I would suggest getting him a pet if you have the resources. My own anxiety is under control because I have two cats to take care of. It helps with my self esteem to have two little creatures that love me. They make me get out of bed every day to feed them, and I honestly worry about what would become of them if anything happened to me. This is a huge difference for me - teenaged me was pretty sure everything would be better without me around. My brother also has emotional problems, and has cats now. He reports similar benefits to having them around.

I know it's hard right now. I never tried to kill myself, but my brother did, some years ago. I remember going through the stages of grief over and over. I got stuck on anger and was pissed off at him for years for trying to kill himself and ruin my family. My mother was a complete mess from the moment he was committed till the day he came back. She would cry if you told her you loved her and randomly walk off and forget what she was doing while cooking dinner. It was hard to watch and it's still hard to think about, today. The thing is though, this was five, six years ago? And we got through it. He's still alive and doing so much better. He has a girlfriend and a job and everything.

My parents still have to help him out a lot but he's more functional than he used to be in a multitude of ways. I know that's hard to imagine right now, but the same is true for your son. His brain chemistry will balance out once the medication that caused this leaves his system, and he will return to the very depressed but not so over stressed person he was before, and then eventually, he will find some sort of balance in his life. It takes time and it takes a hell of a lot of patience. There were moments when I just wanted to scream at my brother and shake him and say, "look at what you're doing to us, look what you're doing to your family", but I held it in because the last thing I wanted to do was make my brother feel worse.

A big part of your son's suicidal tendencies is probably guilt. He feels guilty that you are in pain because of him, he feels guilty that he can't help you because he can't help himself. It's hard not to get angry and it's hard not to start crying when you feel like you're being ripped apart. I'm not sure if it's better to let it out or hold it in. I don't think you can win in a situation like this, either way. It really just takes time. I'll be honest with you, my brother was never the same person again, but neither am I and neither is my mother. We all had to adjust to what happened, and we continue to live with it every day. It wasn't easy for a long time and I still get emotional thinking about it, but I feel a lot stronger now and I'm confident that my brother will never do something like that again.

I'm not sure that made a lot of sense but I hope you can get something out of it. I think you and his father are very good parents for getting him help and supporting him through this. He's very lucky to have you, and you're very lucky to still have him.