If a new virus was killing two young North Texans every week, people would be completely freaked out and demanding a cure. Each day, we’d see news sites reporting the latest details, leaders promising action and research dollars flowing to defeat the deadly scourge.
But because that two-a-week statistic refers to suicide -- an issue so painful, so personal and still so stigma-infested -- too many of us seem happy to ignore a mental health crisis that, statewide, is killing Texans between the ages of 10 and 24 at the rate of more than one a day.
I’ve spent a lot of the last six months talking with parents of local victims, from Prosper to Highland Park to Dallas ISD, but I can’t begin to keep pace with this awful story.
If you think I’m exaggerating, listen to Kevin Hall, president of the Grant Halliburton Foundation: “We have to get comfortable with this uncomfortable topic because right now it’s winning,” he says. “The mental health crisis in our schools -- and it is a crisis -- is so huge.”
The foundation, a leader in North Texas suicide prevention and mental health, was co-founded in 2006 by Vanita Halliburton, whose son, Grant, battled depression and bipolar disorder for years before he died by suicide at age 19.
She’s led prevention discussions for years, but still the adults’ responses can be distressingly similar: Those statistics are horrible, but my kid would never consider doing that. The Grant Halliburton Foundation is intent on dispelling that naïve attitude without kicking parents into sheer panic mode.
“When we give them the tools to help their children, then they leave with a plan and a sense of hope,” Halliburton told me during my recent visit with foundation staff.
Death by suicide among young people is a gnarly public health challenge because of the enormous number of factors potentially in the mix. Anxiety, depression and other mental health issues can be part of the equation; so can stress, bullying, social media, academics and peer pressure.
But that complicated jumble provides hope: Because many factors play into these deaths, multiple intervention and prevention points also exist.
Research indicates that eight out of 10 young people who die by suicide give some warning sign to a friend or family member. Those include drastic changes in behavior, withdrawal, anger or statements such as “People would be better off without me.”
If adults and teens will get educated on recognizing those signs, take them seriously and connect with available help, outcomes can be changed.
A good starting point is reading what’s available at granthalliburton.org, where you’ll find an overview of the organization that formed after Grant’s death in 2005.
Throughout his life, Grant entertained family and friends with his antics and wit. At Shepton High School in Plano, he won the “Coolest Kid on Campus” title and his 1,200 fellow students voted him king of the Valentine’s Day dance. Though he never took music lessons, the artistic teen composed songs and performed in a band that played weekends in Deep Ellum.
But Grant’s insides didn’t match what his mother describes as his “bolt of energy” exterior. His successes masked his mental health issues to others, but they didn’t ease his internal pain. As far back as eighth grade, he was treated for a seemingly impossible-to-shake depression.
After turning down scholarships to prestigious art schools and briefly attending the University of Texas at Austin, Grant came home one weekend and told his mom he couldn’t lead a normal life without getting serious help.
He was hospitalized for 30 days and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. “After he was discharged, he didn’t seem himself,” Halliburton recalled. “I know now that he was exhibiting every one of the warning signs for suicide, but I didn’t know it then.”
Grant died by suicide two weeks later, and Halliburton vowed to do everything in her power to help other families avoid a similar tragedy.
Fifteen years later, death by suicide is continuing to rise in North Texas. “We can’t have enough of us working hard enough and fast enough,” she told me.
A long list of statistics backs up Halliburton’s concerns; here are just a few:
-- The Texas Department of State Health Services reports that a person between the ages of 10 and 24 dies by suicide at the rate of more than one per day in the state and two per week in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which is defined by this 2015 study as 19 counties stretching north to the Sherman-Denison area.
-- Almost 18% of Texas high school students reported seriously thinking about suicide, 14.5% said they had made a plan and 12% said they had made an attempt, according to the state’s latest Youth Risk Behavioral Survey, conducted in 2017.
-- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last fall that the rate of death by suicide among U.S. youth ages 10 to 24 increased by 56% between 2007 and 2017. That’s an increase from 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people to 10.6
-- Suicide is the second leading cause of death in Texas for young people ages 10 to 24, according to the CDC.
The Grant Halliburton Foundation is fighting back with multiple strategies, including conducting intervention and prevention training for more than 48,000 students, parents and faculty last year.
One of its student efforts, “TAG, You’re It,” counsels teens on what to do if they come face-to-face with a person considering suicide: Take it seriously. Ask questions. Get help.
Hall, the foundation president, knows the growing suicide numbers can’t be resolved in a one-hour presentation or a mental health-awareness week. That’s why the foundation has created the Thrive initiative to infuse mental, social and emotional health throughout an entire school district.
Anna ISD is the first to adopt Thrive, a toolbox that includes classroom education, extracurricular programming, peer-to-peer initiatives such as Hope Squad, community awareness campaigns, and training for teachers and parents.
If a district decides to embrace just a piece of Thrive, that’s OK too. “We believe that if we can get them started and they see positive results, they will continue to expand their efforts,” Hall said.
Cami Fields, the foundation’s outreach and education director, worries that parents may not realize the stress their children are experience. Students are willing to tell you if they have physical ailments, she said, but “’I’m sad,’ ‘I’m anxious,’ ‘I’m worried,’ ‘I’m left out’ is much harder. That conversation can wind up at ‘suck it up, you’ll be fine.’”
Frantic phone calls from parents have taught the Grant Halliburton Foundation that even when families spot a problem, finding the right resources is like driving down one dead-end road after another. So the foundation has launched the Here for Texas Mental Health Navigation Line, which provides free customized service.
My visit with Vanita Halliburton and her team was my first since I met her at a citywide “Erasing the Stigma” symposium in 2013. I recall being in awe of her courage and determination, but I never dreamed that her foundation would grow into the mental health powerhouse it is today.
Halliburton had no doubt about where she was heading. “l’ll never know what caused Grant to give up hope so utterly. But I do know this: Every young person deserves help and hope, and that’s why we are here.”
Lifelines of support
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-800-273-8255. Confidential online chat is available at suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Crisis Text Line: 24-hour support by texting HOME to 741741. More information at crisistextline.org
North Texas Behavioral Health Authority: 24-hour crisis hotline at 1-866-260-8000 or go to ntbha.org
Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas: Speak to a trained counselor on the 24-hour hotline at 214-828-1000 or 800-273-8255 or go to sccenter.org
Here For Texas Mental Health Navigation Line: Grant Halliburton Foundation initiative that connects North Texans with mental-health resources customized to each caller at 972-525-8181 or go to HereForTexas.com
Dallas Metrocare Services: For help, call 1-877-283-2121 or go to metrocareservices.org
