The thought of ones child taking his or her own life is so horrifying to any parent that many push it to the back of their minds rather than confronting the possibility. However, during the tricky teen years, it is crucial to talk openly about suicide and shine the light on a potentially life-saving conversation.
Mark de la Rey, a clinical psychologist at Netcare Akeso Kenilworth, shares insight into adolescent and teen mental health and suicide.
In a world of extreme academic pressure, online bullying and other social challenges, teenagers will be far better equipped at navigating this difficult subject if they have the opportunity to talk it through at home.
Parents may be apprehensive about how best to approach this topic. Naturally, this needs to be done at an age-appropriate level, but it is important to remember that children have access to and are exposed to information and misinformation about difficult subjects like suicide - we cannot shelter them from that and treating it as taboo would be dangerous.
What you can do as a parent is help unpack why some people take their own lives and how such a tragedy is not the only option. A good ice-breaker might be to watch a TED talk about suicide together and then allow everyone to discuss their views about it afterwards.
