In this article, suicide is mentioned. If you are struggling with your mental health, please reach out and call the National Mental Health Crisis Hotline at 988.
INDIANAPOLIS — The state of Indiana is seeing more children taking their own lives than ever before.
In 2021, the Indiana Department of Health conducted and published a survey of over 1,000 Indiana teens from across the state about various health matters.
27.7% reported that they “seriously considered attempting suicide” during the 12 months before the survey. 22.2% said that they “made a plan about how they would attempt suicide."
Finally, 11.8% shared that they had attempted suicide one or more times during the 12 months before the survey.
The Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse and Suicide works to give adults and children in the community the tools they need to help prevent abuse and suicide.
Megan Banet serves as their Director of Programs.
“I wish there was one thing I could point to and say this was the issue,” said Banet when asked about the survey’s results. “Kids are a lot more aware of what's happening in the world today. Even as adults, when we have that 24-hours of a bad news cycle, it can impact our mental health and well-being. Now, kids are exposed to that at younger and younger ages.”
Banet explained that a child’s past can play a big role in their mental health.
“We've known for over 20 years that adverse childhood experiences increases risks for kids,” Banet shared. “Depression, anxiety, suicide, substance abuse. It's a whole host of different issues that kids are dealing with.”
Banet believes the solution could be as simple as more communication between kids and trusted adults.
“Many times those kids do have access to trusted adults,” explained Banet. “They may just not know how to start that conversation around mental health. We always encourage parents, caregivers, teachers and others to have those ongoing conversations with kids.”
Banet calls on communities and parents to step up to help further prevent youth suicide attempts.
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“As communities, we need to take action to prevent our kids from experiencing trauma,” Banet said. “We need to, as adults, have those conversations from very young age. Mental wellness with a six-year-old looks very different from a 16-year-old, but start earlier and lay a good foundation so that our kids know they can come to us."
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, below is a list of free resources available in Indiana:
