Suicide Prevention Month—Starting the Conversation on Mental Health

September brings the start of school and soccer season, but it’s also Suicide Prevention Month—a reminder to address an often difficult but highly important topic. If you’re unsure why this issue deserves dedicated attention, consider these alarming statistics:

• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10–14 and 15–24 (CDC).
• Between 2010 and 2021, suicide rates among young adolescents (ages 10–14) increased by 167% for girls and 91% for boys.
• In 2021, over 20% of teens, and about 1 in 3 high school girls, seriously considered attempting suicide (CDC, 2021).

How can we help our kids? By talking openly about mental health and providing them with the tools to support their well-being.

Breaking the Stigma: Mental Health is Health

To help break the stigma around mental health, we need to start viewing and discussing it like we do physical health. From a young age, parents and coaches encourage kids to eat well, sleep enough, and avoid excess sugar for better focus and energy on the field. They also teach kids the difference between feeling sore and being injured.

These conversations about physical well-being offer a roadmap for discussing mental health. Just as kids need to recover from physical injuries, they also need support when their mental health falters. And just as they do exercises to avoid future injuries, they can learn strategies to strengthen their mental resilience.

Starting the Mental Health Conversation

Here are a few simple ways to start the conversation about mental health with your kids and players:

1. Normalize mental health ups and downs. Explain that just like physical health, mental health has its highs and lows. Some days we feel strong, and other days we feel weaker—and that’s okay.
2. Share your own experiences. By being open about your own struggles, whether physical or mental, you help your kids feel more comfortable discussing their feelings and challenges.
3. Regular check-ins. Just like you ask your kids how their bodies feel after practice or a game, make it a habit to check in on their mental health. These regular conversations can normalize discussing mental well-being.

Family Mental Health Check-Ins

To get the whole family comfortable talking about mental health, try this activity:

• At dinner or another set time each day, everyone rates their mood on a scale of 1–10 (1 being very discouraged, 10 being very happy).
• Each person shares one unhelpful and one helpful thought or experience that affected their mood that day.
• Everyone suggests one thing they can do tomorrow to improve or maintain their mood.

It might take time for your kids to open up, but if you lead by example, they’ll likely join the conversation over time.

More Than Conversations—Building Mental Resilience

Talking about mental health is a great first step, but we need to go beyond conversation. Just as we take steps to proactively protect physical health, we need to help kids strengthen their mental well-being before problems arise.

That’s why we created the Soccer Resilience Player Foundations Course—to give kids and players the tools to build mental fitness. This course teaches foundational skills that will not only boost confidence on the field but also help kids develop mental resilience and well-being off the field.

For more mental health and suicide prevention resources, visit:

• www.988lifeline.org – 24/7 Mental Health Support & Crisis Line
• www.sptsusa.org – Parent Resources for Talking to Kids About Suicide and Recognizing Warning Signs

Please share this article with at least one person. Together, we can strengthen the mental health of our kids, players, and communities.