Name: Elise Evans
Position: Behaviour Support Practitioner
Area of Interest: Suicide prevention in Teenage Girls
Why suicide prevention in teenage girls matters
When I was asked to write a blog about my chosen specialty/ passion I didn’t need to think about what that topic would be. My passion is suicide prevention in teenage girls. When we find a purpose or a passion in life, it usually derives from an event we have experienced, someone who has had an effect on us in some way or navigating our way through our own journey of self-discovery.
Confronting the reality of suicide among teenage girls
We are hearing more and more horror stories of young girls dying by suicide every day and the statistics are confronting, scary and uncomfortable and often these numbers look so big, so incomprehensible we think, well what can I do, this problem is so much bigger than me, those were my thoughts until it happened to someone I love, someone I care about, a young, bright, loved, happy 13-year-old girl named Meg.
As it stands suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians aged 15-24, and Meg falls outside this category. In 2022 304 Australian people aged 18-24 years took their own lives 77 deaths by suicide occurred among children and adolescents aged 17 and below as reported by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
According to Professor Helen Christensen who was the director and chief scientist at the Black Dog Institute most of the funding that is allocated to mental health by our government is spent on treatment rather than prevention, Helen believes that governments haven’t invested enough in preventative programs, particularly in schools. Helen and I agree on that.
Turning greef into purpose
In the weeks, months and years after losing Meg, I tortured myself with so many questions, why her? What happened? What caused her to feel this way? Why was it so hard for her to seek the right help? Why were her parents denied the help they were asking for? The most painful part of the journey of grief is finding out you will never know the answers to the questions that burning a hole inside you every day. So, I turned my attention to the system, to prevention, to educating myself and changing my career so I could find out what parts were broken and what I could do about it.
Meg died by suicide in October 2018, and still today, I don’t have all the answers—not even half of them. What I do know is I am now a counsellor, a registered Behaviour Technician, and a Behaviour Support Practitioner, and I love helping people.
I also know, like Helen, that there is not enough education or support—not only for our young people but also for the families and friends of those young people. Where do they go? Who do they speak to? How do they get the professionals to listen when they say, “My child is in grave danger”?
A vision for change
So, my goal and dream of having a nationwide suicide prevention program in every high school in the country built into the curriculum incorporating talks from survivors of suicidal ideation and attempts, from affected families so our young people understand the impact this has on their loved ones. Alongside the this I will add in mental health programs, such as emotional regulation programs, social connection programs, functional communication programs which are lifelong skills our children will need to cope, manage their emotions and face the pressures they face with social media and the fast-paced lifestyle we all now live. I hope to one day be writing a blog about the success of this program.