That’s what I saw in my statistics. I cannot always see keywords and the ones in green are, in fact, called keywords.
“told dad I was depressed he laughed at me”
These are words typed in a search and it lead her to this post of someone who had experienced an undesirable reaction after telling a parent about their mental illness. You used to be able to see all of the search words, but Google changed that. Occasionally, I can see a phrase and this one gave me pause. My heart sank. Some kid searching for answers on the internet after opening himself up and revealing what had to be hard. That’s my guess anyway.
Imagine what it took for him to tell. Imagine how he felt when he got this response.
I so wish I could reach those parents who would react that way. But they are just the parents who wouldn’t ever come to a presentation, the least likely to read this blog.
I will say, however, it’s so unbelievable for parents to wrap their heads around this. So if you are someone who gets this response, you might try a letter. What I’m saying is don’t stop trying. I do know parents who’ve told me they are embarrassed this was their first reaction and have since done a complete change and now support their loved one.
As a parent who had a child who suffered from depression and died by suicide, I would have given anything for Charles to come tell me this. He was diagnosed with depression but refused to admit it ever, leaving me wondering and waffling in doubt.
So please keep sharing these posts. You’ve helped me reach people before. Maybe we will reach that parent.
If you want to reach out to your parent, below are some strategies that have worked for teens and young adults I’ve spoken with. The ideas here can also work for admitting depression.
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For the Teen Contemplating Suicide and Looking for the Strength to Reach Out
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When Parents don’t understand addiction
So, I read recently that I may not cause a change but perhaps I can cause a ripple….a friend at work, who has a middle schooler at Quiocassin showed me an email about a presentation they were having next week by a doctor from VCU about this opiod epidemic. ..I hope that Families 4 Recovery was the impetus to getting this discussion started..because these ripples can start alot of change…
I hope so. I’m going to see him speak, too.
I love, love, love your blog posts that give concrete info and support to the hurting. Keep sounding the alarm so that all of us parents will hear the pain when we most need to…
I will Amy. Thanks for continuing to inspire and support the efforts we’ve all accomplished here
Heartbreaking. Sadly, I can relate, but I am blessed that my parents have come a LONG way since my battle first begun. They’ve sought out education and have become not only more informed but also more compassionate and understanding. The beginning of my journey was a much tougher (and far lonelier) experience, dads especially seem to have a hard time understanding mental illness/emotional difficulty. That was just my experience. But I’m one of the lucky ones ❤️
Thank you for giving us that honest feedback and offering hope. So we definitely want young people to not give up because parents don’t often understand.