In this short video created by the Mayo Clinic, tweens and teens describe how it feels to be considering suicide and what common signs parents and others can look for. They provide encouragement for communicating directly to your child to support them and keep them safe.
I have my ups and downs just like anybody else
maybe more than anybody else
I can be hard to figure out and I
like my privacy I don’t want you looking
over my shoulder all the time but you
know your kid better than anybody else
and if you think he’s acting different
than usual acting really down crying all
the time for no good reason or getting
really mad not able to sleep or sleeping
too much shutting her friends out or
giving her stuff away acting reckless
drinking using drugs staying out late
suddenly not doing stuff used to love or
doing stuff that’s just not like him it
might be nothing to worry about it might
just be high school or it might be
something more he might be depressed not
just feeling down really depressed it
might be your kid is thinking about
killing himself it happens more than you
think more than it should, and people say
I had no idea I thought it was just a
phase he was going through I never
thought she’d do it I wish he’d come to
I wish he had said something I wish I’d
said something when it’s too late
so, if you think your kids acting
different if she seems like a different
person
say something say what’s wrong how can I
help and ask him straight out are you
thinking about killing yourself it
doesn’t hurt to ask
in fact, it helps when people are
thinking about killing themselves they
want somebody to care
maybe you’re afraid
you’ll make it worse if you ask like
you’ll put the idea in their head
believe me it doesn’t work that way it
doesn’t hurt to ask in fact the best way
to keep a teenager from killing herself
is to ask are you thinking about killing
yourself and what if they say yes or
maybe or sometimes well here’s what you
don’t say that’s crazy
don’t be such a drama queen making too
much of this that boy’s not worth
killing yourself over it’s not going to
solve anything you’re just trying to get
attention you’re not going to kill
yourself what you do say is I’m sorry
you’re feeling so bad how can I help
we’ll get through this together
let’s keep you safe a lot of people
think about killing yourself
adults and kids most of them never tried
but some of them do so if your kid says
I’d be better off dead I can’t live with
us I’m gonna kill myself take her
seriously find someone she can talk to
about it someone who knows how to help
sometimes kids want to kill themselves
because something happened a breakup a
failure but sometimes it goes deeper and
it’s not going to go away by itself get
some help
talk to your doctor or a counselor at
school or your minister
but don’t just let it drop and make sure
that your kid always has someone to turn
to someone he trusts
make a list together write back three
four five names put a suicide hotline
number on there too haven’t keep that
list in his wallet so he always knows
where to turn make sure your home is
safe if you have pills, she could use to
hurt herself lock them up if you have a
gun don’t just lock it up get it out of
the house the bullets – and one more
thing if you think your kid might be
about to hurt himself
don’t leave him alone take him to the
emergency room call 9-1-1 if you have to
we all have our ups and downs but
sometimes it’s more than that if you
think something’s wrong the only way to
find out is to ask straight-out are
you thinking about killing yourself
don’t wait until your shirt trust your
gut because it never hurts – and it can
make a big difference all the difference
in your kid’s life
