Parents face tough choices when child seems in trouble

One of the most difficult things for parents of teenagers who are thinking about hurting themselves to face is that sometimes right before a troubled teen tries to take his life, he or she might seem to be getting better.?For teens in particular, a sudden cheerfulness after a period of depression may be a threat that they?re going to take their life,” Debbie Helms, program director for the Samaritans of Merrimack Valley, said. “There?s an energy and period of clear thinking because they?ve already made the decision to kill themselves.”Yvonne Vissing, associate professor of sociology at Salem State University and director of the university?s Center for Child Studies, said that?s one of the aspects of teen suicide that?s particularly confusing – and troubling – for families.?One thing is when people are very depressed that?s not usually when an attempt will happen,” Vissing said. “It?s usually when a person is feeling better.”Saugus High School senior Felix Sacco jumped off an overpass last week in Saugus after leaving school in what police are calling a suicide.Helms said although there are exceptions, most teens who commit suicide do so after suffering from “an underlying mental-health issue.”?Suicides rarely occur because of one thing that happens in someone?s life,” Helms said.She pointed to the case of Phoebe Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant who moved to South Hadley and committed suicide in January after being bullied at school.?It turns out she had also been suffering from depression,” Helms said. “In most circumstances, 80 to 90 percent of the time, there is an underlying mental health issue or disorder.But Helms did acknowledge there can be one major event that can help trigger the suicide.?It?s sort of like a perfect storm where the underlying mental-health issues combine with life stresses and they?re so helpless that they can?t go on,” Helms said.But Dr. Mark Schechter, the chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the North Shore Medical Center in Salem, agreed that most teens who kill themselves do have an underlying illness, but there are instances where that?s not the case.?It is possible there are kids who experience certain life events as catastrophic,” Schechter said. “Kids tend to be very impulsive and lack perspective.”That?s why it?s so important, Schechter said, to remove things like guns from the home that give teens the means to take their lives.?Having guns in the home is a risk factor for adolescents because of their impulsivity. Where a kid might impulsively overdose, odds are they will survive” he said. “If a kid impulsively uses a gun to shoot himself, odds are he won?t survive.”The biggest thing any parent can do is to sit down and talk to their son or daughter and be willing to ask the hard questions about suicide.?Take it seriously,” Schechter said. ” ? The teen may push you away, act irritable, act like you?re the stupidest human being ever, try to hang in there.”There are a host of symptoms that parents can be on the watch for, the experts said, including isolating themselves, giving prized possessions, showing signs of hopelessness, and talking about killing themselves, even if they appear to be joking, among others.In addition, it also can make a huge difference when a school district has hired school psychologists or school adjustment counselors and work to be vigilant about teen mental-health issues.Catherine Latham, superintendent of Lynn?s public schools, said Monday school officials take swift action when they suspect someone needs mental-health counseling or treatment.?When we have these kind of cases, we get them help immediately,” Latham said. “We had a student who wrote a composition that was very good, but it disturbed one of the teachers who read the girl?s essay and we got her help.”There are seven school psychologists and seven school adjustment counselors in the Lynn public school system.Helms, like others, also noted it?s not always easy to tell when someone is suffering