Helping Parents Comprehend Potential for Suicide

The following Webinar is provided by Well Aware:

GUIDING LIGHT: Helping parents comprehend potential for suicide in their children


An experienced elementary-level teacher with a master’s degree in education and "tons of psychology courses," Wisconsin educator Lynda Larson was still unable to recognize early signs of mental illness in her fifth-grade son Adam, the eldest of her three children. "I remember the principal in my elementary school had a whole lot of background on troubled adolescents," recalls Lynda, with the clarity of hindsight. "He spoke to me about Adam and the signs he saw for potential trouble later. He even put an EAP (employee assistance program) slip in my mailbox at school." Lynda saw her former boss nine years later, after her son had dropped out of high school and endured years of substance abuse. He ended his own life on April 22, 1992, at age 20. "I told my former principal, ‘You saw this coming a long time ago, didn’t you?’ But as parents, we didn’t accept it at the time. He was our first child. We didn’t accept the message right away."
- AS REPORTED IN THE JANUARY 2006 ISSUE OF ADVANCING SUICIDE PREVENTION MAGAZINE


It’s among the most horrific thoughts a parent can have—their own child dying by suicide. So it’s no wonder that parents of at-risk youth may have trouble accepting that their son or daughter may have the capacity to kill themselves.



While teachers, relatives or clergy members may recognize risk for suicide in a child, parents may be unable to see this. “The parents are in denial” may be how others see it, but from a parent’s perspective, facing the fact that your child could be suicidal is more than many parents can emotionally bear.



“We know psychiatric illness runs in families. There’s also a lot of resistance to addressing it, to treatment within the general population,” says the esteemed David Shaffer, M.D., professor psychiatry and pediatrics at Columbia University and an international expert in youth suicide prevention. “A parent may think, ‘I haven’t seen it with my own eyes’.”



There are many reasons parents may be unable to comprehend potential for suicide in their children. And others—teachers, pediatricians, police officers, community members—need to understand these barriers parents face in order to help at-risk children.



In this groundbreaking webinar, we are pleased to present Donna Holland Barnes, Ph.D., suicidology researcher, educator, author, parent and suicide loss survivor. 

Also joining Dr. Barnes is Raymond Zablotny, M.D., physician, psychiatrist—and father of a son who died by suicide. Together, Dr. Barnes and Dr. Zablotny bring their unique perspectives to consider how others can help parents “hear” that their child might be at risk for suicide.


Tuesday, Oct. 18th, 2011

2-3:30 PM Central

Click here to register.