There is probably no pain worse than losing a child to suicide. Always take your child or teen seriously when they talk about or give other signs of distress or hopelessness. Even if through your adult eyes, their problem sounds silly or small, take the time to listen. This is not the time to worry about what anyone else thinks - get your child help if your gut says they need it. Even if your spouse or parent or friend (or even a counselor) says everything is OK, if you are uneasy, listen to your intuition. If the first place you turn is not helpful, keep searching.

Talk to your child or teen. Do not let them put you off. Have an older sibling or another relative they like or respect talk with them. Find someone they will listen to. Ask your doctor or the school counselor for a referral. If it means cold calling a therapist from the yellow pages, so be it. Look under psychologists or psychotherapist.

If your child gets help in time, the odds are excellent that they will navigate this period of their life successfully and move on to better times.

You may not think you know anyone personally touched by the suicide of a child or teen. More likely, they simply have not spoken of it. In fact, if you ask your teenager, they can probably tell you the name of someone at their school who attempted suicide. Children are more open than adults about this topic.

Here is a list of behaviors and situations that are risk factors for suicide.

Loss of friends.
Loss of status. (Examples: got kicked off or didn't make team, didn't get qualifying scores on an important test)
Relationship breakup or rejection.
Homosexuality. (Acknowledged or not. A tremendously difficult situation for an adolescent to handle).
Teen pregnancy.
Alcohol or drug use.
Any psychiatric disorder. Especially depression or manic-depression (bipolar).
Changes in eating and sleeping behaviors. Especially staying in bed during the day or staying up very late into the night.
Violent behavior.
Other behavior problems or impulse control problems or personality disorders.
Family stress.
Lack of outside interests.
Isolation.
Fear of punishment. Especially fear of disappointing a parent in a major way. (Examples -getting arrested or caught with drugs, not getting into college).
Running away.
A family history of suicide.
Trouble concentrating.
Deterioration in school performance.
Immediate access to the means to kill oneself. (Guns in the home, medications available that are lethal - including tricyclics antidepressants and tranquilizers).
Deteriorating appearance and changes in hygiene.
Complaints of aches and pains.
Chronic boredom and/or hopelessness.
Illness or disability.
Other suicides in the community or known about from TV. (There is a cluster phenomenon of chain reactions)
Suddenly putting affairs in order (giving away valued possessions, paying off debts).