suicide prevention awareness — Blog

The Trevor Project was founded in 1988 by the creators of the Academy-Award winning short film, TREVOR. It is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning young people under 25 years old. The work they are doing is imperative for their community, because research shows that LGBTQ+ youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Their research has shown that over 1.8 million LGBTQ youth consider suicide each year.

I think of my sister, Emma. She was 13-years old in January 2018 when she died by suicide. Before her death, she shared with our parents that she had feelings towards girls. After my sister's death and learning these alarming statistics, I felt it was time for me to confront my own feelings and sexuality. Although I felt tremendous pressure about coming out, in December of 2018 I let my family know that I am bisexual, and I no longer wanted to pretend otherwise. Even for someone like me, who comes from a supportive and open-minded family, it was still a struggle for me to accept that I am different and share that with my family and friends. It's difficult to imagine the thousands of children suffering in silence who feel they won't be accepted. The Trevor Project is doing their part to ensure LGBTQ children have a safe space to express themselves.

The Trevor Project offers 24/7 support and crisis intervention through their text/call line, where they reach several thousand children per year. They also created TrevorSpace, the largest and safest social media space for LGBTQ youth in over 100 countries. Their ultimate goal is to end the LGBTQ+ suicide crisis. They've developed a 3-year plan from 2020-2023 that is available to view here. If you are interested in volunteering with The Trevor Project, you can submit an application here.

Since the pandemic, parents are especially concerned for their children's mental health. Many children feel uncertain about the future. These feelings of uncertainty can snowball into hopelessness, one of the leading symptoms of depression and suicide ideation. The statistics are alarming, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among young people age 10-24. The Pangelinan family from Mission Viejo, California lives this reality. Louie and Liza Pangelinan lost their thirteen-year old daughter to suicide in 2018.

Living with this pain is difficult, but they persevere. They lend their voice to raise awareness in teen suicide prevention. Before Emma died, she was a 7th grade honor student, travel softball champion, and deeply loved my family, friends, peers, and her community. This sudden tragedy left the community with many questions. Weeks after her death, two other high achieving teen athletes also died by suicide. The American Academy of Pediatrics: Orange County Chapter released a press statement, some of the key points were:

Emma Pangelinan with her parents after winning a softball tournament.

Emma Pangelinan with her teacher after the 6th grade promotion ceremony.

"• The face of suicide is changing. The rate of suicide is increasing in Orange County and all teenagers are at risk, including those high achieving students, athletes, and artists.

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people ages 10 -24.

• Teens at risk for attempting suicide cannot always be identified in a single screening.

• Due to the impulsive nature of teens, their age group is at higher risk to make sudden attempts on their lives, seemingly without warning.

We want to address the impact of perfectionism among performance driven teens in academics, the arts, and athletics in Orange County. We believe this is a critical factor to identifying and intervening with “the new face of suicide”.

• Research now confirms that current generations of young adults put more pressure on themselves than generations before them.

• This self-imposed pressure to be perfect is a known risk factor to considering suicide. An environment where success is so highly valued fuels this pressure on our teens.

• Intolerance for mistakes and weakness make teens high achieving in academics, athletics, or the arts particularly vulnerable to social isolation when their self-imposed perfectionist standards are not met.

• Pursuing perfection decreases the likelihood that these teens will seek help from others."

“There must be change. To make this change, we have to have difficult discussions, educate others, and educate ourselves.”

— Louie and Liza Pangelinan

Louie and Liza Pangelinan did not see warning signs because of her excellence in academics and athletics. They want to spread the message that achieving students, athletes and artists are also at risk. The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasized in their letter that perfectionism can be dangerous. Children compare themselves to unrealistic ideas of perfection, and feel more isolated when they cannot meet these expectations.

The Pangelinan's feel especially committed to advocating for athletes who perform under high pressure. They partner with leaders in girls travel softball to host the "Play for Hope Memorial Tournament". Sports psychologist, Dr. Casey Cooper, speaks during an intermission to remind the girls of the importance of their mental health. This kind of break in a travel softball tournament is unheard of. Below is a video of the event courtesy of Triple Crown Sports.

Another event they are passionate about supporting is the Out of The Darkness Walk, hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Below are photos from the 2019 walk. They look forward to continuing these traditions when it is safe to do so. Until then, you can follow them on Instagram for the most frequent updates and mental health tips @EmmaPFoundation.