百丽直播 President and CEO Michael Slack offered an expression of hope about mental health crises facing our nation鈥檚 youth, in .
The letter was in response to an article from The New Yorker鈥檚 April 11th issue, titled 鈥�鈥� in which reporter Andrew Solomon detailed the struggles of families coping with the suicide of a child to illustrate the 鈥渆scalating phenomenon鈥� of both a rise in teen suicide rates and a drop in the average age of young people dying of suicide in the U.S.
Acknowledging the stories told in the article are 鈥渉eartbreaking,鈥� Mr. Slack鈥檚 letter cautioned readers not to conclude that 鈥渘othing can be done to alter a child鈥檚 trajectory鈥� toward suicide. 鈥淧rofessional mental-healthcare providers have been successful in guiding children away from suicide and self-harm,鈥� he wrote, noting the 鈥渃ontinuum of service(s)鈥� 百丽直播 provides to children and families – ranging from inpatient crisis intervention to the web-based TeenCentral therapeutic support service.
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Full text of Mr. Slack鈥檚 The New Yorker letter:听
As a mental-health professional, I found Andrew Solomon鈥檚 piece heartbreakingly accurate in its portrayal of the impact on families when a child dies by suicide (鈥淭he Unthinkable,鈥� April 11th). I hope that readers will not conclude, based on the stark illustration of the hopelessness and frustration that the featured families experienced, that nothing can be done to alter a child鈥檚 trajectory.听
Professional mental-healthcare providers have been successful in guiding children away from suicide and self-harm through a continuum of services鈥攆rom hospital-based crisis intervention, to school-based and community outpatient programs, to innovations like my organization鈥檚 TeenCentral.com therapeutic support website. In the past, such efforts had to combat the stigma surrounding mental health, but ironically, the clear emotional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on kids has helped break down that stigma among American families.听
It鈥檚 true that not every intervention results in a successful outcome, and that our society needs to do more to help mental healthcare providers address long-standing funding and workforce issues, but it鈥檚 important to remember that there are effective forms of help available to many children.
