Teen Suicide Warning Signs

Teen Suicide Warning Signs

Studies show that 4 out of 5 teen suicide attempts have been preceded by clear warning signs, make sure you know them. Keep reading to learn what teen suicide warning signs to look for, including warning signs or indications of a suicide plan. 

Teen suicide is a very real problem in the United States. With many pressures and a variety emotional, social and family issues to confront, many teenagers find themselves having suicidal thoughts. Part of averting a teen suicide is being involved in your teen’s life and watching for teen suicide warning signs. It is also important to note that many of the teen suicide warning signs are also indications of depression.

It is important to take the warning signs of teen suicide seriously and to seek help if you thing that you know a teenager who might be suicidal. Here are some of the things to look for:

• Disinterest in favorite extracurricular activities
• Problems at work and losing interest in a job
• Substance abuse, including alcohol and drug (illegal and legal drugs) use
• Behavioral problems
• Withdrawing from family and friends
• Sleep changes
• Changes in eating habits
• Begins to neglect hygiene and other matters of personal appearance
• Emotional distress brings on physical complaints (aches, fatigues, migraines)
• Hard time concentrating and paying attention
• Declining grades in school
• Loss of interest in schoolwork
• Risk taking behaviors
• Complains more frequently of boredom
• Does not respond as before to praise

Not all of these teen suicide warning signs will be present in cases of possible teen suicide. There are many cases in which a good student commits suicide. It is important to watch for two or three signs as indications of depression, or even teen suicidal thoughts.

Teen suicide warning signs: indications of a suicide plan

There are some things that teens might do that could indicate that they are contemplating, or even planning, suicide. It is important that you make yourself aware of these actions, and use them as starting points to draw your teenager out and perhaps express what is bothering him or her. Here are some of the indications of a suicide plan:

• Actually says, “I’m thinking of committing suicide” or “I want to kill myself” or “I wish I could die.”
• There are also verbal hints that could indicate suicidal thoughts or plans. These include such phrases as: “I want you to know something, in case something happens to me” or “I won’t trouble you anymore.”
• Teenager begins giving away favorite belongings, or promising them to friends and family members.
• Throws away important possessions.
• Shows signs of extreme cheerfulness following periods of depression.
• Creates suicide notes.
• Expresses bizarre or unsettling thoughts on occasion.

Understanding that teen suicide warning signs are serious calls for help is important. Many teenagers share their thoughts and feelings in a desperate attempt to be acknowledged. In many cases, they don’t know how to deal with their feelings and problems and are looking for someone to help them find assistance. Acknowledging these warning signs and seeking help for the problem, and offering support to a teenager who is working through his or her issues is very important, and can help prevent suicide. Teen suicide is a very real danger, and heeding the warning signs can truly save a life.

Nayati found safe, back with family

Just to confirm with everyone - Nayati Moodliar (the 12 year old boy who was kidnapped) has been returned to his family. His father Sham is "urging everyone to post pictures/ videos / anything that was made when Nayati was missing. Nayati wants to see all the love/wishes/prayers that you made for him so that he can thank everyone when he can". Please share your love on the official Find Nayati page http://www.facebook.com/PleaseHelpUsToFindNayatiMoodliar .... and once again to all of you -- thank you for praying and for helping. We hope we can count on you again should another child go missing.

Nayati Shamelin Moodliar, http://www.facebook.com/PleaseHelpUsToFindNayatiMoodliar

Early this morning between 7:30am-7:45am, 27 April 2012,  Nayati Shamelin Moodliar was abducted on the corner of Jalan Kiara 1 and Jalan Kiara. He was on his way to the Mont Kiara International School. He was abducted by 3 men in a black Proton Gen 2 with fake plate number WNH 1356. Nayati is 12 years old with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is mixed origin of Indian and caucasian. Dutch nationality. He is 1.5 meters tall. He was last wearing his MKIS white school shirt and green shorts. If you have information regarding this case please call the police 999 or the Mont Kiara International School 0320938604. Please share this. Please pray for him and his family. For more info and updates, refer to http://www.facebook.com/PleaseHelpUsToFindNayatiMoodliar

DEVELOPING SELF – ESTEEM IN CHILDREN : What Can Parent Do?

DEVELOPING SELF –ESTEEM IN CHILDREN : What Can Parent Do?

Self – esteem is the judgement that a person makes about his or her own self – worth – what we feel and believe about selves. Children form self – esteem based on their perception of the responses they get, especially from those closest to them. Positive experiences and interactions in their early years help children to build positive beliefs about themselves and to find their place in the world.  

