I have this friend, a really good friend of mine. She's really in need of help, her 16 year old son has type 1 diabetes and depression.
A few days ago, he started cutting himself and after that she found him trying to commit suicide by wrapping a plastic bag around his neck. He use to take lexapro then the doctor had him switch to zoloft, hes also seeing a therapist, he has been seeing the therapist even before he tried to commit suicide and soon he will start seeing another to talk bout meds. he was in a mental hospital for 5 days after the suicide incident.

He is in high school and she did mention he has been in gangs and smoking cigars. I told her that she should probably keep him away from school for a bit until hes much better, but i dont think the school would allow it, she said she will talk to the therapist about it.

If anyone can help or offer any type of advice please do share, it will mean alot to me and her family. She is also going through a rough time coping with all this. Thanks!

she may want to consder commiting him for longer then 5 days. It will be hard but it helps. He will have 24 hour care and if he were to try kill himself again they would put him on even tighter care.
I was commited for 6 months twice. both times helped but the last time was just what I needed. I can say I tried many times to kill my self even while I was there. But every time I got cought no matter how carefull I was. There was a time where I actually stoped breathing but the staff were there to save me. I am very greatfull to them. It isnt always bad either I really found good ways to deal with my depression. fi there is any thing I can help you with just let me know. And I hope your friends son gets better.

Thank you tinkerbell21. I will let her know about your response and anyone else's. She is really worried. Hes only 16 year old and her first child. she also mentioned that when hes in a good mood hes really happy and when he's depressed its really bad.

I am no doctor but i have been with a lot of different ppl who were diagnoised with different illnessess. it sounds like manic depression or also known as bipolar disorder. That is a bit more extreame then just depression atleast that is what I have observed. I really think she should look into it though. he may not want to go but as a minor if the parent puts him there thay have to be but it is easier if he go volentary. then he can leave when he and the parents beleive he is getting better. also tell her it is very hard work but the doctors should be very good about family counsling to. I never went back home after I got out but by then I lost all trust with my parents and we didnt get along or theu would change to help me get past it. I ended up in foster care but that was the best thing that happend to me I had a very good foster mom who is still in my life today she is my friend and my mentor. so again good luck to your friend and her family because a mental illness effects the family as a whole not just her son.
god bless

Hi,

You may want to check into the Zoloft. I've read that it can be seriously dangerous for teenagers to take.

I agree with bourbs.. I work at a mental health facility with violent teen offenders and one of our boys cuts himself (presently he doesn't). He was on high doses of Zoloft, Strattera, and Seroquel when he tried committing suicide. After returning from a week in the hospital, he was weened off Zoloft and Strattera. He is very open with his thoughts and told us that he truely believed those meds were the major contributors of his suicidal thoughts. Since being off of those two meds he has not had any thoughts of hurting himself. Granted things are not 100% for him, as he still has bouts of mild depression, but it is nothing like it was.

Also, there are relatively new studies about Omega 3 fatty acids and the treatment of depression. Just type it in a search engine and you will get many hits (I think the scholarly articles are at the top).

I really hope this helped. I hope everything works out for your friend and her son.

He needs attention,give him time,talk with him,make him
feel comftarble,show him lots of love
A similiar problem happend to my
brother this really helped
Sometimes teens do this things
cause they think that no one
cares for them,even though you do
things to make them happy
love is the most important thing
hopefully your friends problem
will soon find a solution and he will
be better.
Take care

~Green_cat~

Please tell your friend that we are going through a similar situation. My son was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 5. He is now 13 and in depression. He was started on Zoloft and became "uninhibitedly aggressive". We have changed him to Remeron and Risperdal at bedtime. It seems to be helping somewhat. The Zoloft can produce these uninhibited bouts of aggression/anger as well as suicidal thoughts. The data show that suicidial thoughts also occurred in patients on placebo (sugar pill) as well as on active treatment (drug). However, the active treatment had double the amount of people thinking of suicide. That is, if 5 people on the sugar pill had suicidal thoughts; then, 10 people had the same suicidal thoughts on active treatment. The raw numbers of patients in these studies are small. However, if someone already has suicidal thoughts adding a therapeautic agent that has that propensity could further enhance the frequency of these thoughts. Good luck. I am in the same spot.