NSS Weekly: Youth Suicide in Minnesota – How Systemic Factors Can Push Young People to the Edge

Transcript

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INTRO: You are listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a weekly newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations.

VICTOR PALOMINO: I'm Victor Palomino.

BRITT AAMODT: And I'm Britt Aamodt. Recently, news of the suicides of two young children in central Minnesota has raised difficult questions about how to talk about mental health and suicide prevention.

VICTOR PALOMINO: This week, we are dedicating our program to conversations about youth suicide, prevention, and some of the systemic factors that can push young people and adults to the edge. Some of the content in this special presentation of North Star Stories may not be suitable for all listeners.

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BRITT AAMODT: We begin this week's program by looking at the events that shook our community, and a free service available to any Minnesotan looking for help. Here's Reporter Katharine DeCelle.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Every year, hundreds of Minnesota families lose someone they love to suicide. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, 845 people died by suicide last year in Minnesota. Behind every one of those deaths is a child, a parent, a classroom, or a community that's changed forever. This summer in central Minnesota, the city of Brainerd joined a growing number of communities grieving the loss of young lives to suicide. Within weeks of each other, Forestville Middle School students, 13-year-old Lexi Thornton and 11-year-old Ava Starr died by suicide. For Lexi's mother, Chantel Smith, she now lives with the reality that her daughter isn't coming home.

CHANTEL SMITH: I brought my baby home in a car seat, and now I brought her home in a box.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Lexi and Ava's families say both girls experienced bullying. Lexi was black, and her mother says classmates targeted Lexi because of the way she looked.

CHANTEL SMITH: They said that her skin color was too dark, or her nose was too big, or didn't fit her face.

KATHARINE DECELLE: No single demographic or experience explains why someone dies by suicide. Any age, race, gender, or economic status can be affected by suicide. And according to the Minnesota Department of Health, in Minnesota, around 60 children die by suicide every year. Lexi and Ava's deaths have left their community asking difficult questions, not only about bullying and belonging, but about how many children are struggling in silence, feeling alone even when they're surrounded by others. That's why four years ago, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was created. It's not just for people considering suicide, but for anyone overwhelmed by loneliness or emotional distress who needs another person on the end of the line to talk to. It's also a resource for parents, friends, and loved ones who don't know where to turn to help someone they care about. Minnesota Department of Health suicide prevention coordinator Emily Lindeman says the goal of 988 was to make it easier for someone who's struggling to find a lifeline.

EMILY LINDEMAN: It actually started with Congress, who wanted to see if there was a better way for people to connect more easily to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. They found that there was benefit in an easier to remember number, and that people would be more likely to reach out to connect to support when they needed it.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Today, the number 988 is available nationwide, 24 hours a day. In Minnesota alone, counselors answered more than 130,000 calls, texts, and online chats just last year. Support is free and confidential.

EMILY LINDEMAN: So when they first call 988, they'll hear the general greeting message.

988 MESSAGE: You've reached the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Para español marque el número dos. If you are a veteran or service member, or are calling about one, press one.

EMILY LINDEMAN: If you don't press any of the two prompts, then you'll be connected to a specialist.

KATHARINE DECELLE: People can also text 988 or chat online at chat.988lifeline.org. Interpreters are available in more than 200 languages, and video phone services support deaf and hard of hearing users. They can even dispatch a support team if necessary. One of Minnesota's four 988 call centers is Mental Health Minnesota. Jamal Thompson manages their 988 text and chat center. He says when you text 988, you'll answer some brief questions over text to determine your level of care, and then--

JAMAL THOMPSON: You are routed to the most available counselor who will then take your chat. So I would say, "Hi, I'm Mark with 988, and thanks for reaching out. What's bothering you today? How can I help him today?"

KATHARINE DECELLE: Jamal says the counselors are not licensed therapists, but undergo specific training for 988 texts and calls.

JAMAL THOMPSON: Our counselors are trained in de-escalation tactics. We listen first and foremost, offer affirmation, whatever that person is feeling in real time. That is a real situation for them, and we offer support.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Jamal says people of all ages and backgrounds use the 988 text line, but many of the text conversations are from teens facing mental health struggles.

JAMAL THOMPSON: There's a lot of like social anxiety from social media, peer pressure, bullying, and things of that nature.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Those concerns are reflected nationwide. The Center for Disease Control reports 40% of high school students experience persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness. Additionally, the U.S. Surgeon General has warned that social media can contribute to depression, cyberbullying, and isolation. Those feelings often become more noticeable when the structure and connection of the school year disappear.

JAMAL THOMPSON: We notice a spike in June, just when school is letting out, and now there's more spare time. Maybe they're feeling lonely; they're not with their school friends.

