I, a bystander, a therapist, and a parent of a teen, feel the wrenching tightness in my gut. I feel my heart sink and bleed as I say… I am sorry! I hurt to hear another child was hospitalized for a failed suicide attempt. I am thankful it failed, but the pain’s scar will never fade; the pain from a parent’s broken heart will never fade. The pain I feel in my heart is that, no matter what I do, I could not have been there in their home or at the time they needed someone to talk them out of their dark thoughts. We want to give them privacy, and they demand that we do, but behind their closed doors, they remain the most vulnerable; outside their doors, we feel the most helpless.
As a therapist (and a mom of a teen), there is nothing I could have done! I wish every child could feel the love that their parents have for them, but sometimes that is not enough. I wish that instead, or in addition to sex education, we could implement mandatory mental health education. Therapists can only reach children, teens, and adolescents one hour a week at a time, but the schools have them every day for months at a time!
Can we please pay attention to mental health!! #bleedingheart #workhazards #makechanges #Itry
Dearest Child, Teen, Adolescent,
Although you wish to no longer be on earth because the pain you have is so hard to deal with, you don’t leave that pain; you pass it on to your friends, friends you could have had, your classmates, parents, family, siblings, and community. It is a forever pain they will carry. They will carry the pain of wishing they could have done something to help you. They will blame themselves for the pain you had to carry. They will have nightmares, tears, and regrets. Don’t give up; get stronger than those dark thoughts! I wish there were a faster way to develop your brain or to zap that part of your brain (and the brain of every child) that makes you think there is no way out. Unfortunately, that part is still yet to grow, just like you have yet to grow. I promise you there is a way out. Please be patient with the help you will get, and please get the help. Any help!
https://www.crisistextline.org/blog/2021/03/23/teen-life-interrupted/
https://www.crisistextline.org/
US: Text 741741