WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The student’s behavior changed after he broke up with his girlfriend. He became withdrawn from friends and family and gave up playing tennis, a sport he loved.

Spiraling into depression, the mock scenario depicted the student leaving a disturbing note in a friends’ locker and for his girlfriend.

This was a scenario outlined for teachers at Cardinal Newman High School. They were learning how to intervene in a potential suicide and spot the signs leading up to it. The training, sponsored by a grant in Palm Beach County, was intended to help their faith-based private school respond to students' mental health needs.

Teachers learned to spot warning signs, including anxiety, change in behavior, academic performance, and non-verbal changes.

“We are learning from the previous incident that recognizing signs early and reaching out to help students that may be in a crisis is important to defusing any further escalations and a lot of times it is just reaching out to someone that might make a difference,” said Christine Higgins, principal at Cardinal Newman.

Cardinal Newman is one of the first Catholic schools in Palm Beach County to implement mental health training. At the same time, Cardinal and other neighboring Catholic schools are making sure each of their students are nurtured, so they may be able to prevent them from acting out in a destructive way. (more…)