WHY IS SELF – ESTEEM IMPORTANT?

Self – esteem is one of the major factors in determining how children will respond to future successes and disappointments. The development of self – esteem is one of the most important tasks of childhood and its benefits can be felt all through adulthood.

INDICATORS OF SELF – ESTEEM

Shows respect for others and themselves.

A child (or adult) with low self – esteem is more likely to be unhappy, have doubts about themselves, lack of confidence to try new things, and to be socially withdrawn. On the other hand, a person with high self – esteem : 

·        Expects to succeed, eventually.

·        Is willing to try new things.

·        Shows respect for others and themselves.

·        Is able to effectively solve problems or conflicts.

·        Is socially competent. 

WHAT CAN PARENT DO?

Parents and care – givers play and important role in helping children develop self – esteem, for example : 

·        One of the most important things you can do as a parent is model good self – esteem for your children, and to show them you feel good about yourself. 

·        Take and interest in their activities. Show your children that you believe in them and let them know you are proud of their achievements.

·        Encourage opportunities and challenges for your children. When they make mistakes, be positive and let them know that we can learn through mistakes. 

·        Listen to their opinions and help them explore their own ideas. Let them know that they don’t have to have the same opinions as you. 

·        Try not to compare them with their siblings or friends in a negative way.

Don't confuse your 

feelings about your 

children with your 

feelings about their 

behaviour.

·        Don’t confuse your feelings about your children with your feelings about their behaviour – make it clear that you may be unhappy about their behaviour but that you love them. 
·        Encourage the development of independence so that your children can manage many things for themselves and is not unnecessarily reliant on others, for example in social situations. 

·        Don’t allow your children to put themselves down. Positive talk has a positive impact.

SOURCE : GOOGLE iMAGES , Nature and Health.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING FACT SHEET

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery.  Victims of human trafficking are 

subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation

or forced labor. 

Victims are young children, teenagers, men and women. 

After drug dealing, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms industry as the 

second largest criminal industry in the world today, and it is the fastest growing.

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) defines “Severe forms of Trafficking in 

Persons” as: 

• Sex Trafficking:  the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a 

person for the purpose of a commercial sex act

, in which a commercial sex act is 

induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person forced to perform such an act 

is under the age of 18 years; or 

• Labor Trafficking:  the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a 

person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of 

subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery. 

In both forms, the victim is an unwilling participant due to force, fraud or coercion. 

Trafficking Victims

Approximately 600,000 to 800,000 victims annually are trafficked across international borders 

worldwide, according to the U.S. Department of State. These estimates include women, men 

and children.  Victims are generally trafficked into the U.S. from Asia, Central and South 

America, and Eastern Europe.  Many victims trafficked into the United States do not speak 

and understand English and are therefore isolated and unable to communicate with service 

providers, law enforcement and others who might be able to help them. 

How Victims Are Trafficked

Many victims of trafficking are forced to work in prostitution or sex entertainment.  However, 

trafficking also takes place as labor exploitation, such as domestic servitude, sweatshop 

factories, or migrant agricultural work.  Traffickers use force, fraud and coercion to compel 

women, men and children to engage in these activities. 

Force involves the use of rape, beatings and confinement to control victims. Forceful 

violence is used especially during the early stages of victimization, known as the ‘seasoning 

process’, which is used to break victim’s resistance to make them easier to control. 

Fraud often involves false offers of employment. For example, women and children will reply 

to advertisements promising jobs as waitresses, maids and dancers in other countries and 

are then forced into prostitution once they arrive at their destinations. 

Coercion involves threats of serious harm to, or physical restraint of, victims of trafficking; 

any scheme, plan or pattern intended to cause victims to believe that failure to perform an act 

would result in restraint against them; or the abuse or threatened abuse of the legal process. 

Victims of trafficking are often subjected to debt-bondage, usually in the context of paying off 

transportation fees into the destination countries. Traffickers often threaten victims with injury 

                                                

 “Exploitation” – rather than trafficking - may be a more accurate description because the crime involves making 

people perform labor or commercial sex against their will.

 As defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the term ‘commercial sex act’ means any sex act, on 

account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person. 

or death, or the safety of the victim’s family back home. Traffickers commonly take away the 

victims’ travel documents and isolate them to make escape more difficult.

