Suicide problem with children growing in Georgia

DECATUR – The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Child Fatality Review Unit released data on youth suicides in 2018 last week, and the numbers were shocking, according to officials.

“So far, 18 children have taken their own lives in Georgia this year,” Special Agent in Charge Trebor Randle said Monday. “That is the same number as this time in 2017. Total last year, we had 43 child suicides, and the year before it was 51.”

According to Randle, the majority of the suicides were committed by hanging, with firearms as the second-most-used method.

“This year, the youngest we have seen was 11, with last year 9-years-old being the youngest,” she said. “What we are seeing is that kids today simply do not have the mechanisms to cope with rejection or depression. These numbers are why we are trying to push for more awareness to drive the prevention.”

Parents, and the public at large, are often unaware of the true scope of the child suicide problem, Randle said.

“Every time we have these forums or community summits, we find out that the public, generally, is just not aware that this is a problem in Georgia,” she said. “Even our media partners are often not aware of the problem because suicides are just not covered. So, first and foremost, we are trying to saturate the state with the awareness that our kids are in crisis and they are killing themselves. They are hanging themselves or they are shooting themselves, and it’s not just an occasional kid.”

Part of Randle’s job is to review child death cases throughout the state to determine if there was any one particular driving factor, and according to her findings, there is not.

“What we quickly learned is that there is not a particular driving factor,” Randle said. “We did not have any clusters. We didn’t have any particular area of the state where we were seeing it more than others. It was just spread around. Is bullying a factor? Is social media a factor? Are guns everywhere a factor? These are all the questions I get, and what I can tell you is that in about half of the kids, they were already known to have some type of mental health issue, behavioral health issue, or some suicidal issues in the past.

“There were signs there. And, it’s not about victimizing anybody or embarrassing anybody, but what we are asking is, ‘How do we stop it?’ How do we keep the next family from suffering this tragedy?”

According to Randle, the GBI is desperately trying to learn from the tragedies and communicate what they have learned to parents.

“What we are learning when we talk with parents is that they did not see the signs, but our subject matter experts, when we sit down and review the child’s history, find that there were certainly signs,” she said.

According to Randle, today children appear to be experiencing an amplified perception of negative situations and distress, which is causing record numbers to end their lives.

“Many times, parents, and even teachers, will dismiss these threats as being idle,” the GBI agent said. “They will dismiss the threats as that their child is just going through a rough time or a bump in the road. But what we know is that for these kids, their perception becomes their reality; a perception that they will be better off dead and that their families will be better off without them.

“They don’t see that things can and will get better. They don’t have the appropriate coping skills to deal with what you and I dealt with growing up, like breaking up with a girlfriend or boyfriend or an argument with a parent. These were not issues that made us want to take our own lives growing up, but I will tell you, today, in 2018, these issues seem to be so much more emotionally distressing for the kids.”

Randle explained that any “radical” change in a child’s normal behavior could be a sign that the child is experiencing problems.

“If it is a crisis in their mind, then we need to treat it as a crisis,” she explained. “As parents, educators or physicians, we need to handle that child as if it is the biggest crisis they will ever see, because that is their reality. Some of the most commons signs that parents and teachers should be aware of are the things that we have always known about suicide, in general. It just needs to be applied to a child. If you see changes in your child’s behavior that is outside the norm, that is a sign. I know that sounds simple, but it is true.

“One of the things that we know is a sign of depression is excessive sleeping. If that is not your child’s normal behavior, but now they are retiring to their room all the time, they don’t want to be bothered, they want to be closed off from the world, they are sleeping excessively and you are starting to see behavioral issues, not only at school affecting their grades, but also at home, something is going on with that child and you need to ask them questions. You need to ask your child if they are OK.”

Prevention of youth suicides is a priority of the Georgia Child Fatality Review Panel in partnership with Voices for Georgia’s Children, the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia Department of Public Health, and the Georgia Department of Human Services’ Division of Family and Children Services.

The GBI, in partnership with Voices, has released a youth suicide prevention public service announcement to raise awareness. The link to the video can be found at www.gbi.ga.gov/CFR.

Individuals in need of crisis management who exhibit signs of suicide, or identify signs of suicide in others, can call the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) at 1-800-715-4225. All calls are free and confidential. Alternatively, visit www.mygcal.com for assistance. GCAL is provided statewide by DBHDD.

For more information regarding nationwide data on this subject, visit www.childdeathreview.org.