Child attempts suicide before mother
It does not matter how old your child is; your baby will always be your baby, right? Here’s the story of a 16-year-old student that tried to kill herself right in front of her mummy and teacher. Chinese dailies reported that the reason for such a melodramatic action was the fact that her boyfriend wanted to call it quits. Jilted; therefore life is no longer worth living. This is quite a typical scenario for people who want to end their lives.
The teen reportedly tried to leap off the window of a music center located on the third floor, somewhere in Puchong, Malaysia. The decision came about after the lover broke up with her at 11.20am. Thankfully, the mother and the teacher were able to get the girl to safety.
Not the first suicide attempt
Apparently, this wasn’t the first time the girl tried to kill herself. The teacher reported that the student, who had a part-time job at the music centre, threatened to take her own life every time she encountered a glitch in her love life. The teacher added: “She hit her head with a glass bottle several weeks ago. She also tried to drink soap water and had hit her head against the wall before.” The mother said that her daughter had tried to slit her wrist while at home in a previous occasion.
Warning signs in your kid
Recall your teen years, being caught in between childhood and adulthood wasn’t easy at all. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in USA, the third leading cause of death of 15 to 24-year-olds is suicide. That’s a scary thought.
RELATED: Singaporean teen attempts suicide 10 times
Be aware of your kid or teen and look out for the warning signs that are present. Suicide does not happen out of the blue for no reason. It usually follows a very stressful event; maybe failure at sports or academia, a broken relationship with the opposite sex, death of a loved one, a severe family conflict or a divorce.
Keep a lookout for strange behaviour. Is your kid talking about “going away” or babbling about death and suicide in general? Maybe he/she is going on and on about ways to do away with life. Are they constantly talking about feeling dejected, hopeless or feeling guilty? Perhaps they are shunning themselves from everyone and isolating themselves deliberately from you. Have they lost a desire to partake in their fave activities or have they issues with focusing and thinking clearly?
RELATED: Helping teens cope with depression
Parents can…
Watch your child/children closely and see if there are changes in their eating habits or sleeping schedules. Also, it is very important to see if your kid is exhibiting self destructive behaviour like consuming drugs and alcohol, driving too fast, cutting and so on.
All you can do as a parent is keep a tight eye on your kid—the best you could and keep all communication lines open. A teen who is depressed and withdrawn will show signs. Express your love and concern and hope that your kid will come to you for help. Never discount your child’s feelings or problems—it might be that feeling of problem that will drive them to kill themselves.
RELATED: Suicide amongst Singapore children
Helpful links:
Signs of drug abuse in your teen
Coping with depression
Suicide amongst Singaporean kids
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