Worried About My Brother

Your concern is valid and very serious and we want to encourage you to keep talking to your brother and others about it.  Do you know if he has a plan to end his life or did he talk to his friends about a plan?  If he does have a plan, does he have what he needs to actually enact the plan?  For example:  If he says he is going to overdose, does he have access to medication?  If the answers to these questions are yes, then the risk is greater that he will actually do it.

Would his friends that heard him talk about suicide, be willing to tell your parents what he said and how he said it?  Have they told their own parents about what he said?  Perhaps you could talk to a trusted adult such as the counselor at school, the minister at your church or an adult family friend or relative that may be able to talk with your parents about how serious this is.

If your brother will talk to you, ask him what is going on that is making him feel like giving up or ending his life.  Try to keep him involved in family activities.  Let him know that you care about him and don't want anything to happen to him.  You could also give him our phone number and let him know we are here to take his call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and that he may want to give us a call and talk with one of our Crisis Counselors.

Thanks for being there for your brother.

Sincerely,

Pat, Counselor