KATHARINE DECELLE: If someone needs more support than texting or talking, 988 counselors can connect them with local mobile crisis teams that serve all 87 Minnesota counties in life-threatening situations. Counselors also coordinate with emergency responders. But Jamal says one of the biggest misconceptions about 988 is that you have to be in immediate danger to use it.

JAMAL THOMPSON: The biggest thing that we really find out is that what people like the most is just the engagement, somebody to talk to, somebody to listen to them, a non-judgmental ear.

KATHARINE DECELLE: Whether it's a phone call, a text, or an online chat, reaching out doesn't have to wait until life feels unbearable. Mental health experts say that talking openly about suicide does not increase the risk. Instead, it opens the door for people to share what they're feeling and reminds them that they don't have to carry those feelings alone. For Chantel Smith, no conversation will bring her daughter Lexi back, but she hopes telling Lexi's story encourages families to start those conversations early and reminds anyone who's struggling that there is always someone willing to listen.

CHANTEL SMITH: Anything to keep our babies still here on Earth, because we don't we don't want to bury any more babies.

KATHARINE DECELLE: If you or someone you know is struggling with emotional distress, bullying, loneliness, or thoughts of suicide, you can call or text 988 any time, day or night, to connect with a trained crisis counselor. Reporting for North Star Stories, I'm Katharine DeCelle.

BRITT AAMODT: We want to thank AMPERS member station KAXE for providing some of the interviews and information for Katharine's report.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: For some school children in Minnesota, bullying and feeling like they don't belong can be triggers for disciplinary problems, mental health challenges, and, in some cases, suicide, especially for Black children and other communities of color in rural areas.

BRITT AAMODT: To talk about this, we're joined by Victoria McWane-Creek, founder of Onyx Collective, a group she created to provide Black people in rural Minnesota with opportunities for wholeness and healing. She recently wrote a commentary for Minnesota Women's Press in which she shared her own experiences with racial bullying and spoke with Black families in rural Minnesota. Thank you for joining us.

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: Thanks for having me.

BRITT AAMODT: So, in your commentary, you write the system was not built for my safety. What do you mean by that?

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: When people think about integration of public school systems, they tend to think about little Ruby Bridges, you know, being escorted into Southern School by National Guard, and having all that stuff happening around her as a child. With those of us who are probably likely the generation that integrated the schools up here up north in Minnesota, particularly, it didn't come with policy and law. It came because a family moved in and sent their kids to the public school, and that is what I am talking about when I say it wasn't built with us, even as a thought. Because it wasn't a legislative action that integrated the North. It was people migrating, and those places, such as where I, you know, grew up when my father moved us out of Chicago to just outside of Ironton, Minnesota, were not prepared to culturally engage with me as a black girl, my brothers as black boys, and to protect and ensure that we had a safe place to study and learn that allowed us to be innocent kids.

BRITT AAMODT: So, what does that racial bullying look like in ways that maybe adults forget or might miss?

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: From different generations? My own, it looks like first day of school getting called names on the playground, and people saying, "Well, kids are going to be kids," and minimizing the impact of that, or explaining what those names mean because maybe we didn't even know what they meant. And or it could look like kids sitting in a classroom doing things and stuff that they do when they're learning, somebody's getting mad and will say, "Shut up or I'll take you outside and hang you from a tree." It looks like a whole lot of different things. It happens from the adult. It happens from children. It happens in every situation. And where what we do know is that children, any of us learn when we feel safe, and we don't when we are unsafe.

BRITT AAMODT: Do you find that children are afraid to tell their parents about it or authorities about it? Are they ashamed of it?

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: I'll speak from my experience with my own and my own children. I know that I stopped telling my dad what was going on and ultimately took things into my own hands at the age of 15. I know that my children stopped telling me at some point because they stopped telling me because they knew I would do something, and they didn't want it to escalate because it escalates quickly, from something passing in the hallway to someone being corrected by, rightfully, corrected by an administrator or a principal, and then ganging up on that child the day next, very next day.

BRITT AAMODT: You stop telling your dad. Your kids stop telling you. So, what can parents be on alert for? What should, what signs should they be looking for, and how do you intervene? Because kids, obviously, the kids are afraid that it's going to escalate, as you said.

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: Which is why it can't be about parents and kids. It has to be about the systems that we are showing up in that are operated by people who must know how to intervene. So this is a really good question, and I think being able to understand that this is a pattern, that these are not random things, that these are, these behaviors from both adults and children are reinforced by the silence, whether it is the silence of those of us who experienced racialized bullying, or silence from those who may have witnessed it and just didn't know what to do. Right, as a system, as a structure, what we need in place are accountability mechanisms, ways to report that are transparent. And the same issues that occurred in the '80s with me occurred in the 2000s with my kids, and I'm watching and witnessing an entire another generation of predictable harm. So we need to build racial literacy amongst all people connected to schools and the things that the schools are attached to, which are healthcare, which are you know public organizations, which are all the ways in which that we are meant to interact with each other.

