Sharing – How I Talked to My Teen About Suicide-And How You Can Do It Better
I want you to go read the article below to learn about what Brenda actually said to her daughter that made a difference, and her recommendations, but I also want to share this:
“Suicide is terrifying. We don’t know how to talk about it, so we oftentimes shy away from the topic altogether. Or we tell our loved one not to feel that way, not to think that way. What does that do, other than invalidate them in their loneliest, most desperate moment?”
In Brenda’s example, she kept telling her daughter that it will get better, but her daughter no longer believed that. Continuing to dismiss her very real pain with that statement wasn’t ever going to help.
When we talk about sitting with someone in their pain, we have to do the hard thing, we have to acknowledge that their pain is real, and might very well be life-threatening. We don’t want to think that way, but I guarantee you, someone suffering enough to consider suicide, knows for sure that they are absolutely dealing with a life-threatening disease.
Would you tell someone with a life-threatening heart condition, cancer, or injury that “it’ll get better”, or would you acknowledge the reality of what is happening and get to work saving their life?
Think about that, and follow the advice in the article, or from other suicide prevention experts.
