Folks in 6th grade and higher are welcomed to join us and the Youth Stability and Support Alliance (YSSA) to create your very own distraction kit. Backed by research and therapists, creating these kits with your peers will help in aiding you through challenging episodes in life.

YSSA focuses on bringing alertness to the uprising numbers of cases of suicide among youths by informing different methods of coping strategies, such as making a Distraction Kit. This specific intervention focuses on the use of physical toys and objects in order to relieve any anxiety or self-harm behaviors. Putting multiple commonly used coping items together, a distraction kit will contain various ways to distract someone from extreme points of anxiety, depression, or any other mental illness that may lead to an incline of suicidal ideations. Importantly, these methods are not intended to be a cure for that mental illness as these are simple ways to bring a person out of an episode that might result in self-injury. With the hope that people will use this kit during a panic attack, depressive episode, or anything that causes a person to start losing cognitive function, this kit will be a method of preventing extreme decisions.

About YSSA: Unfortunately, teen suicide is a growing issue locally and worldwide. Around 5,000 teens with mental disorders and challenging environments die by suicide every year. Therefore, the Youth Support and Stability Alliance (YSSA) wishes to spark initiative and mitigate the growing complication of teen suicide.

This organization is made to help you get through tough situations and circumstances created by any mental illness. However, in extreme cases, contact: Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255