Victims often do not realize that it is illegal for traffickers to dictate how they have to pay off 

their debt. In many cases, the victims are trapped into a cycle of debt because they have to 

pay for all living expenses in addition to the initial transportation expenses. Fines for not 

meeting daily quotas of service or “bad” behavior are also used by some trafficking 

operations to increase debt. Most trafficked victims rarely see the money they are supposedly 

earning and may not even know the specific amount of their debt. Even if the victims sense 

that debt-bondage is unjust, it is difficult for them to find help because of language, social, 

and physical barriers that keep them from obtaining assistance.

Trafficking vs. Smuggling

Trafficking is not smuggling.  There are several important differences between trafficking and 

smuggling:

 Human Trafficking

• Victims are coerced into trafficking.  If victims do 

consent, that consent is rendered meaningless by 

the actions of the traffickers. 

• Ongoing exploitation of victims to generate illicit 

profits for the traffickers. 

• Trafficking need not entail the physical movement 

of a person (but must entail the exploitation of the 

person for labor or commercial sex).

 Migrant Smuggling

• Migrants consent to being 

smuggled. 

• Smuggling is always 

transnational. 

Help for Victims of Trafficking

Prior to the enactment of the TVPA in October 2000, no comprehensive Federal law existed 

to protect victims of trafficking or to prosecute their traffickers.  The law is comprehensive in 

addressing the various ways of combating trafficking, including prevention, protection and 

prosecution.  It is intended to prevent human trafficking overseas, to increase prosecution of 

human traffickers in the United States, and to protect victims and provide Federal and state 

assistance to certain victims. Victims of human trafficking who are not U.S. citizens are 

eligible for a special visa and can receive benefits and services through the TVPA to the 

same extent as refugees. Victims of trafficking who are U.S. citizens may already be eligible 

for many benefits due to their citizenship. 

If you think you have come in contact with a victim of human trafficking, call the National 

Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1.888.3737.888.  This hotline will help you 

determine if you have encountered victims of human trafficking, will identify local resources 

available in your community to help victims, and will help you coordinate with local social 

service organizations to help protect and serve victims so they can begin the process of 

restoring their lives.  For more information on human trafficking visit 

www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking.

Source: National Human Trafficking Resource Center 

Human Trafficking Information

Each year about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and held against their will as victims of human trafficking.

Some estimate the number is as high as 60,000 annually. These numbers do not include those who are here from previous years, migrants already in the US, runaways, displaced persons, and those from oppressed/marginalized groups and the poor. Combating human trafficking is a daunting task and emergency healthcare providers have a critical role to play.

Medical providers are a frontline of defense for victims - especially providers in an emergency department setting. Victims present here, often with their traffickers, and receive medical attention but not the further help they need to remove them from the environment that places their lives at risk daily.Emergency healthcare providers often miss the signs of human trafficking, mistake the signs for intimate partner violence, and are rarely aware of how to help. Instead victims are sent back "home" with their traffickers. This situation can change and it must.

Emergency care providers must identify these victims and provide the opportunity for appropriate treatment. This website contains information to give practitioners a basic introduction to what human trafficking is, the clinical presentation of such patients, and the unique treatment needs of this patient population. Click on the "Educational Tools" tab for helpful instruments in educating providers at your institution. Click on the "In the ED" tab if you suspect you are caring for a trafficked person.

1. Human Trafficking is

the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons:
by the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion, or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, and for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor.¹

• The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons:

Trafficking does not require transnational movement of persons; anyone can be a victim of human trafficking: documented and undocumented immigrants, migrant workers, US citizens and residents.

• By the threat or use of kidnapping, force, fraud, deception or coercion:

Trafficking can result from a real or a perceived threat; the victim only has to believe that he/she or loved ones are in danger, they do not actually have to be in danger. The victim believes that if s/he does not do what the trafficker demands, regardless of the traffickers actual ability to follow through with said threat(s), there will be dire (physical, financial, or other) consequences. Traffickers use a variety of techniques to control their victims. A hallmark of the criminal industry is the sophisticated use of psychological and financial control mechanisms, often minimizing or precluding the need for physical violence or confinement.²

Or the trafficker actually does a harmful thing, causing the victim to reasonably believe s/he has no other choice but to do as the trafficker tells her/him.

• Or by the giving or receiving of unlawful payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person:

This means that the trafficker has given another person payment, of some kind, for the use of the victim. For example, a trafficker may pay an impoverished parent for their child or a smuggler may sell a person to a trafficker.

• For the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor:

This simply means that the trafficker uses the trafficked person for his/her personal monetary, or other, gain. 

