Potential Harms of Responding to Youth Suicide Risk in Schools

The potential harms related to interventions for adults with suicide-related risk, particularly hospitalization, have been well documented. Much less work has focused on the potential harms related to interventions with youth struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Young people are most likely to receive mental health services in schools, which are recognized as meaningful sites for effective suicide prevention work. However, no overviews have conceptualized the potential harms to youth when schools engage in ineffective suicide prevention efforts. In this article, we discuss three prominent overlapping areas of potential harms: (1) privacy-related, (2) relationship-related, and (3) mental health-related. We then discuss key factors thought to influence the development and maintenance of these potential harms. We conclude by noting ways in which school-based mental health providers may attempt to reduce unintentional harms in this area, with an overarching goal of helping support school mental health providers and the youth they serve.