I guess from the parent perspective it is a little different...I promise you I have encountered a lot of pain in my life and there is absolutely nothing worse IMO than having your child talk about suicide.

We have tried threatening, punishing, rewarding, begging, pleading, supporting...the list goes on and on.

I do not feel like I am supporting his depression - I feel like I am supporting him.

Every expert we have consulted has a different method for helping him and the method we have found most successful is validating his feelings and encouraging him. Each child is different and each child responds to a different approach.

That doesn't mean the path we have chosen is an easy one...it requires a lot of patience and determination...even when I feel like I'm running on empty.

I love my son and will do whatever it takes to see him through this. Sometimes I feel desperate by the lack of options in the MH system, limited beds, doesn't quite qualify, etc.

My son is not a rebellious teenager who refuses to comply because he is choosing to be difficult - he is a child paralyzed by pain and hopelessness. He didn't choose to be dealt this hand of cards in life. He cries when he tells me how much he wants to be "normal" and not feel like this. Depression tends to zap the energy and the will to fight. I'm trying to encourage him to fight this darkness and find a path to healing.