2. Human Trafficking targets

• An estimated 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked annually in the United States alone. The number of US citizens trafficked within the country are even higher, with an estimated more than 200,000 American children at high risk for trafficking into the sex industry each year.³ Victims of trafficking often come from vulnerable populations, including migrants, oppressed or marginalized groups, runaways or displaced persons, and the poor.⁴

Trafficking affects both people from the US and not from the US. Sometimes the victim came, of her/his own accord, to the country and then fell into trouble; sometimes victims are duped from the very beginning; sometimes they are from the US. A victim of trafficking does not speak a particular language or have a particular race; a victim of trafficking can look like anyone.

• ~80% of trafficked persons are women and children.

This does not mean that men are not victims of trafficking. Men are more likely to be victims of forced labor (e.g.: day laborers, construction or restaurant workers, etc), while womyn and children are often exploited in the sex industry. These are not fixed rules, however, but general trends.

3. Who is a trafficker?

They may operate as individuals, families, or more organized groups of criminals, and are facilitated by other indirect beneficiaries, such as advertising, distribution, or retail companies and consumers. Both women and men act as traffickers in labor and sex trafficking operations.⁵

Traffickers may be professional or non-professional criminals because of the low-start up cost of creating a trafficking business. Trafficking is appealing because it is so lucrative: it is the third largest illegal industry worldwide. Read more about traffickers at www.HumanTrafficking.com.

4. Statistics

are often hard to come by in this field. Trafficking is an illegal industry so finding out just how many victims there are annually is difficult. Conservative estimates say that 15,000 people are trafficked into the U.S. annually, while others guess the number is high at 60,000. It is reasonable to say that whichever number or wherever in between the truth lay, the number is one too many. Finding local statistics may also be difficult, but local organizations are better equipped to tell you how big of a problem trafficking is in your area. Ideally, you need to know the number of persons trafficked locally, the number of victims presenting as emergency care patients, and the number of survivors who escaped because of hospital intervention. Also important to know are which facilities the referrals are coming from. States with the greatest concentration of trafficked persons are New York, California, and Florida; Washington DC also has a large trafficked population. Some organizations to contact for more info in this, and in all areas regarding trafficking are:

Area	Organization	Contact Info
NYC	Safe Horizon	718-943-8652
	Girls Education and Mentoring Service	212-926-8089
	The Sex Workers Project	646-602-5617
CA	Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking	213-365-1906
	Boat People SOS	703-538-2191, 2190
	Tahirih Justice Center	703-575-0070
FL	Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking	1-866-446-5600
	Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center	305-573-1106
	Florida Freedom Partnership	1-866-443-0106
	Shelter for Abused Women & Children	239-775-1101
DC	Break the Chain Campaign	202-234-9382
	Ayuda	202-387-2870 ext 10
	Polaris Project6	202-745-1001
Multiple	Salvation Army	1-800-728-7825

5. Laws

• As with statistics, laws also vary state to state, but the federal law protects trafficking victims, as does international law, and prosecutes traffickers. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 is an important document with which to be generally familiar.

• State and federal law are very clear that minors constitute a special population that requires special protection. While the trafficking of an adult can only be reported to authorities if the adult consents, if a minor presents to a healthcare facility and is identified as a victim of abuse, this abuse must be reported.

6. What happens next?

After a trafficking victim is identified there are a few things that can happen, all of which depend on what the adult survivor wants. In an emergency setting the patient is identified as a trafficking victim and then the provider calls a help hotline or a social worker (who should contact the help hotline. The patient should be allowed to speak with the person from the hotline if s/he wants to). Then,

• if the patient decides to seek escape, the hotline will facilitate such action (an advocate may come to the healthcare facility);
• free shelter, clothing, food, healthcare, etc will be provided
• TVPA 2005 protects all trafficking victims and allows special visas (T-visas) for international victims (not-US born) if they want to stay
• the survivor can choose not to press charges against her/his trafficker at all, can choose to press charges immediately, or at a later date; free legal aid is provided

• if the adult patient decides not to seek escape, her/his wishes must be respected; it is possible that they may have another opportunity to escape, still the provider must create an environment and relationship that offers the patient every opportunity to receive help.

