How YOU can help prevent Teen Suicide
There are many things that you can do to help prevent Teen Suicide. The first step is recognizing the warning signs. After this, you need to:
1. LISTEN! Don't brush off a suicide threat.
2.Draw the teenager in. Surround him or her with love and reassurance that they are suffering from depression, which can be treated medically.
3.Make sure that the teenager realizes that there are people who want to help. Mention teachers, school counselors, parents of
friends, trusted family members, clergy members...whatever it takes to pursuade them that they have someone to share their
feelings with.
4.Seek professional help immediately. Start with your pediatrician. They usually have resources you can contact.
5.Do not leave the teenager alone if you have a "gut feeling" that he or she is desperate.
6.Even if a person's "mind is made up", you can still help them. People who are comtemplating suicide go back and forth, thinking about life and death. They don't want to die, they just want the pain to stop. If they knew they could have the life back that they had before the illness, they would choose life!
Please remember that Depression is an illness which can be treated, usually very effectively. There is no stigma, and it doesn't mean there's no hope.
If you have firearms in your home PLEASE safeguard them so that the guns and ammunition are totally inaccessible to your children. Better yet, store them off site for a while until the crisis has passed. Check with your mental health care worker to determine when it is safe to bring them back into your home.
If there is a news item or newspaper article dealing with a local suicide, don't be afraid to discuss it with your teenagers.
Bringing the subject up, and out into the open, does not "give teenagers ideas". Rather, it opens a line of communication so
that you have an opportunity to discuss alternatives to suicide and to make sure that your teenager knows that he or she can
come to you in case they are feeling depressed or having suicidal thoughts.
Remember that the depression of a loved one affects everyone in the family. Consider family counselling so that you can deal with your teenager's illness. Look for a support group so that you can share your fears, concerns, hopes with people who are going through the same thing. Make sure to make time for yourself. You can't help if you can't cope. Counseling is expensive. If your insurance does not cover psychiatric care, be creative and agressive in looking for mental health care workers who use sliding scales, or for free counseling centers. Call Catholic Charities. You don't have to be Catholic!
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