Emotional Intelligence | Stevehein
Living in Fear
I just wrote this to some friends of mine. I was talking about a teenager who is in the online support group.
i havent heard from her since sunday when she said she felt suicidal and had a plan to do it. i wish there was someone i could call to see where she is, what happened, if she is alive.
I honestly believe most people do not have any idea how suicidal teens are treated, how little freedom they have and how afraid of their own parents they are. I cannot call this person's parents or anyone else because she is so afraid of them knowing she talks to me or finding out about my website and stopping her from using the Internet. The other day she said if they took away her Internet that might be the last straw. I am sincerely afraid that without her online friends who care about her, she might kill herself before any of us can ever get a chance to meet her in real life. She is being kept in a place where she cannot make phone calls, cannot have visitors and cannot use the Internet. They call it a "treatment center".
She can only contact us when she is home on weekends and holidays. She hates it there but they won't let her leave. The people who decide how long she stays are getting paid for her being there. It is not in their economic interests to let her out. This is a little like having the prison wardens decide how long someone stays in prison.
I am very depressed myself today but I just wanted to remind myself and others that I truly believe that if people knew how suicidal teens are actually treated and how little useful help many of them get, they would feel disturbed if not shocked and apallled. This belief helps me keep writing about the teenagers, and helps me to keep trying to get others interested. If you would like to help me and the teenagers, please contact me.
Thank you.