Overview
Learn more about the common words and phrases used in suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.
Terms
- At risk for suicide. A student identified as at risk for suicide is one who has made a suicide attempt, has the intent to die by suicide, or has displayed a significant change in behavior suggesting the onset of potential mental health conditions or a deterioration of mental health. The student may have thoughts about suicide, including potential means of death, and may have a plan. In addition, the student may exhibit behaviors or feelings of isolation, hopelessness, helplessness, and the inability to tolerate any more pain.
- Case manager is identified through the suicide risk assessment process. The case manager will ensure that all necessary assessment components are completed and will serve as a liaison between the student/family and school staff. Thus, the identified case manager needs to be someone available to the student in the school setting. Additionally, the case manager should be someone with proficient training in suicide risk assessment and crisis intervention, likely a school counselor, school psychologist, or school social worker.
- Community services board means the public body established pursuant to § 37.2-501 that provides mental health, developmental, and substance abuse services within each city and county that established it; the term “community services board” shall include administrative policy community services boards, operating community services boards, and local government departments with policy-advisory community services boards.
- Crisis teams/crisis response teams are structured based on the needs and resources of their community. Many school divisions have a division crisis team to handle larger crisis events, with each school having its own crisis team. This allows schools to pull from the division-wide team if they require additional support staff to meet the needs of their staff and students in the aftermath of a suicide. A division team is also beneficial if the school’s crisis response team is emotionally impacted in a way that makes it difficult for school team members to engage in postvention activities effectively, or if they need extra support.
- Mental health professionals may be school-employed mental health professions (e.g., school psychologists, school counselors, or school social workers) or community or private mental health providers.
- Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is defined as directly and intentionally inflicting damage to one’s own body without suicidal intent. The most common form of NSSI is self-cutting, but other forms include burning, scratching, hitting, intentionally preventing wounds from healing, and other similar behaviors.
- Postvention is a crisis intervention strategy designed to assist with the grief process following suicide loss. This strategy, when used appropriately, reduces the risk of suicide contagion, provides the support needed to help survivors cope with a suicide death, addresses the social stigma associated with suicide, and disseminates factual information after the death of a member of the school community. Often a community or school’s healthy postvention effort can lead to readiness to engage further with suicide prevention efforts and save lives.
- Protective factors are characteristics or conditions that may help to decrease a person’s suicide risk. Protective factors for suicide have not been studied as thoroughly as risk factors, so less is known about them. These factors do not eliminate the possibility of suicide, especially in someone with risk factors. Protective factors help to create resiliency, or an ability to “bounce back” from setbacks encountered throughout life. School divisions should consider practices and programming that foster the development of protective factors as part of a larger suicide prevention plan.
- Risk factors are characteristics or conditions that increase the chance that a person may try to take his or her life. Suicide risk tends to be highest when someone has several risk factors at the same time.
- Safety plan is developed by the student and parent/guardian, if available, in collaboration with a mental health professional and other available suicide risk assessment team members. The case manager should ensure that a safety plan is developed immediately following a suicide risk assessment or when a student returns to the school setting after treatment.
- School-based mental health personnel/professionals/staff are employed by the school division and have extensive backgrounds and training in counseling, providing interventions, and responding to crises. These typically include school psychologists, school counselors, and school social workers.
- Suicide contagion is the process by which one suicide death may contribute to another. Adolescents and teenagers appear to be more susceptible to imitative suicide than adults, largely because they may identify more readily with the behavior and qualities of their peers. Therefore, it is important not to inadvertently simplify, glamorize, or romanticize the student or his or her death.
- Suicidal behavior is a serious warning sign. This can include self-injurious behavior for which there is evidence that the person had at least some intent to kill themselves. A mixture of ambivalent feelings, such as a wish to die and desire to live is a common experience with most suicide attempts. Therefore, ambivalence is not indicative of a less dangerous warning sign. Developing a plan or strategy for suicide, gathering the means for a suicide plan, or any other overt action or thought indicating intent to end one’s life is considered suicidal behavior.
- Suicidal ideation is when a person is thinking about, considering, or planning for self-injurious behavior, which may result in death. A desire to be dead without a plan or intent to end one’s life is considered suicidal ideation and should be taken seriously.
- Suicide risk assessment team conducts suicide risk assessments to determine if a student poses a risk for harming themselves and is in need of additional intervention or support. The assessment should be comprehensive and include the student’s risk factors, behaviors, protective factors, and circumstances within the school or community that may be contributing to the risk, as well as input from parent(s)/guardian(s) and other relevant adults/peers. The suicide risk assessment team may be created, or the duties assigned to an existing multi-disciplinary team. School mental health professionals, in conjunction with community-based professionals, as appropriate, have primary responsibility for the direct assessment and crisis intervention with the student. Other team members can provide additional assistance and guidance as needed and may include school administrators, other school mental health professionals (i.e., school counselor, school psychologist, school social worker), and school nurse, school resource officer, and other trained school personnel.
- Threat assessment teams respond to students whose behavior may pose a threat to the safety of school staff or students. Threat assessment teams, which are mandated by Virginia Code, also provide guidance to students, faculty and staff regarding recognition of concerning behavior that may represent a threat to the community, school, or self.
- Warning signs are signs and indicators that someone may be in danger of harming themselves and requires an immediate referral for a suicide risk assessment and appropriate intervention.