen to begin to contemplate suicide, especially for those who don’t have positive coping skills in place.
Poor coping skills
Poor and negative coping skills, such as drug or alcohol abuse, are clear signs that your teen is struggling mentally and also doesn’t know how to deal with these emotions and disruptive thoughts. If you don’t seek out professional help, these negative coping mechanisms will only make the problem worse and lead your teen down more dangerous paths.
Teen Suicidal Ideation Treatment
If your son or daughter is struggling with suicidal thoughts or ideation, there is likely an underlying mental health problem that is causing these issues. Problems like depression, trauma, and anxiety may be having a serious impact on your child, leading them down this dangerous path.
Teen suicidal ideation treatment will involve not only reconstructing these unhealthy thoughts with something more productive but also the underlying mental health conditions that are causing these problems in the first place.
To do this, your teen will go through many different treatment modalities, some of these may include:
Along with these, some suicidal ideation treatment centers, like Nexus Teen Academy, will offer help through holistic and experiential means as well. These can include:
The overall goal of suicidal thought treatment and suicidal ideation treatment is to immediately address these dangerous thoughts and work with your teen to heal the underlying mental health conditions that are causing them.
Teen Suicidal Ideation Treatment Center at Nexus Teen Academy
If your son or daughter is struggling with suicidal ideation and thoughts, our teen residential treatment program in Arizona at Nexus Teen Academy is here to help. Led by Clinical Director Hannah Carr, our team has decades of experience working in the adolescent mental health space. We understand the treatment process and work to make it as seamless as possible for our clients.
At Nexus, we offer both evidence-based and holistic treatment options to ensure that your teen gets full comprehensive care programming while at our facility. Along with this, we offer 24/7 supervision to make sure that our clients are safe during their time at Nexus, this is especially important for those struggling with suicidal ideation.
Moreover, we understand the importance of involving the family in the healing process. To account for this, we offer family therapy, weekly family time where parents and siblings can visit with their loved ones, and daily family phone and FaceTime calls.
At Nexus Teen Academy, we can help with your teen’s suicidal ideation and the underlying causes of this problem. To learn more about our personalized treatment options and how insurance can help cover the treatment costs, call our team today.
Teen Suicidal Ideation FAQs
Reports show that nearly one-third of high school female students reported seriously considering suicide, while 14.3% of high school male students reported these thoughts.
If your teen is struggling with suicidal ideation, it is vital to seek out the help of a professional. Therapists and teen residential treatment programs can help your son or daughter work through these thoughts as well as address the underlying causes of this problem.