Community Meeting on Teen Suicide
Community groups will host a meeting on Wednesday at Severna Park High School to educate the public on the warning signs of suicide.
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The community is invited to learn three steps to help prevent suicide at a meeting from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Severna Park High School (SPHS).
Teens Taking Action Against Suicide, local self-help group Live Out Loud, and the Severna Park Community Center in conjunction with the school, will host the talk from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Upper Media Center at SPHS.
The discussion will include the warning signs of suicidal behavior and how to persuade and refer those suffering with mental illness to professional help.
There are three simple steps to take when dealing with a suicidal individual— question, persuade and refer (for professional help), said Gwen Haring, school and community liaison at SPHS and a volunteer with the Suicide Awareness Group.
The suicide awareness group was formed in the county three years ago and now has 100 trainers in the community to talk about and educate the community on suicide awareness.
"This is training for people with no mental health background. It's for the average person to learn to recognize the signs that someone is in crisis and how to get them help," Haring said.
The teen group was formed from a Facebook page created soon after the unexpected death of a SPHS student in May.
The meeting is open to high school ages through adults.
Please RSVP at the Severna Park QPR Training Event Page on Facebook: or email questions to Lauren Bahlman at incozumel@yahoo.com or Gwen Harring at gwen_harring@yahoo.com.
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Severna Park Senior High School
60 Robinson Rd, Severna Park, MD -
Severna Park Community Center
623 Baltimore Annapolis Blvd, Severna Park, MD
Lauren Bahlman
11:07 am on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Live Out Loud
https://www.facebook.com/liveoutloudsevernapark
The mission of Live Out Loud is to give local teenagers a place to talk safely and confidentially about the tough topics. Our community has experienced tragic and significant loss, and the statistics tell us that it will probably happen again. We hope that by open conversation, listening, understanding, and some education on the topics of teen suicide, pressure, bullying, stress, and everyday problems that teenagers feel, we can help alleviate that stress, and point teenagers in need to the right resources. We know that there are a lot of professional resources out there, and we hope that the partnership of counseling professionals in our area and their presence at our meetings will give teenagers easy access to that help. While the topics can be difficult, we also hope to see lots of laughter and friendships that reach beyond typical cliques grow out of this effort.
This group is formed in partnership with Woods Community Center and local professionals in counseling, psychological and psychiatric care, suicide survivors and local suicide prevention groups, as well as teenagers and concerned adults. Meetings will take place once or twice per month, and will start as large group sessions with a guest speaker, then break out into smaller conversational groups of up to 10 teenagers. Counselors and QPR trained adults will be on hand at each session if anyone feels the need to reach out for help.
Leslie Hunt
4:27 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Thank you for all of this information Lauren, I would like to do a feature on the group so perfect timing.