Seeking help: the key to suicide prevention Content warning: depression and suicide/ suicidal ideations–if you or someone you know is struggling, seek help. Call the national suicide prevention line 800-2738255 or go to Student Center East. BY MANEEYA LEUNG & SOPHIA YOERKS
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Nancy Wagner with son Jonas Wagner who died by suicide last year. Photo submitted.
or any student struggling with their mental health, Nancy Wagner wants them to know help is there for them. Her son, Jonas, a student at Eden Prairie High school, died by suicide last year. Nancy and Jonas shared a close relationship. However, Jonas never verbalized any struggles with his mental health to his parents but did reach out to others. In the winter of 2021, Nancy got a call from a staff member of the school’s student support team saying they were concerned about Jonas struggling with his mental health. That was the first time she heard about it. In the summer of that same year, Jonas died by suicide. One student support team member interviewed would tell students struggling with their mental health to “reach out to a trusted adult.” She would want students concerned for a friend to do the same. When she talks to students who initially didn’t want to talk to an adult, they say that their friends connecting them to an adult is ultimately what helped them. Within the school, she said that students can go to Student Center East, whether they or a friend is struggling, to connect with a counselor, social worker or other resources. Nancy said that it was a friend who contacted the student support team at the school to share concerns about Jonas. She’s grateful to that student, saying that their action was ultimately what allowed Nancy to learn about Jonas’s
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condition and find outside help for him and his needs. Aside from having students know to reach out for help, Nancy would like to see community nights inviting school staff, parents and students to learn more about suicide prevention. She acknowledges that many students face mental health needs and hopes to build a network in which families can support each other in learning more about mental health. She also feels that resources, such as posters of the suicide prevention hotline or a list of warning signs, more widely advertised throughout the school can help raise awareness. Senior Meghan Markle, co-leader of the Shakthi Mental Health Club, finds it helpful when teachers at the beginning of a term send out a Google Form asking what they can do to make students feel more comfortable in the classroom. She said that this allows students to share ways teachers can accommodate their mental health conditions. If students choose to fill out the form, they can explain why they might miss class for therapy sessions or share mental health conditions that sometimes make it difficult to focus on schoolwork. This helps students feel like their mental health is as important as their physical health, she said. Physical health is treated as important, Markle said, but “for mental health, we don’t talk about it–we shy away from it. I feel like we just need to make it
more normal in our conversations.” Markle said students can help their peers by breaking the stigma against seeking help. She would like to see the normalization of talking about therapy, medication and seeing a counselor. Nancy also wants students and parents to be able to recognize the early signs of need for their friends or children and themselves. The student support team member noted that warning signs can vary widely and depend on each person and their experiences. Warning signs can include talking about feelings of hopelessness or withdrawing from friends. (See the right page for an extensive list.) There is no singular warning sign that represents a mental health need, nor does there need to be a specific number of warning signs shown before seeking support or a conversation with a friend or trusted adult. Nancy noted that although Jonas appeared to be doing well socially and academically, Jonas still showed signs of needing help. She said that parents also know that anyone, including their child, could be facing their own mental health struggles. To teenagers who are struggling with their mental health, Nancy would tell them to try to not bear it on their own and seek support. She emphasized the importance of seeking help for themselves or their friends by telling a trusted adult.
