National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Suicidal thoughts are often a common symptom of depression and are something many people live with, every day. As reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), an estimated 9.3 million adults reported having suicidal thoughts in 2015.  For further clarification, this amounts to roughly 3.9% of the adult U.S. population at that time, which is a staggering number when you pair it with the number of people who actually pass away from suicide each year. At more than 41,000 individuals, annually, we begin to see a clearer picture of how very serious this type of thought can be if left unchecked.

Suicidal thoughts affect people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. It’s extremely common, and often the result of untreated mental health conditions. What we understand from this is that suicidal thoughts, while common, shouldn’t be overlooked, as they often indicate other more serious underlying issues.

It’s with that in mind that the National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month was created, to help raise awareness of this problem across the country. Join us, today, as we take a closer look at one of the most important awareness drives of the year.

 

 

September Is National Suicide Awareness Month

National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is the month of September, where people are encouraged to share stories and insights into their experience with suicide. The thrust of this awareness is to shed light on suicide and help to lessen the stigma around it.

Over the course of the month, the National Alliance on Mental Illness uses this awareness drive to connect with people from across the country who have been affected by suicide. There are drives to raise awareness, social networking trends, and a push to connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services.

Total Health Concepts and the National Suicide Awareness Month

Total Health Concepts offers a full range of counseling and wellness services located in Virginia and Maryland. Through these healing services, we help clients achieve balance and overcome physical and emotional issues in each of their lives.

National Suicide Awareness Month is a cause that is close to our hearts. We offer support for teens, young adults and families in crisis through groups, family therapy, and individual counseling. These services help our clients develop awareness, self-acceptance and relieve depression and anxiety. In the case of family support, we also work to improve communication, so that mental illness among family members never goes unnoticed.

One important weapon in the fight against suicide is the importance of self-esteem. Self-esteem helps teenagers and young adults push themselves to break out of their comfort zone and take healthy risks. They learn to solve problems, building a more solid foundation for their development, which can have clear benefits for their future.

Self-esteem development, when conducted in a healthy way, helps to foster many of the following positive behavioral characteristics, such as:

  • Independent acting
  • Responsibility
  • Healthy pride associated with accomplishments
  • Adapting to and tolerating frustration
  • Trying new things
  • Living with positive and negative emotions in a healthy way
  • Helping others

Low self-Esteem, conversely, can be quite damaging. Teenagers with low self-esteem may avoid situations for fear of failure or ridicule. If left unchecked, this can lead to further problems, including:

 

  • Relationship troubles
  • Feelings of sadness, anxiousness, shame or anger
  • Low motivation
  • Poor body image
  • Premature sexual activity
  • Turning to alcohol and drugs to cope with their feelings

On The Benefits of Counseling and Parent Relationships

Above all else, maintaining a healthy Parent/Teenager connection is the best route to bolstering their self-esteem. Some tips which help to safeguard that connection include:

 

  • Sharing meals
  • Taking outings together
  • One-on-one time
  • Making a point to celebrate your teenager’s accomplishments
  • Consistent family traditions
  • Establishing household responsibilities and chores
  • Maintaining boundaries and discussing limits and consequences

Counseling services, like those provided at Total Health Concepts, provide a perfect opportunity for developing communication and learning to cope. Both parents and teenagers benefit from establishing clear boundaries, which will also help when working through particularly difficult periods. As teenagers develop self-confidence, they will also find opportunities to build their relationships with family and peers.

Suicide Prevention and Awareness

Suicide prevention is an important issue, no matter the time of year. One of the benefits of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, though, is in that it provides a specific time of year to share and spread information about it. With more people addressing the topic publicly and conversations on mental health and suicide being heavily promoted, this is a perfect opportunity to help reduce the stigma.

Promote National Suicide Awareness Month in September by sharing content from this drive on your social media accounts or website. Official hashtags include #SuicidePrevention and #StigmaFree, and sharing with these allows users to connect and spread the message more effectively.

For counseling, health and healing services, contact Total Health Concepts, today, for more on how we can help support you.

Latest Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

COVID-19 UPDATE

Total Health Concepts is offering teletherapy through video and/or phone to all who want to be seen during this time as well as in person at our Vienna Office, located at 410 Pine Street, Suite 150, Vienna, Virginia 22180.

We are a provider for Carefirst/BlueCross and Tricare. We are still accepting new clients and are offering phone and video sessions via Zoom and in person.