Suicide is the Number One Cause of Death in Youth
The Archangels Address this Tragedy
*I first published this article about two and a half years ago on Medium. I read yesterday that the government has taken away the menu item on the suicide hotline that pertains to LGB+ children despite the fact that records show many kids have accessed it, and it has saved many lives. If that acronym looks strange and incomplete, it’s because the current administration had already removed the “T” and “Q” from LGBTQ+ and stated they do not recognize more than two genders or accept that they can be altered. Whether or not you agree with that mindset, I hope we can all agree that anything that effectively helps save children’s lives is worthwhile. This also includes monitored, medical transgender counseling and support that the state of Tennessee recently blocked, supported by the Supreme Court, which also has been proven to save children’s lives. I’m not talking about gender replacement surgery, which is illegal for minors in this country, I’m talking about helping kids navigate their feelings and helping them with self-acceptance. These kinds of actions send a very clear message to LGBTQ+ youth, especially transgender youth, that there is something wrong with them, and that they are not accepted or wanted. I hope you will join me in sending a better, more loving message to these kids and let them know in various ways that they are absolutely loved and wanted and accepted. They’re just kids, for crying out loud! All kids should be protected and supported.
Were you aware that the number one cause of death in people between the ages of 15–24 is suicide? It used to be unintentional accidents, such as car wrecks, but suicide leads the list now, according to the CDC. That’s pretty scary to me.
Most of us are at our most social while in this age group, or at least that’s been my experience. I would think when COVID hit, everything shutting down would have been especially difficult for our youth.
My daughter teaches high school, and she was so sad for her seniors who did not celebrate their graduation when everything was shut down. That has been such a traditional milestone for so long, so of course, they felt the hit deeply. I think even more so, they had little to no contact with their friends or others their age, and that had a major effect on their emotional health. Remember when you were a kid, even when you were no longer excited to go back to school for learning purposes, most of us looked forward to seeing all our friends again. When you’re a kid, friends are among the most important people in your life.
A reader emailed me a while back and asked me to ask the Archangels about the rise in teenage suicide over the years, and I did. Their answer follows.
Question: I’d like to write an article about suicide among young people and what adults can do to help. Can you please offer some guidance?
Answer:
As the world is experiencing an enormous transformation, so too are the people, including the world’s youth, who are less equipped to handle it in some ways than adults. In their favor is resilience and a tendency to be more open-minded than are adults. To their detriment, they lack a full understanding and experience of life and themselves, and they are surrounded by excessive negativity and the fear and discord of the adults around them. If the adults around them are afraid, they are also likely to be afraid, and that fear is reinforced in the media.
It is human nature to be sociable. Young people, for the most part want to be around others. Even children who did not socialize with friends outside of school hours were surrounded by others their age through school attendance. When COVID led to isolation, it had an adverse effect on many. This added great stress for young people, their parents, their teachers, and the community as a whole. Children had no outlet for stress, no place where they could escape it, as they were sequestered, along with their families.
When you are surrounded by stressed out people with no way to escape or redirect your feelings, it is only a matter of time before everyone’s vibration is lowered. Most of the youth are unacquainted with self-care, at least when it comes to their emotional health, and they do not know how to make themselves feel better.
The media paints a picture of fear, danger, and deterioration with little hope for Earth and humanity. Children hear their parents’ fearful views and worries. From that perspective, the future does not appear to offer much hope. Parents used to be optimistic that their children could live a better, safer, more rewarding life than the past generations had experienced, but as this latest generation of parents continues to struggle despite their hard work and determination, hope decreases, and fear, anger, and frustration increase.
The less hopeful parents are, the greater the fears of their children. Even when parents do not speak of their fears, children can feel their energy and whether the energy is high or low, it affects them. Parents, if you cannot set your fear aside, reassure your children by showing gratitude for all you have, without dwelling on what you wish you had and do not. Rather than watching the media reports that add to your anxiety, spend time with your children and reassure them.
Children think they are wiser than they are, even though they lack experience about people, the world, and themselves. They usually want to be older than they are, so they often do things that they think older people do, thinking this will somehow expedite their growth and aging. Along with this keen desire to be grown up, there is often a fearlessness that goes with it, or at the very least an outward appearance of bravado they wish to maintain. This is a dangerous combination. Make sure they know they are loved unconditionally and do not have to prove their worth to anyone. Make sure they know they are important.
Children are resilient, as long as they have a safe, accepting place to go to escape tension, fear, and frustration the rest of the world constantly shows them. They need someone they know who cares about them and who is on their side. They need an outlet when they feel overwhelmed, a safe place to go. Even overwhelmed adults struggle with problems, but children lack emotional maturity and experience in dealing with overwhelm. They lack coping skills. Until they develop their own, give them these skills and options to help them feel in control and to overcome the stress they are under.
