suicide prevention

I spent the last two days in a suicide prevention workshop. It was incredibly intense. I have to say that before the workshop I felt fairly prepared to handle a suicidal resident. However, I quickly learned, that I was not actually prepared at all.

I have always said that I would take an emotional crisis over a drug/alcohol or party situation any day, however, after these past two days I began to doubt my skills.

Practicing my skills definitely helped, but you never really know how you will react when you face certain situations. Working with college students has given me plenty of opportunities to deal with stressful situations that students face, but I always have the counseling center to refer students to. I realize that I need to be prepared to talk to students in an emergency situation in case of late night intervention when counselors are not available.

This year I have been faced with a lot of cyber relationships that have really stumped me. How can young adults be so mean to each other through social media? How are they so comfortable putting something out there on the internet that will never go away? How can they say something on-line that they would never say to someone's face?

I ask these questions knowing that I will never fully understand the answers, but I hope these questions will help educate young adults that words hurt and words and actions can put lives at risk. Let's all hope we learn from Pheobe Prince and Tyler Clementi.

be.kind. <3

Katie