Even though your son/daughter's
child years have ended, the worrying still continues. Instead of harmful things they can swallow or choke on, the thoughts
of them committing suicide or using drugs becomes the worries. Most of the time a parent can tell if their son or daughter
is using drugs. Either they can smell it on them or they may find it somewhere. With suicide, most parents don't
recognize suicide warning signs. They may not know the symptoms or some of the signs that are shown if the teen is feeling
suicidal. So in order to lower the teen suicidal rate, parents need to know what some of the warning signs are so they
may identify if their child is suicidal.
Most teenagers show different variations
of suicidal symptoms. Some of the more easily noticed symptoms are: drug and/or alcohol abuse, a decline in school work,
neglect of personal hygene, personality change or if you notice them giving away prized possessions to friends or relatives.
Most of these warning signs are from depression, which is the number one sign of a suicidal teen. Some other signs which
may be less noticeable due to the fact that at some point in a teenagers year, the teen will act the symptom out but it may
not be a symptom of suicide but just a change in the teen. Some of those signs may be a change in their eating habits,
sleeping habits, withdrawing from family and/or friends, loneliness, boredom, difficulty concentrating, and sometimes violent
or rebellious behavior. A lot of teens may be rebellious but not all are violent. Also, for females in high school
body image is an essential part of the high school years. If your daughter suddenly doesn't care about the way
she looks, her make-up, hair or the image of her body, then she may be having suicidal thoughts.
Usually for a teen to suddenly begin thinking
about committing suicide, a "trigger" had to occur. One of the most influential events would be if a loved one very
close to them died. Especially, if that loved one was a parent or a grandparent. The death may have
the teen contemplating a reason to continue living. He or she may want to suddenly 'join' the person who has passed
away. Some other "triggers" may include a divorce between the parents, the breaking up with a boyfriend/girlfriend, a
sudden loss or rejection, or if the teen begins to fail in any courses at school. For a young women, an unexpected
pregnancy may suddenly cause her to begin to think about committing suicide for the well-being of herself and her baby.
So in order to save the youth of our generation, it is important that parents,
teachers and anyone who can and will be an influence to a suicidal teen, be aware of teen warning signs so that prevention
can be intervened and sought.