Many children commit suicide, because they can see no end to their misery, and they just want to stop hurting. They need other ways to cope with negative emotions. If they see their parents practicing self-care, they can begin to realize other ways to feel better. Parents, talk to your children about what you do when you feel overwhelmed. Give them ideas on how they can find balance.
Although children do not deal with the kinds of stress that adults do, they definitely have their own kinds of stress. While parents struggle with work, paying bills, and maintaining the home they have provided, youth struggle with the fear of rejection, self-confidence, and making serious choices that can affect their lives forever.
Their stress is as real as yours. In fact, it can be more overwhelming, because many of their problems stem from a lack of self-identity. They are still learning about who they are and who they want to be, which path to follow. Both parents and children add to each other’s stress.
The world is very different for children compared to how it was when their parents were their age. Parents need to be aware of stressors their children face. Peer pressure and bullying have always been problems for all generations. However, whereas parents could escape from these things outside school hours, today children can be hounded constantly on social media. It is a harmful, neverending cycle for them. Is it so strange they do not feel safe in the world or that they can find no peace?
The next two generations — we speak of children born since 2012 — are transitional generations. These children belong to families where parents were born in the third dimension, while they were born in the fifth dimension. They will be different in many good ways, but they will be challenged by the older generations who often still live by 3D standards.
They are likely to be more open-minded and accepting of others and their differences, and they will feel a pull towards unity that their parents did not feel until they were adults, if at all. Whereas these traits will be common in others their own age, some will struggle within the family dynamic, especially in families who practice bigotry, persecution of others, judgment of others, and wish to separate from anyone who is different than they are.
These things will not resonate with these children. They will, at some point, feel torn between what their heart tells them is right and what their parents tell them. If a compromise cannot be found, the home will cease to be a safe haven. This will, of course, add to the stress of all family members.
If these children do not feel accepted at school or at home, where will they find a safe haven? If they have no safe place to go where they can let down their guard and simply be themselves, they will eventually seek to escape life, because they cannot embrace it like they want to do. Can you not see how this can lead to misery without any hope that things will get better?
Parents, be aware of and embrace the differences between yourselves and your children. Be their safe place and refuge where they feel accepted and loved unconditionally. Make sure to set an example of hope, love, peace, and joy. Listen to them, even if they do not listen to you. Teach them how to take care of themselves and maintain balance in their life. Show by example as well as through communication. Do not just support them financially, support them emotionally and spiritually, so thoughts of suicide are less likely to surface.
We send you and your children Love and Light.
Final Thoughts
Suicide is a tragedy no matter who is involved, but especially for a young person. I can’t help but think if they had just held on a little while longer, things would have been better. Life is full of ups and downs, but young people haven’t lived long enough to know that. I know people who have lost their children to suicide, and they always think it’s their fault when it is not. It is usually due to numerous things that piled up and defeated the child. It’s so, so easy to get caught up in covering all the bases, you take for granted that your kids are alright. You love them. You’d do anything for them. You try to protect them from the world, because they are your world. Sometimes, parents get so busy working, making ends meet, making sure their kids have everything they need, taking care of the house, etc., they forget to check in with their kids to get their perspective. It’s not done out of negligence, it’s just not always done due to everything else taking up time.
We do the best we can as parents. Of the people I know who have experienced this kind of loss, not one of them thought it would ever happen. Looking back, I wish I’d thought aloud a bit more than I did when I was raising my kids. I never wanted my problems to be my children’s problems. I didn’t want them to worry about paying the bills or whether or not we could afford to pay all the utilities that month. I never told them about the difficult people I encountered. Maybe sharing worries and problems in an appropriate way is a good idea, especially if you follow it up with what you do to manage the stress.
I talked to my kids about drugs, sex, making good choices, and a bunch of other things, but I never really talked to my kids about stress or stress management unless they were obviously upset about something. Some kids keep their problems to themselves, and we never know they’re suffering. It’s not that we don’t care, and it’s not that we can’t be bothered. It’s just hard to know sometimes what questions to ask or if you need to ask them at all.
I did tell my kids that life was full of ups and downs, that the downs don’t last forever, but sadly, the ups don’t last forever either. We can’t protect our kids from everything, and one of the hardest things about parenting is watching, even allowing, your kids to fail. We all fail at times. We just need to make sure they know failure is okay and how to bounce back from it. I am deeply grateful my kids are grown now. We had some rough patches, and I have no doubt the Angels and others watched over them. Still, I know I’m lucky and blessed.
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new emergency hotline for suicide prevention, 988. I hope our children never consider suicide, but it’s good for them to know about the help available to them, even if they don’t ever use it. Lastly, remember what the Angels always say about practicing self-care and making it a priority. Set that example for your kids, and show them how to withstand the chaos and stress in the world. You can practice together.
Blessings to all, especially to parents and their children.