angry teen
My teen son seems really angry. He listens to angry music, has horrible posters on his walls in his room and only ever grunts answers when I try to talk to him. The teacher from school showed me some things he had drawn in his folder and they looked really violent. I am so worried. Should I be on suicide watch?
I have some training for suicide watch in my line of work. The biggest sign to look for in suicide watch is if your teen seems sullen and depressed one day and then the next he is all of a sudden happy and upbeat. Don’t think ‘oh yay he’s over it’, often this means they have finally made the decision to go through with it and the weight of the world is now off their shoulders because it will all be over soon.
If your son has any friends that will talk to you then talk to them! They will have a better idea if he is ok. He is more likely to tell them what is bothering him and perhaps they can give you a clue. If he has talked to them about suicide at all, even as a joke, this is a scary sign – get professional help straight away!
I know it’s really scary but ask your son if he has every considered suicide. If he is suicidal this wont encourage him to go through with it, it will actually give him the freedom to talk to you about it. Teens often feel that everything is life and death, that ever thing will last forever and if it’s a bad thing that will last forever it can get them very depressed.