CALL FOR HELP National:
U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Local:
Kansas City Teen Connection Helpline (913) 281-2299
LGBT:
The Trevor Project 866-488-7386
Sexual Violence:
RAINN: Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network 1-800-656-4673
Dating Violence: Love is Respect 1-866-331-9474
Child Abuse:
USA National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-422-4453
Reproductive Health:
Planned Parenthood National Hotline: 1-800-230-PLAN
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FEATURES SEPT. 2015
Statistics from familyaware.org
who have been through it that they can talk to... I want people to be aware of what’s going on, and I want them to realize that some of the things they say hurt other people in ways they could never imagine.” It was at local youth psychiatric hospital Marillac where Alvarez was first diagnosed with depression and anxiety. Though it was the first time someone had put a formal name to how she felt, Alvarez took little comfort in the medical nature of the label. “I wanted people to understand how I felt and not just how I seemed medically,” Alvarez said. “I didn’t want a medical diagnosis for my feelings. I just wanted someone to understand.” Luckily, someone did. After her initial night in the psychiatric hospital, Alvarez, the youngest patient during her stay in Marillac’s 13 to 17 program, met individuals in similar situations. For the first time, she had people her age she could turn to who would understand. “Being there, I felt like I was in trouble for something I couldn’t help… but the other kids got what I was going through,” Alvarez said. “They were all much older than me and helped as much as they could. A lot of them had been [at Marillac] before and tried to explain how it worked and how to get the hang of everything there.” Siegrist, who also spent time at Marillac, found comfort in learning new coping skills from the hospital’s resident psychologists to counteract her struggles with self-harm. “At first, it felt like I was in a crazy house, but a couple weeks after, I was so much happier,” Siegrist said. “The people that worked there were really great with helping me find coping methods and helping me understand that I wasn’t alone, that I was going through the same thing as all the other kids there and that the world was so much bigger than me and my feelings.” Although Alvarez doesn’t regret the journey toward mental and physical recovery, she knows that the road could’ve been much shorter. “When I was five, I was always told to watch my weight... I put so much strain on myself trying to be perfect. I thought, ‘I just won’t eat so many sweets,’ which turned into ‘I’ll start eating less,’ and eventually, I stopped eating entirely,”
Alvarez said. “If someone would’ve caught my eating disorder sooner, then they could’ve seen the warning signs of depression too. I could’ve been treated sooner, gotten the help I needed sooner, and therefore a lot of the events afterwards probably never would’ve happened.” Students like Alvarez and Siegrist may hide their past trauma beneath the surface, but they are far from the only ones. According to NAMI, suicide is the third leading cause of death for those under the age of 18, and even more struggle with thoughts of suicide every day. For them, the road to recovery is far from over. The journey is taxing, but the light at the edge of the horizon is lit by the stories of those who lived to talk about it. Of those who spoke up and let their experiences be told in their own words. Those who take pride in their stories and aim to serve the next generation. The ones who hide in plain sight.
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SARA RENEA PRIDEAUX
ara Renea Prideaux died July 30. Prideaux was an active member of Student Council, Spanish Honor Society, Science Olympiad, theater and the gifted program. Prideaux’s mother, Allie Williams, hopes her daughter’s passing will spark what she believes is an overdue discussion about one of the leading causes of death for Americans under the age of 18. “Suicide is the third leading cause of death in teenagers. We all talk about cures. The cure for cancer. The cure for STD’s. There is a cure for suicide, and we can all contribute: just speak up,” Williams said. “We have to talk about suicide. You can depersonalize suicide to a matter of statistics, but my daughter is a part of that statistic, and Sara’s story matters. Her life mattered, and all she had to do was speak up. That’s what everyone should do. Suicide used to be the fourth leading cause of death in teenagers. Now, within a matter of years, it’s risen to the third. How long can we remain silent on this issue until it’s the first?”
FEATURES SEPT. 2015
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