It's when people who find their life unbearable don't feel like they can reach out to get help that they consider suicide. My son-in-law's 19-year-old son (from his first marriage) took his life last year. I don't know for sure what would have worked as far as his case. But I believe that it might have certainly helped if everyone involved in his life had made it clear that it's okay to talk about feelings of failure and shame. For example, if a kid who always did well in school starts making substandard grade, reach out with love and caring. Not anger, not judgement, just love. Say that if you aren't making good grades now, it can be handled, because we're all going to find out what's wrong and help you. You just need to talk to us. Then if necessary, get the person counseling if the level of his/her depression requires it. The antidepressants...blaming them doesn't work. That's like saying just don't be depressed. That never worked in my life. Twice in my life I got the treatment I needed and yes, antidepressants and counseling helped me to get through it. Because the problems were very serious in those two times of my life. Other times, I was able to work things out myself and slowly get better with just the help of my true friends.
