Need some input from you folks.
My daughter is 15 1/2. She had her best friend for a sleepover last night and this morning my daughter tells me that her friend attempted suicide last week. This is not the first of her friends to do this and I guess I'm concerned about our youth in general. I hear "suicide" in any way and huge red flags go up.
I'm not so worried about my own daughter- she and I have a very close relationship and she knows she can come to me with anything and she does- even if she knows there may be consequences to face. She's very stable and although she expresses unhappiness about things in her life-it's the normal teenage angst. She has a great relationship with both her father and I and we have learned to co-parent in a way that is in her best interest even if we don't see eye to eye personally. Her friends on the other hand are dealing with some more complicated issues and it seems they are having a really difficult time coping.
These kids aren't trouble-some teens. They are all great kids who are good students who are responsible and aren't getting into trouble of any sort. They hang out in a large group who have been together-some of them since grade school and they are all very close.
They "seem" to all be okay but my daughter tells me that many of them are extremely unhappy and several have attempted suicide. I fear, not only for their well-being and their safety now but if they aren't getting some help with this kind of thing now, how it might affect them later in life.
She says her friend is going to counseling but that her mom isn't being very supportive of her and thinks she should "just snap out of it" . She is clearly suffering from depression, sleeping alot and some other symptoms. I worry too about my daughter having to deal with the fact that some of those closest to her are hurting so badly and the worry that causes for her as well. She says her friend doesn't want to go to the counselor etc. but she's scared for her and worried.
What is this with our kids? When I was in high school I don't recall ever hearing of anyone attempting to or succeeding with suicide and it concerns me that our youth sees this as an option.
Are we not teaching them good coping skills? Are we expecting too much from them? Are we, as a society losing touch with them? Have they seen too much of suicide on television? Do they not understand how serious talking about suicide is? Do we not hear their cries for help? With the way things are in the economy; do they sense the fear from their parents and then walk around with that themselves all bottled up?
I don't know. I know that I'm concerned and I talk to my daughter about the situation but I'm wondering if any other parents out there or mental health professionals are seeing more of this in our teenagers or even younger. One of her friends had been talking suicide when he was 12 !! At that time, several of the friends had been trying to help him to no avail and finally told him that if he didn't talk to an adult -they would. I tried to tell her at the time that people that age are not equipped to deal with that type of situation and that it is definitely something which should be reported immediately in the event that child is serious. At that time I also called the school guidance counselor and talked to them and they brought in a counselor to talk to the kids about suicide and how to deal with the whole situation. But a one time shot isn't going to take care of the situation IMO.
It's really frightening and sad. Any thoughts?
Thanks for listening and for your input
XW