Childhood Suicide Part 2

If you are concerned that your child may be suicidal, take the child to the hospital immediately for assessment.  This post is a continuation of my previous post on childhood suicide.  In my previous posts I wrote about my own first suicide attempt when I was 8.  In this post I will be writing about suicide and the suicide attempt of a 5-year-old little boy I worked with. 

 

I said it before, Hopelessness can be a good indicator of suicidal thinking but something else to look for in children is an increased interest about death and dieing.  It’s normal for a child to ask some questions about death and heaven but notice if the child is talking about death more than usual or is asking more questions about death and heaven or Jesus than usual.    

 

When I worked in a psychiatric hospital, one of the patients was a 5-year-old little boy.  He was in the hospital because he had tried to kill himself.  Beforehand he had asked his mom a lot of questions about death. 

 

A relative had died and the boy heard everyone say he was in a better place.   The boy wanted to know where that place was.  His mom told him about heaven and Jesus.  He was too young to really understand what death means but he knew if he died no one could hurt him again.  He knew he’d be safe in heaven and safe with Jesus because his mom had told him he would.  She didn’t realize why he was asking those questions. 

 

The little boy had been in a regular hospital and a male hospital worker had molested him.  When the 5-year-old boy went home, he was afraid the man would come to his house and hurt him again. 

 

The little boy was so afraid that he set his house on fire because he knew it would kill him.  His mom always told him to stay away from matches and lighters because they would cause a fire and he’d get killed.  He wanted to die so he could go to heaven and no one could ever hurt him again.  He just wanted to be safe.  In this instance his suicide attempt was a very impulsive act.  Children are much more impulsive than adults but some children are naturally more impulsive than others.  

 

When the little boy first came to the psych hospital, he was a terror.  He was very impulsive and hard to control.  He would scream, cry and bang his head against the walls and windows.  He would growl and make his hands like claws.  He would grab people and things out of people’s hands.  He had a very hard time controlling himself. 

 

He was extremely difficult to work with.  There wasn’t a lot I could do.  Then his psychiatrist put him on a medication and within a few days he was a different child.  He was calm, sweet, playful and loving.  I couldn’t believe the difference. 

 

I don’t usually agree with putting children on medication but I realize some children may really need meds.  Those meds helped that little boy.  It was so good to see him doing better.  I was amazed.  Like I said, I don’t usually agree with putting children on meds because I have seen firsthand that some children are over medicated but in some cases it may be necessary.  

Do you think children in this country are overmedicated?

 

Thank you so much for reading my posts.  I welcome any comments.  I just ask that you be respectful.