Crisis Resources

As part of Suicide Awareness & Prevention Month, we encourage you to seek out resources if you are in need.  Do not wait to get help.  Suicide is preventable!  There are so many excellent community resources to take advantage of if you ever find yourself in the midst of a crisis.  We wanted to make sure you had all the information at your fingertips.  First and foremost, your school counselor and school social worker are available to talk through any major concerns.  However, the counseling office is not available for emergencies after hours.  If you run into any issues before or after school, please make sure you utilize one of the resources below.  We want you to get the help you need at the very moment you need it.

In case of Emergencies:
If you are experiencing an emergency, please seek immediate assistance and/or call 911.

Immediate Mental Health Resources
The following facilities provide 24-hour assistance and have shared with the Fulton County District that they will complete emergency assessments at no cost. If your child already receives support from a mental health provider, you may wish to make contact with that professional first. You may also want to check with your insurance company regarding mental/behavioral health coverage. Please note that the District does not endorse any provider, makes no representations as to the effectiveness of these providers, and makes this information available only as a helpful resource.

North Fulton	South Fulton
Wellstar North Fulton Hospital Emergency Room 3000 Hospital Boulevard Roswell, GA 30076 770-751-2500	Anchor Hospital 5454 Yorktown Drive College Park, GA 30349 http://www.anchorhospital.com 770-991-6044 or 770-991-6045
Peachford Psychiatric Hospital 2151 Peachford Road Atlanta, GA 30338 www.peachfordhospital.com 770-454-2302 or 770-455-3200	Grady Hospital Psychiatric Emergency Clinic 80 Jesse Hill, Jr. Drive Atlanta, GA 30303 404-616-4762
Ridgeview Institute 3995 South Cobb Drive, SE Smyrna, GA 30080 www.ridgeviewinstitute.com 1-844-350-8800 or 770- 434-4567	RiverWoods Behavioral Health 223 Medical Center Drive, Riverdale, GA 30274 http://www.riverwoodsbehavioral.com 770-991-8500
Lakeview Behavioral Health 1 Technology Parkway South Norcross, GA 30092 www.lakeviewbehavioralhealth.com 1-877-659-4522
Suicide Prevention Hotlines Georgia Crisis & Access Line (also available as an app called "My GCAL" on your Apple/Android smartphone).   1-800-715-4225 75 Piedmont Avenue, NE., Ste 256, Atlanta, GA 30303 http://www.behavioralhealthlink.com Chattahoochee High School  Text 4 Help Line Anonymous 24/7 Help LineText COUGARS to 1-844-201-9946 International Association for Suicide Prevention 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433) National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 National Alliance on Mental Illness 1-800-950-NAMI US Trans LifeLine (10am – 4am Eastern Time) 1-877-565-8860 The Trevor Project: Trevor Lifeline 1-866-488-7386	Fulton County Department of Mental Health Emergency Mental Health Services Hotline 404-730-1600

National Suicide Prevention Week: Warning Signs & Risk Factors

Guest blogger: Katie Beals, The Summit Counseling Center

As September is National Suicide Prevention month, it’s important to take some time to touch on this difficult topic. A big part of this is learning to be intentional about noticing things in your children and feeling comfortable having conversations with them about these things. I know that it often feels difficult or uncomfortable to do this, but talking and creating an open environment really is the most important thing you can do to keep your child safe.

Before we launch into what some of the warning signs of suicide are, it’s crucial to take some time to explain that no one thing leads to someone wanting to take their own life. It is usually many things at once that have added up to make someone consider suicide. I say this to reduce any guilt that might be felt by reading these. It is also true that many are very good at covering up symptoms or emotions and that can also make it very difficult to notice.

Some warning signs to pay attention to are a change in appearance or affect. This means that if your child or someone else usually gets up in the morning and showers and puts makeup on and all of a sudden they stop doing that for a significant period, that would be the time to check in on how they are feeling. In the same vein, if your child usually has a happy/joyful demeanor and lately they have seemed “down,” a conversation should take place. If your child has started to lose interest in something they used to love (ex. a sport, hobby,  etc), it’s time to check in. If your child seems tearful or hopeless or reports feeling “like a burden,” pay attention. If your child is sleeping significantly more or less than normal, ask them about it. Basically we are looking for significant changes in patterns of behavior. The goal here, again, is just to have some conversation starters and to let your child know that you are paying attention and that you care.

The following are some risk factors associated with suicide: a mental health diagnosis, family history of mental health issues, a significant life event (a death of a loved one, parental divorce, a breakup), exposure to suicide by a family member, friend, or someone in the community, bullying, a history of abuse, and access to lethal means. This is another reminder that no one thing leads to suicide. If any of these are involved in your child’s life, it may have had an effect on them and a conversation could be really helpful.

Now that we have helpful information about how to know if your child is at risk for suicidal ideation, we can dive into how to support your child through middle school. First, to stay on message, conversations and open relationships are everything when it comes to this. If you are intentional about checking in, asking open ended questions, and making sure your child knows you are there if they need to talk, you are doing a phenomenal job. I’ll add to that though that teaching your child coping skills is also extremely helpful. Some of these coping skills might include: planning ahead, taking a break, reading a book, taking a bath, listening to music, calling a friend, doing some deep breathing, journaling, etc. The more you can model these healthy coping skills to them, the better they will be at incorporating them in their own lives.

To sum this up,

Notice changes in patterns of behavior

Acknowledge them to your child

Attempt to have a conversation about it

Model/teach coping skills as early as possible

Tell your child that you care about them

Suicide Awareness Month

September is Suicide Awareness & Prevention Month.  

Chattahoochee High School recognizes the importance that mental health plays in lives of our students.  We want students to know that they matter!  During the month of September the Counseling Office is promoting activities that provide students and parents with the skills and resources they need to break the culture of silence and encourage "help-seeking" behaviors.  The awareness generated this month has the potential to have an enormous impact in our school community, even the chance to save a life.

We are doing this through several ways.  A calendar of events is below, which includes fundraising efforts, resource distribution, and educational workshops for students and parents.  We will also be publishing a series of blogs that discuss Suicide Warning Signs and community resources that are designed to assist students in crisis. This is a topic that is often difficult to discuss, but we want to shine a light on ways to prevent suicide in our community. 

Quick Fact: Suicide is one of the leading causes of PREVENTABLE deaths and that FOUR out of FIVE teens who attempt suicide give clear warning signs. This means that 80% of the time, we have the opportunity to intervene and possibly save a young person who is at-risk.

Please follow us on Twitter @HoochCounselors as we will be posting facts and resources regarding suicide prevention.