District, King County Share Suicide Prevention Resources

Public Health – Seattle & King County sent an advisory letter about an increase in the number of young people dying by suicide over the past several months, as compared with previous years. "Our common goal is to prevent further increases in youth suicides and suicide attempts," the letter says.

We're sharing more of their letter below, but also want to remind our students, families, staff and community where to find resources. Anyone can use the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at any time. Other resources include:

• Washington Teen Link, a help line for teens by teens.
• King County local 24/7 Crisis Line: 866-427-4747
• Trevor Project, specifically for the LGBTQ+ community: 866-488-7386.
• Crisis Text Line: text "Heal" to 741-741
• Additional resources on our website.

Public Health asks that as families and as community members, we help by collectively assessing risk factors, including recent loss or trauma, unsecured firearms or medications in the home, social isolation or marginalization, and thoughts of suicide, death, or that life may be too much to bear. Health officials also ask that we:

• Talk with each other about emotional health and coping with stress. Ask explicitly about suicide risk, particularly with adolescents, elders, and household members experiencing difficulties. Learn about the signs of suicide and how to ask your child if they're thinking about suicide.
• Secure all firearms and medications in the home as a precautionary measure. If someone in the household is at risk of suicide, temporarily removing firearms or medications from the home may be most effective.
• Make a safety plan if concerned about suicidal thoughts or behaviors. One possible template is available here. Share it with others in the household as appropriate.
• Reach out to make positive connections with friends, family, coworkers, and others. Connectedness is an important protective factor against suicide, and making connections is important to maintaining well-being.
• Learn about online health and safety, ways to keep teens safe on social media, and consider making a family tech plan to inspire conversations about tech use as a family.

As a reminder, Issaquah School District partners with Care Solace, a central hub that connects students, staff and their families to providers for mental health and substance abuse. Care Solace is not an emergency response service, so please use the resources at the top if you or someone you know has a life-threatening emergency. What Care Solace does offer is support in finding care; they are available at all hours of the day and night, on weekends and on holidays. Help is available in more than 200 languages, regardless of insurance.

King County also shared that for help finding evidence-based outpatient treatment providers in the community, parents/caregivers can contact Washington’s Mental Health Referral Service for Children and Teens.