Digital Gods & Digital Goddesses in a Digital World
UnTaboo It
A taboo is a religious or social norm to avoid doing an activity or talking about a subject because people find them embarrassing or offensive.
Suicide Awareness
Suicide & suicide prevention is a difficult & uncomfortable topic but losing someone through the act of suicide is much more difficult to deal with.
The first step that we can take is to un-taboo the discussion about suicide prevention, then we may be able to bring awareness & provide education about suicide prevention.
AWARENESS
& EDUCATION
Awareness & education allows for several things:
a. Assess & screen for risk
b. Get the appropriate help and guidance
c. Helps with starting difficult & uncomfortable convos.
d. Fosters a deeper relationship and builds trust
e. Brings awareness to mental health topics.
f. Talking about suicide helps to prevent it, not encourage it.
EDUCATION & PREVENTION
Increasing awareness of the problem of adolescent suicide:
#1
a. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents between the ages of 15-19.
b. Suicide & suicide attempts in Black adolescents have significantly increased in the last 20 years.
c. For Black teens, many factors contribute to suicide ideation, attempts and deaths such as poverty, depression, community violence, discrimination, institutional racism, stigma related to mental illness, violence in the community and feelings of hopelessness.
d. Among Afro-LGBTIQ+ adolescents, suicide ideation, attempts and deaths are at an all-time high. Afro-LBGTIA+ adolescents, are almost 4 times as likely to consider suicide than heterosexual adolescents.
#2
Teaching students to identify suicidal tendencies in their peers.
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Change in behavior
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Preoccupation with death
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Withdrawal/silence
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Hopelessness
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Loss of sleep
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Change in weight/appetite
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Chronic indecisiveness; lack of focus
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Mental illness with no diagnosis
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Loss of interest in enjoyable activities
#3
Increasing awareness of specific coping strategies for suicide ideation.
DISTRACTION
Think about something else to take your mind off the problem; it means learning how to not worry and overthink about the problem even though it may be still there.
SUPPORT SEEKING
Connect with other people who have faced similar challenges that were able to ultimately overcome.
ACCEPTANCE
Take things as they are, go with the flow. This is for things you have no control over, like a death in the family.
PROBLEM SOLVING
Think about various ways to solve the problem; get insight and advice from trusted sources to get more and different ideas of solving the problem.
#4
RESOURCES
National Suicide Prevention Contact information:
•800-273-8255 (24/7)
•Online chat: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ (24/7)
•https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
To Write Love on her Arms: Help for self-injury, depression, thoughts to suicide.
WEBSITE: twloha.com
The Trevor Project: The Trevor Project offers crisis intervention and suicide prevention to LGBTQ youth through its hotline, chat feature, text feature, and online support center.
866-488-7386 (24/7)
Text START to 678678. (Mon-Fri 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST/12 p.m. to 7 p.m. PST)
TrevorCHAT (instant messaging, available seven days a week 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST/12 p.m. to 7 p.m. PST)
Crisis Text Line
Contact information:•Text HOME to 741741 (24/7)•
5.SAVE: Suicide Awareness Voice of Education
In a crisis: call to 1: 800-273-8255
Text: 988
Majority of the time, suicide ideation and self-harm attempts are a cry for help.
Most people do not want to end their life, they just want the situation, the pain, the sorrow, the grief and feelings of hopelessness and powerlessness to stop. It’s important to know that asking for help is a sign of strength and courage. It is also a great coping skill that can save your life and prevent so much pain in our families.
Oftentimes, when we are having suicide ideation, we may be unable to use positive coping skills or see any better options which is why we desperately need to ask for help.
Suicide is a preventable death.
Because it’s a taboo topic, we suffer in silence with our emotional pain and with the shame of our suicide ideation.
When we come to this place, it is helpful to know that there is a better way and there are more options than it appears to be, all we have to do is ask for help and someone else can help us see it.
REFLECTIONS
1. Is suicide prevention a topic that you have previously learnt about?
2. Do you think it is a relevant topic, in 2026, that will benefit teenagers or adolescents?
3. Have you personally been affected or know someone who has been impacted by adolescent suicide ideation or attempt?
4. Do you feel more informed about adolescent suicide prevention after reading this chapter?