Over the weekend, Marie Osmond’s family was shocked by the heartbreaking suicide of her teenage son, Michael Blosil. Marie herself is no stranger to depression and family problems. The video below mentions that Michael was dealing with adoption issues and had been in rehab for a time. After the news portion of the video, family therapist Terry Real discusses some important aspects of suicide in teens. Mr. Real is the author of I Don’t Want To Talk About It, a book about depression in men and teen boys.

Some important highlights I got from the video and wanted to be sure you remembered:

1. Suicidality is different between boys and girls. They do different things to get away from the depression. Girls tend to take their painful emotions inward, boys tend to take them outward.
2. Suicidality can be difficult to predict. Some signs can include mood swings and how severe they seem. Also, take note of how long noticeable mood changes last — two weeks or longer and your child should see a professional.  Also a side note, anyone dealing with very deep depression may be at a larger risk to attempt suicide when they have started to get better because they have more energy and focus to follow through.
3. If your kid’s behavior looks especially mad, sad, or bad (behavior on the outside), that’s a clue to get them to a professional for an evaluation at least.
4. Parents should be involved in the therapy — not time for kids to “have some space.” Best for parents to be connected with the process.

Suicidality can seem so unpredictable, parents can feel helpless at times. Take this as a wake up call to observe your teen’s mood patterns for a while. Do they have strong immovable mood changes for a couple weeks or longer? Or do they seem to come out of them on their own after a short while? Do they show strong “mad, sad, or bad” behavior that concerns you?

If you can’t get a good handle on it, then please take your teenager to a therapist to see if depression has set in. If you don’t see these concerns, take an extra step to renew your connection with your teen. Let them know that whatever the problem big or small, they can count on you.

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    Last reviewed: 1 Mar 2010