The NEW SOS Booster Program teaches youth how to recognize and respond to the
warning signs of suicide in themselves or a friend
Spring is here and for many high school students, especially graduating seniors,
the focus has shifted away from academic classes to fun things like senior prom
and graduation. However, the last year of high school is also full of
stressors, and the transition to college or the workforce can be overwhelming
for many.
It is easy to misread depression as normal teenage turmoil; however, symptoms
of depression can be serious and are known risk factors for suicide. To help,
Screening for Mental Health® (SMH), is offering a new SOS Signs of
Suicide® Booster Program to teach high school juniors and seniors
how to identify and respond to serious depression and potential suicidality in
themselves or a friend.
Schools that already implement the original SOS Signs of Suicide Prevention
Program can use the Booster to give students a “mental health check-up,” and
help them get familiar with college and community-based mental health services.
The new program “graduates” the ACT acronym of the original SOS program
to be more relevant for individuals approaching adulthood, replacing the Tell
in ACT: Acknowledge, Care, Tell with Treatment- Help
the person you are concerned about get to treatment.
“The transition after high school is full of new stressors that can be difficult
to handle,” said Douglas G. Jacobs, M.D., associate clinical professor of
psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and founder of SMH, the organization
behind the SOS Program. “It is easy to misread depression as normal turmoil;
however, symptoms of depression can be serious and are known risk factors for
suicide.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the
third-leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-olds in the United States.
Schools that register for the program will receive a kit of materials that
includes screening forms, parent and student resources, implementation guide,
as well as a new DVD. The DVD portrays individuals sharing
their real life experiences with depression, as well as a dramatic vignette
that demonstrates a young man helping a friend in need, while utilizing the ACT
steps.
In a segment of the video, one young man talks about the importance of getting
help and talking to someone. “When I made the commitment to work with someone
and really confront the issues that I was having head-on and I made some
initial progress, it was unbelievable, it was like a new world, it was like
possibilities that I could never have imagined.”
The new SOS Booster Kit is $175.00. For more information or to register, email
sosinfo@mentalhealthscreening.org or call (781) 239-0071.