A Parent's Guide for Suicidal and Depressed Teens (29 page)

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Authors: Kate Williams

Tags: #Family & Relationships, #Life Stages, #Teenagers, #Self-Help, #Depression, #test

BOOK: A Parent's Guide for Suicidal and Depressed Teens
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Page 163
Suddenly, without warning, a spasm shoots through my shoulders, and I'm gagging and retching. ''Christ, all mighty,'' she hollers and pushes me off her. I nearly tumble out of the car onto the gravel.
A tall, muscular man suddenly appears. I don't know where he came from, but he is about to grab me by my shirt collar. "It's okay, the asshole threw up," she says. Really I didn't, I held the vomit in my mouth, then swallowed it. By the time we drive back home, it's dark. Mickey and Frank say nothing to me.
RICHARD SOLLY
We need to be available to our children as resources when their first adult experiences result in disastrous consequences. When our children hide disasters such as the two described in this chapter, the damage lasts for years.
 
Page 165
PART FOUR
FACING DIFFICULT LIFE SITUATIONS
God wants you, Rachel, to be the most Rachel you can be, to be whole, to be as much as you can be.
DON PORTWOOD
 
Page 166
As you and your child work on your family issues, you will have looked at issues of possible addiction and abuse. In therapy, your child will have looked at issues of loss, stress, depression, anger, and caretakingall the issues we just discussed. Let yourself consider these pieces of the puzzle one at a time.
After you have made sure your child is safe, there are many different ways to work on the various issues. Don't worry about whether you have chosen the right way to deal with them. Even with professional guidance, you can't look at everything at once. Just keep in mind the factors to be considered. It's okay to skip around in this book. It's sometimes repetitive, because it may be used by different people in a varying sequence of chapters.
After you've worked on the family issues, school problems, and all the feelings we looked at in the last section, it's time to consider certain situations that put great pressure on adolescents. They don't apply to all kids, but when they are present, they greatly intensify the stress level. They have been considered risk factors with suicidal kids. It would be a good idea to be open to all of these possibilities as factors.
Let yourself consider each one honestly:
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Divorce
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Sexual Preference
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Adoption
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Birth Trauma

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