Working on a new parent brochure I recently called a local high school asking what some of their biggest challenges were with regards to parents and their child’s mental health. We are focused on health insurance equality so we knew access to care would be an issue, but one of their biggest issues was dismaying to hear: the disbelief from a parent that their child may be in crisis or struggling with depression, anxiety, etc. She said when she speaks with the parents they shut her down and a common response is that their child is fine, they have a lot of friends, a supportive family, and are involved in school activities. Not my child, not my kid. Here is the thing, suicide doesn’t discriminate. It is ignorant to believe that a teen who is dealing with depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation must come from a broken home. A child with a loving and supportive family can’t possibly have a mental illness, right? This is a dangerous and extremely ignorant belief. Many of the kids I know that have been lost to suicide are good kids from wonderful families. Our own son Jacob was loved, we fought so hard to get him the appropriate care. He played football and hockey, was popular and had a lot of friends, by the “not my child, not my kid” mentality he could never have a mental illness, but he did.

That line of thinking is very dangerous. In fact, many of our high achieving students are at higher risk for suicide. Don’t let ignorance blind you from seeing the truth. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for our youth aged 10-34 and many of those kids come from good and loving families. To learn the signs and how you can help your teen visit thejemfoundation.com, select support, then parent support. To learn how you can prevent suicide visit https://thejemfoundation.com/suicideprevention/

Reference

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/suicide.shtml