Local public health officials say they can get a better idea of what’s going on with youth using the Healthy Kids Colorado survey, which reaches about 100,000 teens compared with 80,000 nationwide in the CDC’s survey of Youth Risk Behavior.
teen suicide
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Help is available to teens in crisis — if they know who to call
Youth are grieving. With the death of relatives, friends — and above all, expectations — teens are feeling the loss brought by the pandemic. Without appropriate support systems, our youth are perpetually remaining in crisis. I have experienced first-hand the strain on our community’s mental health. Ranging from addiction to suicide attempts to eating disorders, […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Youth mental health was front and center in Colorado’s legislative session. But the work is only a “down payment.”
Hospital emergency departments are flooded with children who’ve just attempted suicide. Kids in need of residential treatment for severe depression are sent out of state because Colorado’s beds are full. And suicide became the leading cause of death for youth in this state five years ago. So what are Colorado policymakers doing about it? The […]
Posted inColoradans, Education, Health, News
On Edge: After wanting to die, an Aurora teen is now learning to live
Navee Essien has grown up keenly aware of her gifts. More times than she can count, people have reminded the senior at Aurora’s Rangeview High how fortunate she is to have a close family and strong support system, academic and athletic talent, ease making friends, and the kind of smarts, beauty and confidence that make […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, Politics and Government
On Edge: In the wake of furloughs, closings, suicides, a Breckenridge businessman searches for balance
Dick Carleton came to Breckenridge from Virginia when he was 24. He had a business degree from Virginia Tech, a ‘69 Volkwagen bug, $100 and three friends willing to share a crappy two-bedroom condo with no insulation. It was awful. It was glorious. He was “full of rebel spirit” in a town of kindreds and […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Health, News
Youth suicides on the Eastern Plains spark political protest, “7 is too many” social media campaign
The latest deaths dropped on the tight-knit communities of the Eastern Plains like a heavy fog. Last month it was a senior at tiny Merino High, a girl who signed up for school plays and organized blood drives but was happiest in the rodeo arena. Then, just a few weeks later, in December, students in […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s splintered mental health system has had tragic failures. The state is taking the first step to fix it.
When Vickie Zacher found out her 11-year-old daughter was getting notes from kids at school suggesting that she kill herself, the Eagle County mom took her to a mental health counselor. A program through Zacher’s job paid for three, one-hour sessions. But the price for more sessions was $270 per hour, and Zacher couldn’t afford […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: The safe storage gun safety bill is dead, but the fight will continue
This has been an unprecedented year, and we’re not done yet. Here at the Capitol, my Democratic colleagues and I had to put a two-month pause on our legislative work due to COVID-19. We’re back at the Capitol now, and we’re focused on passing legislation that helps Coloradans get back to work safely, directs support […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: How hard it can be for Colorado families to get the mental health treatment they need
Tears always flow at some point. It’s inevitable. We are sitting with a father whose coffee grows cold and whose exhaustion is shared by his wife, who is wary of telling her story as she fully expects to be told, yet again, “We can’t help you now.” She carries this rejection from meeting to meeting while […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Wilson: Denver’s Art from Ashes transforms pain into power in struggling youth
When a teen’s suicide is prevented by a notepad and a pen, you take notice. When a poetry program does this for more than 14,000 youth without the slightest bit of fanfare, you scratch your head. Why isn’t Art from Ashes on billboards already? Why aren’t they in every school, every youth treatment center and […]