Sep 10, 2013

Teenage suicides - can we help?

“As soon as she woke up, her father slapped her. That was the first and the last time her father slapped her. Immediately after that he broke into tears which he held for so long. Why? Because she had popped handful of pills in an attempt to end her life and had woken up after 22 hours of semi-coma.

Why slap? Because in that 22 hours, her father and her mother had died a thousand deaths thinking of all that could go wrong with their daughter.

Reason of attempt – fight with her best friend and depression.”

Why I am narrating this story? To remind every teenager, not to forget his/her parents at any given time and to every parent to have an open ear. How and why?
Suicide rate among teenagers has shot up at an alarming rate in last few years. Psychologists explain that the main cause is depression, fear, anxiety and inferiority complex. This post here and the story above are dedicated to all parents and their kids.

As kids step into teenage, peer pressure is strongest. That’s when a child’s mind is developing a sense of right and wrong, and the impact of company is most.

At this time, it is important that you do not criticize their friends. As a parent one must engage their children in conversations. Not in question and answers but general conversations. At this age, you need to be expressive about your love to your child. It is also okay to pamper them. Every detail, small or big, do listen to it. It is very important for the child to feel heard, loved and cared.

With relationships at the early stage, break ups are also inevitable. I recommend that the trust between parent and child should be so, that the child can tell his/her love story to parents.

Every teenager needs to remember that, “your parents love you” The guy/girl who dumped you isn’t the last person on the planet. If a friend is smatter, taller, nicer, popular, intelligent than you are, you are not a complete loser. It is just a beginning; there will be many stages of this competition. The idea is to eventually win.

The above narrated story is a real story and is narrated especially because this cause is very close to my heart. I hope we all together can prevent suicide among teenagers. In assocition with Write Tribe's sucide prevention awareness attempt.

17 comments:

  1. As a parent one must engage their children in conversations. Not in question and answers but general conversations --So true Sugandha. Hopefully, i could develop a patient ear for my son

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  2. Teenage is the most precouious of the age - insecure n the ned of acceptance! May be if family n friends provide a close knit network so that they don feel unloved maybe only sol'n!

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  3. there should always be a friendly relationship between parents n the children which could possibly make things easier for the adolescent kids to open up and share their issues freely.. very good post, sugandha..

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  4. So true... well the slap may not have been necessary if the family had a better and stronger relationship... but I'm not judging anyone. Suicide is many a times a decision taken on an impulse... when someone hits rock bottom in their life, it is so vital for that person to have a solid backing and support system...

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    1. Bhavya it isnt that easy to engage with a teenage daughter who is under her friend's impact. All it takes is one wrong friend.

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  5. Parents can be more understanding and should try to maintain an open relationship with their kids!

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  6. I have read three posts by now on the topic and all have stressed on parents and family as a solution or the reason to not do this. I would like to add another point that as family or parents one needs to be more aware about the people they are with. if signs show depression then counselling should be sorted..

    Richa

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    1. Rich I agree completely...proffessional help shouldnt be taboo.

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  7. Bang on! So well said, the person you loved is not the last person on earth. The word is AWARNESS but also need to change our mindsets plus stigma. Morever, communication matters the most in a relationship.

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  8. What a stupid reason to pop the pills. I think they are the real weak hearted ones.

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  9. Sugandha, very well said! Teenagers are really the most vulnerable because they are already battling with confusion and discovery of so many things - that age is susceptible to such mishaps.

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