Suicide remains to be the leading cause of demise among the youth, particularly adolescents. It is for this reason that adolescence suicidal conduct and thought remains complex to be a public health concern because of its fatal nature and well-known pervasiveness (Posner, Melvin, Stanley, Oquendo, & Gould, 2007). In this case, counselors are required to identify and assess suicide risk among youth. This is because is a large component that advocates should adopt to evaluate cases of suicide among the youth. On the other hand, assessment of suicide involves documentation of a more personalized desire of an adolescence and often used for interference (Posner et al., 2007). Suicide risk assessment, in this case, requires information about why the child is desperate, concentrating on clinical and social occasions that must be considered in building a plan for involvements (Ganz, Braquehais, and Sher, 2010). The standard components of assessing suicide risk do not only deliver a more advanced assessment of the suicide risk but also pursue to recognize personalized clinical and social conditions that need to be well thought out during the interventions period for forthcoming risk preventions. Therefore, all clinician and healthcare providers who are exposed to adolescence showing the potential for suicidal behavior should achieve full suicide evaluation to prevent further suicide (Ganz, Braquehais, and Sher, 2010).
Standard components of child and adolescent suicide assessment
According to NSW Health (2006), there exist various standard elements of a suicide risk assessment among the youths particularly the teenagers. One of the general procedure engagement. Engagement is crucial part risk evaluation in the sense that it perceives a person's suicide risk. In this case, psychologist and clinician should involve the family or the direct support people of the child. The capacity of appointment is, therefore, a sign of a probability of the individual is enthusiastic to contribute in the assessment. The second component of suicide assessment is discovery. NSW Health (2005) argues that detection is about recognizing the risk features. In this case, when risk is detected, the healthcare professional will be able to understand if the child is feeling suicidal. On the other hand, counselors should seek to assess the child’s existing psychological state, bodily health, early suicide attempts, drug consumption, and history mental illness (Posner et al., 2007). This is vital during the assessment in the sense that the counselor will be able to discover the severity nature of the child’s problem, the risk of threat to self and other kids, and whether a more comprehensive risk assessment is presented (NSW Health, 2005).
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Ganz, Braquehais, and Sher (2010) argue that another component that should be considered when assessing suicide is the safety if the child is being assessed, clinician, and other people. In this case, assessment should be carried out in a healthcare facility with high-security personnel to ensure safety. Finally, the last component that should be applied in the valuation of suicide is collateral history together with management the suicide risk. In this case, the capacity of support provided by the family of the child and the location of the clinician to provide medical interventions and plans will help reduce suicide risk (Ganz, Braquehais, and Sher, 2010)).
Importance of each component
The first two elements (engagement and detection) in essential in the sense that the degree of commitment is a suggestion to the clinician that the parent of the child is willing to assist the evaluation process. Detection, on the other hand, help to reduce around ninety present of individual who die by suicide. In this case, the medical specialist will be able to detect suicide risk and provide measures in reducing any attempts. NSW Health (2005) noted that initial suicide risk assessment would help the counselor with the necessary information to comprehend the nature and sternness that the child is undergoing. On the other hand, bearing in mind the instant management through guaranteeing the safety of the child being assessed, clinician, and another individual is vital in the sense that protection and security are achieved. Besides, the child being assessed should be referred to appropriate professional after providing wide-ranging mental health assessment. Collateral history is resourceful in the sense that it improves assessment assurance, collaboration, and provides chances to assess family support, organization, and discharge planning. Together with support from the household, the assigned medical professional will provide comprehensive administration of suicide through various grades of intervention such as analysis and assessment of mental states (Iribarren et al., 2005).
Prevention, interventions strategy for mental health assessment
| Prevention and Interventions | Rationale |
| Assist the child to identify sources of emotion and immediate psychoeducation and advice for acute stress management | The rationale for this kind of prevention and interventions will assist in increasing resilience, variation, and help-seeking. |
| Administer antidepressants and other medications | The administration of psychotherapy and medication treatments will assist in stabilizing moods. Besides, the drugs will reduce and treat the various post-traumatic disorder that the child might have. |
| Psychological debriefing | The primary objective of this is to prevent the succeeding development of adverse mental effects. In this case, as argued by Iribarren et al. (2005) claim that psychological interrogation on mental stress during valuation is a semi-structured interference expected at cutting down initial psychological stress. |
Ethical responsibility of school counselors in the prevention and intervention of self-harm and suicide in children and adolescents
Looking at the ethical responsibility of school counselors, privacy or confidentiality is the groundwork for a moral standard. In this case, school counselors should realize the promise of young students during treatments and preventions of self-harm and suicide related case by not disclosing their information without their consent. Difficulties affecting the child should be dealt with first when dealing with a suicidal case. Another factor that counselors should consider is negligence. In this case, instructors should function in a knowledgeable position to make a reasonable evaluation of the suicide risk. Additionally, Woolf, Bantjes, and Kagee (2015) argue that extending persistence of care through the provision of short-term emotional interventions and developing eventuality and a relapsing plan will reduce suicide.
References
Ganz, D., Braquehais, M. D., &Sher, L. (2010). Secondary Prevention of Suicide. PLoS Medicine , 7 (6), e1000271. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000271
Iribarren, J., Prolo, P., Neagos, N., &Chiappelli, F. (2005). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Evidence-Based Research for the Third Millennium. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine , 2 (4), 503–512. http://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/neh127
NSW Health (2005). Framework for Suicide Risk Assessment and Management: for NSW Health Staff. Available from http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/mentalhealth/programs/mh/Publications/framework-suicide-risk-assess.pdf
Posner, K., Melvin, G. A., Stanley, B., Oquendo, M. A., & Gould, M. (2007). Factors in the Assessment of Suicidality in Youth. CNS Spectrums , 12 (2), 156–162.
Woolf, M., Bantjes, J., &Kagee, A. (2015). The Challenges of School-Based Youth Suicide Prevention: Experiences and Perceptions of Mental Health Professionals in South African Schools. The Social Work Practitioner-Researcher , 27 (1), 20–44.
