suiside in children

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Hi. I am a mother of 4 and I have a 9 year old son who is always talking about killing himself. I'll ask him to do something and he just ignores me. When I scold him for ignoring me and not doing what I told him to do he blurts out things like "I am just going to kill myself." or "I wish I was Dead." or "Just shoot me and get it over with." He even went as far as wrapping the vaccume cleaner cord around his neck and pulling it hard enough to choke himself. My gut reaction was to yell at him and when I did he let go of the cord. The cord wasn't around his neck for more that 2 seconds but it scared me to death. I am afraid he is going to seriously hurt himself or even kill himself someday. How do I get him to stop talking and acting like he is going to kill himself? Is this the first sign of a child with suicidal tendencies or is he just acting out to get my attention?

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Bring him to a therapist. A psychiatrist. Has his school/teacher contacted you about his behavior there? You can often get free assessment of emotional/behavioral problems through your school system if you push hard enough.

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maybe you shouldn't be scolding him, even if he ignores you. It can be very hard to get through to a suicidal child, so you have to keep pressing, but gently. What has a 9yr old got to be suicidal about? What is the world coming to.

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Nycole--

Welcome to A2K.

I don't know whether your son is suicidal or not, but he doesn't sound like a happy child.

Littlek has an excellent idea about checking out his behavior at school.

Quote:

How do I get him to stop talking and acting like he is going to kill himself? Is this the first sign of a child with suicidal tendencies or is he just acting out to get my attention?

Why do you feel he wants more attention? How old are your other children? Does he get along with them--barring the usual family squabbles?

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Sounds like an attention seeker. Ignore him.

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I don't know whether your child is an attention seeker, or is seriously depressed. I would not hazard a guess. If it were my child, I would have him evaluated by a mental health professional, immediately. Whether he is suicidal or simply an attention seeker, it sounds like your son has some problems that need to be addressed.

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/children_9.asp

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My other children are 10, 9, and 20 months. I thought he might be jealous of the baby since he requires more attention the the older three do. All I know is that he always says things pertaining to him dying. Especially when he is mad at someone. It makes me mad and scared at the same time. I don't want to burry my 9 year old son because I didn't know how to help him.

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Nycole, are you listening? We are trying to tell you how you might help him. Well, some of us are.

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Phoenix32890 wrote:

I don't know whether your child is an attention seeker, or is seriously depressed. I would not hazard a guess. If it were my child, I would have him evaluated by a mental health professional, immediately. Whether he is suicidal or simply an attention seeker, it sounds like your son has some problems that need to be addressed.

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/children_9.asp

What Phoenix and Little k said.

I would stop messing about on an internet forum, and get you and your son seen by a competent child therapist immediately.

I have worked with children as a therapist for 18 years.

If you were calling where I work, your child and you would be seen as a matter of urgency.

Whether he has serious suicidal intent or not, he is letting you know as loudly and clearly as he can that he is seriously distressed, and you need to listen.

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suiside in children

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