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from the brink of
suicide
why society should talk about
mental
illness by jannean dixon, m.ed.
talking
about
suicide
and
mental
illness according to danita leblanc, the louisiana office of behavioral health
suicide
prevention coordinator, we should absolutely be
talking
about
mental
illness and
suicide
. ?
talking
about
mental
illness is important because it affects a lot of people.
suicide
and suicidal thoughts affect people across the lifespan.
talking
about it reduces the stigma associated with
suicide
. there is help available.? leblanc later adds that children as young as age eight think about
suicide
. there is a spectrum of thoughts regarding
suicide
from ?i wish i could sleep forever? type of thinking, which leblanc says is normal, all the way to planning the actual steps of committing the act. penny, a local teacher, recalls, ?i was 12 years old the first time it occurred to me that i could escape the daily torment from peers and my parents if i was not here at all. once you realize you have an option, the only thing standing between you and it is the motivation that finally compels you to act. i did not actually attempt to end my life until i was 22 years old.? leblanc wants parents to know that it is ok to ask your child if they have ever had thoughts of
suicide
.
mental
health counselor tara dixon shares, ?be open to speaking with your child. too often there is negative shamefulness associated with
suicide
and
talking
about
suicide
. this can prevent your children from asking for the help that they may desperately need.? myths vs. reality ?there is a myth,? leblanc shares, ?that
talking
about
suicide
will put the idea when i was a teenager, i was hanging out in my room one night when my mom came home really late. she quietly knocked and entered my bedroom. her face was tear-stained and her voice cracked as she told me where she?d been. she had been attending the funeral services for a friend?s son who had committed
suicide
. she begged me to never consider such a thing. i promised that i would never kill myself, but that doesn?t mean that as a teen, and even into my twenties, that i didn?t think about it. in fact, lots of people think about it.
suicide
is the second leading cause of death for individuals ages 10-24. 4 4 b r p a r e n t s . c o m | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 9
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