BRITT AAMODT: You know, this brings up another point. You keep bringing up the system that it needs to be a systemic change. But parents who know that their kid is being bullying, they want to do something. How can they push the system? How can they get the system to move?

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: The first thing is that people do have to be aware that this is an issue, right? For example, one of the parents that I get to spend time with through Onyx Collective is meeting with her school administrators right now. They're in ongoing conversations about how to create space that any child can thrive in. But we're looking specifically at this child who has experienced some stuff and things on the campus. We show up with her so that they know she's not alone. And so a systemic response requires us to dedicate resources that are both financial and human in order to develop the systems and structures that will allow people to know what to do in a specific situation. The policies, the practices, the procedures that come that will allow people to not necessarily have to rely on objectification of a situation. Like these are the ways in which that we can be having conversations and moving in a systemic and just way towards access to a free public education that is safe and fair for all kids.

BRITT AAMODT: But what about for those kids who have experienced bullying? What sort of support should we be giving them?

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: Good question, and I don't know that I have the answer because I'll tell you truthfully, it's taken me a lifetime to build an identity that is okay now, to feel safe and a sense of belongingness wherever I choose to go as an outsider, no matter where I might go in the community that I live. I live where I live. I'm not going anywhere. I love where I live, and it's hard. What I do know helps is connection. That's what Onyx Collective is. We are existing only because we want to make sure that Black people who choose to live rural in predominantly white communities in Minnesota feel still a sense of cultural connection, to see yourself reflected in those around you, and to know that you can have access to culturally grounding opportunities. And so for me, it's about joy. For me, it's about making sure that kids have and get to experience joy. It's about making sure that parents have an opportunity to decompress and know that they are not alone in this journey. It is about making sure that people get the resources that they need.

BRITT AAMODT: Really great insight and information. And I want the listeners to be able to find you online. How, if they're interested in Onyx Collective, how can they get a hold of you?

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: Yeah, folks can go to Onyx collectivemn.com, and that's where we're living right now.

BRITT AAMODT: Thank you so much, Victoria, for joining us today.

VICTORIA MCWANE-CREEK: My pleasure.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: After the break, we continue our conversation on youth suicide prevention with tips on how to talk with your teens and hear the story behind how a single text message helped save a life.

BRITT AAMODT: This is North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's Community Radio Stations, with support from the State of Minnesota. We'll be right back.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: You are listening to North Star Stories. I'm Victor Palomino.

BRITT AAMODT: And I'm Britt Aamodt. For many families, talking about mental health and suicide with a young person can be very difficult. Cultural and environmental barriers can sometimes make it harder to notice important warning signs.

VICTOR PALOMINO: To help us understand how to have these conversations and how to focus on prevention, we're joined by Carolina de los Rios, a mental health professional and director of 988 at Greater Twin Cities United Way, where she oversees crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs. Welcome to the program.

CAROLINA DE LOS RIOS: Thank you for having me.

VICTOR PALOMINO: We have seen a significant rise in teen suicide in the last couple of years. What do you think that is, and what can we do about it?

CAROLINA DE LOS RIOS: I think there is definitely a sense of isolation, and I think a lot of stigma. Mostly, it is a lot of stigma around mental health challenges, around suicidal ideation, around talking about self-harming behaviors. Right? I mean, it's not easy for a young person to come and talk about what they are experiencing, whether they are having suicidal ideations, whether they maybe have a plan, whether they are engaging in self-harming behaviors. It's not easy, and especially the reaction, obviously, for those who care for them. So, in many occasions, these youth prefer not to say anything, right? So, there is no one they can talk to, which escalates things further.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Thinking about that, what are some signals that you can see when somebody young or even adult is suffering?

CAROLINA DE LOS RIOS: It's hard to generalize red flags. It is really hard to generalize because we have learned in the suicide prevention field that when someone is thinking about suicide, is normally not just only one reason, right? Is there are multiple reasons, and that's why it's so hard to provide like general kind of like recommendations. However, what we have actually learning from 988 is the main reason that people call, including young people, is because they are experiencing severe anxiety and they are already having suicidal ideation, so they have depression. Right? I think it is important for people in the community. Right? We're talking about anyone, caregivers. Teachers. If someone seems to be struggling, let's say if it's young people at school, if they seem to be acting out, right? In many different ways, we can define acting out as having issues, interpersonal relations issues, or their parents are unable to really communicate with them anymore, or they are cutting classes, or they are maybe they are hanging out with other peers and engaging in high-risk behaviors. When we say high-risk behavior is drinking, maybe like engaging in other substances, right? So I think all of these things should be already considered red flags. So I think it's that's where teachers, parents, caregivers, people in the community should make the effort to communicate to approach them. I know it's hard, right? I work with young people, and I know it's hard. Let's just remember that young people, their brains, the frontal cortex is still developing, right? So what it feels for us adults, well, that is not a big deal. That is not a crisis for them actually feels really overwhelming.

