Teen Suicide Risk Factors: Parents Are Too Often Clueless

By Nancy Shute

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers, and it's a tragedy that can be prevented. Given that almost 15 percent of high school students say they've seriously considered suicide in the past year, parents and friends need to know how to recognize when a teenager is in trouble and how to help.

Parents can be clueless when it comes to recognizing suicide risk factors, or at least more clueless than teens. In a new survey of teenagers and parents in Chicago and in the Kansas City, Kan., area, which appears online in Pediatrics, both parents and teenagers said that teen suicide was a problem, but not in their community. Alas, teen suicide is a universal problem; no area is immune.

The teenagers correctly said that drug and alcohol use was a big risk factor for suicide, with some even noting that drinking and drug use could be a form of self-medication or self-harm. By contrast, many of the parents shrugged off substance abuse as acceptable adolescent behavior. As one parent told the researchers: "Some parents smoke pot with their kids or allow their kids to drink."

Both teenagers and parents said that guns should be kept away from a suicidal teen. But since parents said they didn't think they could determine when a teenager was suicidal, parents should routinely lock up firearms, the researchers suggest. That makes sense. Firearms are used in 43.1 percent of teen suicides, according to 2006 data, while suffocation or hanging accounts for 44.9 percent.

The good news: Both parents and teenagers in this small survey (66 teenagers and 30 parents) said they'd like more help learning how to know when someone is at risk of committing suicide and what to do. Schools and pediatricians should be able to help, but we can all become better educated through reliable resources on the Web. These authoritative sites list typical signs of suicide risk, and they also provide questions a parent or a friend can ask a teenager to find out if he is considering killing himself. Here are good places to start:

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry lists signs and symptoms of suicidal thinking, such as saying things like "I won't be a problem for you much longer."

The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to ask the child directly about suicide. "Getting the word out in the open may help your teenager think someone has heard his cries for help."

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free advice to someone considering suicide, as well as to friends and relatives, at 800-273-TALK.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness's teenage suicide page makes the point that talking with someone about suicide will not "give them the idea." "Bringing up the question of suicide and discussing it without showing shock or disapproval is one of the most helpful things you can do," the NAMI site says. "This openness shows that you are taking the individual seriously and responding to the severity of his or her distress."

Teen depression and suicide risk linked to late bedtimes and chronic sleep deprivation

A report from the Jan. 1, 2010 issue of the journal Sleep found a surprising link between the typically late bedtimes of teenagers and teen depression and suicide.

Parent-set bedtimes affect teen's mental state

Adolescents with parent-set bedtimes after midnight had a 24% increased incidence of depression and a 20% increase in suicidal thoughts compared to teens with a bedtime before 10 pm.

Most of the teens in the study reported adhering to the bedtimes their parents set for them, showing that it's up to parents to give appropriate guidelines for avoiding sleep deprivation.

Length of Sleep Matters for Adolescents

The length of sleep matters, too, according to the researchers. Teenagers who reported getting less than five hours of sleep a night had a 71% higher risk of depression and a 48% higher risk of suicidal thoughts than adolescents who got 8 hours or more of sleep.

The AASM (The American Academy of Sleep Medicine) recommends nine or more hours of sleep a night for adolescents.

The study was conducted by James E. Gangwisch, PhD, assistant professor at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, N.Y and colleagues and looked at over 15,000 teenagers' sleep habits and mental states. The teens in the study ranged from 12-17 years old.

Other studies indicate more benefits from increased teen sleep.

In previous studies, shorter sleep durations in children and teens have been linked to higher rates of obesity, school performance and general social well-being. And adolescents who don't get enough sleep due to insomnia are far more likely to develop mental health problems, including substance abuse.

How Suicide Cleanup is Undertaken

Suicide cleanup is a part of the broad based service of Crime Scene Cleanup which involves crime and trauma decontamination and restoring it to its previous state. It is a a niche market in the cleaning industry and involves cleaning the biologically contaminated scene of ones death like suicide, homicide or accidental death. or a scene of a methamphetamine lab.

Broadly speaking, crime scene cleanup and suicide cleanup is almost same but there are few exeptions to this rule. Suicide cleanup requires some extra physical effort and psychological sensitivity that the technicians should be able to handle.

Following are some examples illustrating this. A suicide generally involves close range of weapon to body and so in-depth decontamination and thorough cleaning is required. The cleaners also have to handle family members who might be present at the scene searching for answers that why their beloved person decided to end his/her life. The technicians need to remove all traces of any evidence of a suicide so that no remains are present for family members and friends that might remind them of the tragedy.

Restoring of a suicide scene also means clean and restore sentimental items that mean the lot to the family of the deceased and requires additional time and effort.

