[Serious]Former depressed teen cutters of Reddit, what can or should a mom do to help?

I would say, give them a safe place to talk about things. I was the successful, shy, but well-liked person in high school who secretly cut, and I had nobody who understood what I was going through. My friends did not have mental illness, people I knew that did came to me for help so I felt like I had to be a "strong person" for them. My mom told me I was crazy when I confessed I had had suicidal thoughts, and my dad doesn't believe in mental illness.

I wouldn't force the daughter into counseling, but I think it's a good option. I had been forced into counseling for years and always said "idk why I have to come here. I'm not crazy, I'm normal". And lied to my therapists for years about being fine so I could prove my mom wrong.

It wasn't until I almost committed suicide in college that I got help on my own and did what I needed to do and I'm 10000 times better now for it. GROUP THERAPY is what made this better. A group of people I didn't know very well, who are all trying to be better together and support each other was amazing! I would talk to others in my situation and then re-convene with my main therapist and make goals that were attainable and it was amazing!

My biggest takeaway was SMART goals: Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time based

My first goal was to "eat 3 meals in a day for 2 days this week" (I had bad anxiety about going to the dorm food places) And at next week's meeting, we shared if we had met or goal or not, and if not, what we think we can do this week so we can meet it this week instead.

It was so helpful. Group Health mental health facility is where I did this, and I did anxiety/depression group. I highly recommend group therapy for a young person who feels they don't have any peers they can talk to/ isn't comfortable talking one on one with therapists.

/r/AskReddit Thread