{"id":1929,"date":"2020-09-11T09:17:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T09:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/?page_id=1929"},"modified":"2024-08-06T13:30:59","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T13:30:59","slug":"preventing-self-harm-and-suicide-in-children-and-young-people","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/experiencing-distress-and-suicidal-thoughts\/preventing-self-harm-and-suicide-in-children-and-young-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Preventing Self Harm and Suicide in Children and Young People"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>NHS Education Scotland and Public Health Scotland have created <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.nes.nhs.scot\/17099\/mental-health-improvement-and-prevention-of-self-harm-and-suicide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">three animations<\/a> as part of their &#8216;Suicide Prevention Action Plan \u2013 Every Life Matters&#8217; Strategy.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">&#8220;These animations are designed to support learning about mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention specifically for the wider Children and Young Peoples workforce at the informed level&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>What is mental health?<\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>&#8220;We all have mental health.\u00a0 And everyone has a part to play in supporting Children and Young People&#8217;s mental health and keeping them safe.&#8221;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/learn.nes.nhs.scot\/17099\/mental-health-improvement-and-prevention-of-self-harm-and-suicide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1919 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/public\/healthierminds\/uploads\/sites\/18270\/2020\/09\/08093216\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-08-at-10.31.52.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"246\" height=\"163\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Every child and young person is different &#8211; difference experiences through life can influence mental health both positively and negatively<\/li>\n<li>Mental health affects how we think, feel and make choices<\/li>\n<li>You can nurture positive mental health in children and young people though encouragement to build confidence and self-esteem<\/li>\n<li>Take time to familiarise yourself with the schools policies to promote positive mental health<\/li>\n<li>One supportive and trusted adult can help a young person cope with life&#8217;s challenges<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to Talk about Mental Health<a href=\"https:\/\/learn.nes.nhs.scot\/17099\/mental-health-improvement-and-prevention-of-self-harm-and-suicide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1930 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/public\/healthierminds\/uploads\/sites\/18270\/2020\/09\/11091708\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-10.16.37.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"232\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>Ask, be kind, acknowledge feelings, take the child or young person seriously<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Create the right environment e.g. going on a walk means you do not have to make eye contact<\/li>\n<li>Set a clear time, make sure the child or young person knows how long they have<\/li>\n<li>Involve the child or young person in decision making, encourage them and support them<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Self Harm and Suicide Prevention<a href=\"https:\/\/learn.nes.nhs.scot\/17099\/mental-health-improvement-and-prevention-of-self-harm-and-suicide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1921 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/public\/healthierminds\/uploads\/sites\/18270\/2020\/09\/08100743\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-08-at-11.07.12.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"238\" height=\"160\" \/><\/a><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Self harm does not necessarily mean the child or young person wants to die, it could be a way of coping or communicating the pain that they feel internally e.g. anxiety, guilt, low self-esteem, anger, shame and fear of failure<\/li>\n<li>The risk of suicide increases when self harm is used as a coping strategy over a long period of time<\/li>\n<li>Always take self-harm serious &#8211; help the child or young person get the right support<\/li>\n<li>If you are worried about a child or young person harming themselves:\n<ul>\n<li>Talk to them about it<\/li>\n<li>Recognise their feelings are real<\/li>\n<li>Validate the persons experience<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Anyone of any age can have thoughts of suicide<\/li>\n<li>If you are worried about a child or young person having suicidal thoughts:\n<ul>\n<li>Ask them<\/li>\n<li>Openly listen and discuss the young persons feelings and thoughts of suicide<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t assume someone else has asked<\/li>\n<li>React with compassion, understanding and kindness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>You don&#8217;t have to have specialised knowledge, the best way to let someone know you care is to start a conversation:\n<ul>\n<li>Ask open ended questions<\/li>\n<li>Show you are actively listening to their response<\/li>\n<li>Be direct in a caring and supportive way<\/li>\n<li>Be ALERT\n<ul>\n<li>A sk<\/li>\n<li>L isten<\/li>\n<li>E ncourage<\/li>\n<li>R ight now<\/li>\n<li>T ell someone<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>By working together we can all support a child or young person<\/li>\n<li>Find someone to talk to about your own feelings, you do not need to go through this alone<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NHS Education Scotland and Public Health Scotland have created three animations as part of their &#8216;Suicide Prevention Action Plan \u2013 Every Life Matters&#8217; Strategy. &#8220;These animations are designed to support learning about mental health, self-harm and suicide prevention specifically for the wider Children and Young Peoples workforce at the informed level&#8221; What is mental health? &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/experiencing-distress-and-suicidal-thoughts\/preventing-self-harm-and-suicide-in-children-and-young-people\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Preventing Self Harm and Suicide in Children and Young People<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35971,"featured_media":0,"parent":1583,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1929","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35971"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1929"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3741,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1929\/revisions\/3741"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}