Teen Suicide Prevention
By: Deedra Wilson, KARK 4 News
Updated: May 31, 2012
"We never ever ever expected that one of our children would take their own lives," says Steven Blackwood.
His son Alex was a happy 19-year-old freshman at the University of Central Arkansas.
"We began to get a little bit of complaints from him that he was tired and didn't want to get up in the morning and couldn't go to sleep at night," Blackwood recalls.
It was something he felt was common for many people.
"We didn't think anything of it. I certainly don't want to get up every morning. And I often times have trouble sleeping at night," he says.
Alex was a great kid and seemed to have it all, Blackwood remembers. "He was one that always wants to solve problems, Help others, have the answers, find answers for people," says Blackwood. "Alex was a 5-time world champion horseman."
Ken Clark, is a Therapist at Chenal Family Therapy in Little Rock, he says there are warning signs to look for.
"Hopelessness. That's the number one question that I will ask, is whether or not a kid feels hopeless, whether or not a kid feels exhausted with it. Isolation, self injury like cutting. Their posting things on their Facebook, on their Twitter account."
Passive-aggressive statements are another possible warning sign, says Clark..
"Maybe the world would just be a better place without me."
Clark says there is no one factor for every teen suicide,.
"The number one thing we can do with anybody is give them hope."
"If they knew just one person would be truly sad if they were gone and enjoys being with them, that's often enough to keep someone from taking that step.
It's something Alex couldn't find.
"The one thing he didn't have that one day in October of 2008 is he just didn't have hope," Blackwood says.