VICTOR PALOMINO: But sometimes there might be a misconception of thinking that talking about suicide might make the situation worse.

CAROLINA DE LOS RIOS: I do get to hear that a lot, not only as a clinician and also in the 988 world. And it's a myth. And research has proven it's very beneficial to approach the conversation, that's why I think it is so important as adults, people in the community, caregivers, parents, teachers, to you do actually do need to do your homework and probably maybe go into a training, right, where you are able to actually normalize the conversation. So you can actually approach this. You have to make sure that you are comfortable to be able to normalize the conversation so that young person is going to feel safe opening up.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Carolina, what do you want to say to Minnesotans about suicide prevention right now?

CAROLINA DE LOS RIOS: I want people to feel to start feeling comfortable as we open up our conversation to talk about suicide and to talk about mental illness. Right? I think there are two things that we try to avoid in in family conversations and in in maybe work conversations. Everyone is like treats this as a hush hush, right? And so I think it is important just to start talking about it. So I will invite all of us in the community in Minnesota to really just take a kinder approach to ourselves when we are trying to identify what is going on, right? If we're struggling, we need to ask for help, and that means that we are normalizing our own struggles, and therefore we're going to be able to be a helper in the community.

VICTOR PALOMINO: Well, thanks so much for your time and for sharing all this information with our listeners.

CAROLINA DE LOS RIOS: Thank you, Victor, for having me.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: Suicide is not just a problem among teenagers. For many adults, the stress of daily life, major changes in personal circumstances, loneliness, or cultural taboos around mental health can all contribute to a crisis.

BRITT AAMODT: We conclude this special program with Tou Yang, who shares how a single text message helped bring him back from the edge.

TOU YANG: My name is Tou Yang, and I am 988. So I want to say this in Hong also. [repeats the introduction in Hmong]. I am a second-generation immigrant. So my mother came here towards the end of the Vietnam War. I currently live on the east side of St. Paul. Kind of live in the same neighborhood that I grew up in. I'm currently a certified peer support specialist at the Ramsey County Mental Health Center. That sort of work and the work that I do now, it's very rewarding work, but also get a lot of secondary trauma and just kind of hear a lot of difficulties that families within Ramsey County encounter. One of the first times I heard about 988 was through my work doing peer work. My first experience myself with it was during a huge transition in my life, there was just transition in work, relationships, and different responsibilities came up that became overwhelming. One of my family members got really sick and a lot within a week she was close to her deathbed. My therapist at the time moved out of the state, so it was a little bit difficult connecting with my support system. I did not sleep well; I had a few hours of sleep, if that. I think all of these things just kind of got really heavy. I think just internally, I have this like negative dialog that is really hard to get away from and just kind of let go. And so it got to a point where I felt like I wasn't doing well as family member helping take care of my family. Taking care of myself, felt like I was failing at my job, and there's just so many things going on, right? And so I just got to a really dark place and had these thoughts of harming myself, and these thoughts weren't scary, and that was terrifying, right? It was really hard to connect with 988 and just get out of my own brain about connecting with 988. I think, I think just within myself, it's this a lot of shame, right? I've done this work, but I'm still human. I'm still doing this. I still have these like internal dialog that most of the time, using different coping skills, I'm able to like not let ruminate. I texted 988. One of the first things they asked was if I felt safe. Right at that time, I don't. I'm not sure if I was safe. I felt safe. I had a plan, but also, also didn't feel safe. Right. It was just hard to think clearly. So I just with while texting 988, they were just able to let me vent. Really, let me kind of get out of my head and be a whole lot more present in what was going on. Eventually, got to a point where I was able to reach out to one of my support systems, I know if I had to speak with them, I would have been in my head, and that would have been a struggle, right? I feel grateful for the opportunity to share my part of my journey, and there's a part of me that is also freaked out about getting just telling my story, right? In a lot of immigrant communities, mental health is stigmatized. In the Hmong community, one of one of the words for mental illness is basically "you're crazy," right? And so, there's still a lot of stigma story, but I know that my story, there's many folks that have the same sort of upbringing, the same sort of struggles. So I just want to be vulnerable and share that recovery as possible. You can take care of yourself and get back to a good place.

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VICTOR PALOMINO: This is it for today's program. If you missed any part of today's special edition of North Star Stories, you can find this and past episodes at AMPERS.org or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

BRITT AAMODT: You can also get North Star Stories Daily on our website or check your favorite station's schedule. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back next week with more stories and voices from the North Star State.

OUTRO: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, Minnesota's community radio stations with support from the state of Minnesota. Online at ampers.org.

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