Oakland County Hosts Teen Suicide Forum in Birmingham

A special panel on teen suicide hosted by Oakland County is planned for Monday night Birmingham.

The panel of experts from the Rose Hill Center, Common Ground, Oakland County Health Department and the Oakland County Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force will discuss the signs, symptoms and other risk factors of suicide from 7-9 p.m. at the Holy Name Catholic Church, in the parish hall.

The event is free and open to all county residents, but especially appropriate for parents and students in junior high and high school, organizers said.

The idea for the forum generated in response from several requests from area families whose communities have been impacted by suicide over the past few months. During the forum, attendees will also learn about the role social media can play in suicide prevention and what is being done locally to address the issue of youth suicide. A question-and-answer session will follow.

Youth suicide has impacted the local community in recent months. An 18-year-old Bloomfield Township resident died in November in a collision with a train that authorities deemed was a suicide. In February 2011, a 17-year-old Cranbrook student jumped from a downtown Birmingham apartment building, prompting the Kensington Community Church — which has a campus at Birmingham's Groves High School — to hold a .

To learn more the Rose Hill Center, a psychiatric rehabilitation center in Holly, visit www.rosehillcenter.org. For more on Common Ground, visit www.commongroundhelps.org. And for more information about the Oakland County Health Department, as well as the Oakland County Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force, visit www.oakgov.com/health.