All young people will face challenges and stressors in life. For some, these difficulties are so hard to cope with that they may, at times, lead to suicidal thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
This briefing uses insight from Childline counselling sessions to highlight experiences where the young person was seeking support from Childline outside of a crisis and not acting on behaviours or plans to end their life.
This briefing shares young people’s varied experiences of suicidal thoughts and feelings, including:
- how young people spoke about and described their suicidal thoughts and feelings
- help seeking for suicidal thoughts and feelings
- unhelpful responses from others after seeking support
- young people’s use of coping mechanisms and techniques.
We also share elements of how Childline supports children and young people who talk about suicidal thoughts and feelings. Professionals can use these insights to prepare for their own opportunities to respond to and support young people with this issue.
It is essential that when a young person talks about suicidal thoughts, feelings or intentions to engage in suicidal behaviours, this is considered as a potential safeguarding concern. This means being open minded to the wide range of experiences of suicidal thoughts and feelings, feeling confident in responding appropriately in the moment and following relevant safeguarding procedures.
With appropriate support, protective factors and by empowering young people with coping skills, suicidal thoughts and feelings can be prevented from becoming suicidal behaviours and deaths by suicide.