On a visual inspection of any suicide scene you will generally find a lot of blood and bodily fluids, but invisible to the eye, a great amount of biohazard contamination is also bound to be there. The suicide cleanup technicians have to search thoroughly in all areas, even those that can not be seen or accessed easily and remove all traces of them from the scene. Most suicide cleanup services have their staff trained in not only dealing up with decontaminating and cleaning up issues but also about dealing with family and friends with sensitivity and compassion. Since most of such companies work in association with leading insurance companies so they can even help you to bill the insurance company directly thus saving you all the hassles.

A suicide cleanup consists of the following steps.
Firstly the scene should be evaluated. Next all contaminates should be located and decontaminated. A thorough search should me made again to decontaminate any traces of contaminates that might have been left out. All types of bio hazardous agents should be properly disposed of. Any microscopic remains should be treated with chemicals and the environment should be treated for odors. Last but not the least all tools and equipments should be disinfected. But before you attempt to clean a suicide scene on your own it is always better to consult a trained professional first.

Braintree wants to clean up motel, scene of murder-suicide

By Dennis Tatz
The Patriot Ledger

BRAINTREE — The owners of Motel 6 have agreed to meet with the mayor to discuss continuing problems at the motel in the aftermath of a murder-suicide involving a former Braintree mother of four and her boyfriend.

BILL CONSIDERS REVOKING MOTELS' LICENSES
State Rep. Joseph Driscoll has long been aware of problems at the Motel 6 in his district.

So in January, the Braintree Democrat filed legislation that would allow a community to revoke the license of a motel if police were called to the business three or more times within a calendar year for a crime.

On Thursday, Driscoll called the Motel 6 on Union Street “a disgrace” and said it should be closed immediately.

The lawmaker’s comments came following a murder-suicide at the motel Wednesday.

“For too long it (Motel 6) has been a gateway for drug dealing, violent crimes of all orders and has no place in Braintree,” Driscoll said.

“I will fight for passage of this legislation to empower our town, and others in a like position to close establishments run by corporations who don’t know or don’t care that their business is not primarily renting rooms but allowing crime into surrounding neighborhoods.”

The proposed legislation is similar to the law that allows a landlord to evict a tenant involved in a felony.

The bill has been referred to the Public Safety Committee.

“We recognize this has been a troubled site for a period of time,” Mayor Joseph Sullivan said. “We want to clean it up.”

A motel worker found the bodies of Linda A. Auger, 42, and Luis Garcia, 52, formerly of Lynn, after entering a room they shared at the Union Street motel about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Following autopsies Thursday, Norfolk County District Attorney’s office spokesman David Traub, said preliminary results revealed that Garcia stabbed Auger to death and then hanged himself.

In the past, police have made numerous prostitution and drug-related arrests at the motel located just off Route 3 and near the MBTA Red Line and commuter rail station.

In an e-mail Thursday to the mayor and police Chief Paul Frazier, the head of safety and security for Accor North America in Carrollton, Texas, owners of the Motel 6 chain, said they were willing to discuss concerns regarding illegal activity at the business..

“We pride ourselves on being good corporate citizens in the communities that we serve,” Victor Glover, also a senior vice-president for Accor, wrote.

He said motel management has often hired off-duty Braintree police officers to handle security.

Glover wrote in a separate e-mail to The Patriot Ledger that the company’s condolences go out to the families of the deceased.

“The safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority,” he said. “We will continue to work in collaboration with the police department to provide a safe environment.”

The popular motel chain, which offers low-cost lodging, has more than 900 company-owned and franchised locations in the U.S. and Canada.

Its tagline, “We’ll leave the light on for you,” has been an advertising staple for years.

Sullivan said he was pleased with the company’s response.

“We have a serious matter on our hands,” the mayor said. “We want tourists enjoying our community. We won’t tolerate this type of activity.”

Frazier said quality-of-life issues with the motel’s owners must be addressed.

“But our thoughts are first and foremost with the children of this murder victim, who are with their father,” the chief said. “They have suffered a tremendous loss from this act of domestic violence.”

Chris Mitchell, who recently opened the Capri Restaurant and Wine Bar next to the motel at the former Bickford’s Restaurant site, declined comment. Mitchell leases the property from Accor.

A few local residents interviewed had varied reactions to the tragedy.

“It was very surprising,” Pat Clark said as she left the Braintree Cooperative Bank in Braintree Square with a friend. “I would like to see them clean that place up. These things don’t happen around here.”

Clark, who has lived in Braintree for nearly 50 years, said she believed there are others who are also upset about illegal activity that has been going on at the motel for years.

Janet Swenson, who was watching her grandson at the Hollis School playground, said it was obvious that changes need to be made to combat ongoing problems at the motel.

Susan Lynch, who was out for a walk near South Braintree Square, said she really wasn’t that surprised to hear about the murder-suicide.

“It seems like a sleazy place,” Lynch said. “It doesn’t have a good reputation anyway.”

Dennis Tatz may be reached at dtatz@ledger.com.