7. Police Corruption

This is an unfortunate but real phenomenon of our communities. It is especially unfortunate in circumstances like those that surround human trafficking because the very people who ought to aid trafficked persons cannot always be counted on to help. Sometimes victims have already had prior negative experience(s)⁷ with law enforcement, which makes them scared of police and, in general, mistrustful of institutions and people that are supposed to help. Because some police receive pay-offs from traffickers to look the other way, providers are not always aware of who can be trusted in their local police departments. Thusly, providers should not call the police when they identify a trafficked person; the help hotlines will know what to do and whom to trust in law enforcement. Furthermore, providers should assure the patient that the police will not be called without their permission.

Note that this does not mean all law enforcement are corrupt, but that those few have tainted the reputation of the institution and the result is that trafficked persons, in general, do not trust law enforcement officials. It takes a great deal of time and effort to rebuild that trust and local anti-trafficking advocates are qualified to help rebuild that trust. Law enforcement is receiving training about and in dealing with human trafficking victims, but because of victims pre- and sometimes misconceptions about police, hotlines should be called not police.

8. Medical Documentation

The standards that apply to a rape victim can be applied to a trafficking victim, regardless of whether s/he was sexually exploited, as the patient is in a fragile emotional, mental and psychological state and this condition ought to be respected in the process of medical documentation. Documentation is important not only in the event that the patient decides to involve the justice system, but also because if s/he does not choose escape at the time, a note in a patient's chart will give the next providers an important heads up about the situation (assuming the patient presents to the same healthcare facility again, using the same name).

9. Medical Treatment (for sexually exploited patients), courtesy of Kathleen Morrow, CNM, MA;

Doctors of the World-USA, Kosovo, 2005

Click on Treatment Recommendations Tab

(Note that educators need not adhere to the dosages and medications listed in this document; use your institutions standards and this document as a guide.)

10. NGOs and Trafficked Persons

Anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations offer trafficking victims a safe place to recover with the support of survivors and advocates. Temporary housing, clothing, food, healthcare, counseling, food stamps and legal aid are provided, and educational (GED and ESL classes, for example) and job opportunities are offered (all at no cost to the survivor). Anti-trafficking NGOs can also help international survivors get T-visas.

Anti-trafficking NGOs are the experts in helping trafficked persons survive beyond their escape. As advocates they are committed to the well-being of this population and some are survivors who know the population implicitly. They can answer the questions that providers have about laws, the population make-up, prominent types of trafficking in the area, and anything else about trafficking. These types of NGOs are the best resources from which to get information about and for trafficked patients. Note that all NGOs are not familiar with the needs of human trafficking; you can use section 4 of this document to help determine which groups are knowledgeable about the needs of trafficked persons.

11. The Disease of Human Trafficking

Key to understanding the emergency provider's role in the anti-trafficking movement and in treating a trafficked patient is understanding that the emergent issue, which causes the patient to present, is only a symptom of a disease: human trafficking is the disease. The same way that victims of intimate partner violence need to be removed from a dangerous living environment, trafficking victims need to be separated from their trafficker. Just as providers understand that fatigue, mental confusion, shortness of breath and pruritis may be symptoms of kidney disease, we must also acknowledge that cigarette burns, ligature marks, depression, and malnutrition may be symptoms of human trafficking. Merely treating the symptoms of kidney disease does not serve the best interests of the patient, nor does treating the symptoms of human trafficking but sending the patient back home. Human trafficking, as a disease, must be considered as a differential when a patient presents to the ED with certain symptoms.⁸

12. Illustrative Narratives

Read the stories of "Jill Leighton", "Ashek Hamid", and "Ricardo Veisaga". There are different kinds of trafficking and these stories only illustrate three. All three of these people could (or did) present as trafficking patients in an ED and all of them would demonstrate signs or symptoms of trafficking; think about who would present in what way(s).

The stories of Leighton, Hamid and Veisaga are true and give names to the millions that are counted as nameless. Emergency healthcare practitioners have a significant role to play in learning the names of these people but first providers must be made aware.

References

¹ International Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children

² http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/trafficking_ht3/what_is_ht.htm

³ http://www.polarisproject.org/polarisproject/trafficking_p3/trafficking.htm

⁴ http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/trafficking_ht3/what_is_ht.htm

⁵ http://www.humantrafficking.com/humantrafficking/trafficking_ht3/who_traffickers.htm

⁶ Polaris Project can also be used as an avenue to find non-governmental organizations in your area that do anti-trafficking work.

⁷ E.g.: Officers are sometimes the very johns that exploit sexual workers or sex trafficking victims may have been harassed or arrested for prostitution.

⁸ Refer to 'educational tools' tab, PowerPoint slides 12 and 13.