RE: Goodnight Sweet Dolly

Oh my.
I am absolutely blinded with tears.

I can't even find the words.
I am so sorry for your loss. That seems like such a lame thing to say.
I can't imagine the pain your heart is feeling. I cannot even let my mind explore the kind of pain that Dolly's parents must be experiencing.

All the while, she's only asking to be heard.
She's not suicidal. She's not broken. She's 14.
And the doctors are all too quick to shove her a pill they say she doesn't really meet the perameters for prescription. So... then, why?
And when she confided in her teachers (before I began to home school), all her teachers told her "don't tattle".
WTH?? This is what are children are being taught?
I'm 45 years old today, and I left the mall a couple of weeks ago,over 3 teenaged girls in the restroom made me really uncomfortable. 45 years old, and I genuinely was so anxious about these girls' behavior, that I thought I was going to end up with getting my hair pulled...maybe stabbed? Who knows. I can't imagine being a smallish 14 year old girl in public school today.
I don't understand what is happening in our world today.
I pray for all of us. I came across this post because my BFF/partner in crime, @globocop, resteemed it. I read further down into the comments, and read @vickiebarker's comments.... I... I have no idea what to say. All I can do is let the tears fall from my eyes. I am so afraid for my children. Their self-esteem is in the toilet, and I worry that some sociopath is going to recognize it, and bullseye in on them. And to Vickie's point, doctors are trying to put my 14 year old daughter on meds that they themselves admit she doesn't need. It makes no sense to me. All I can do is follow the money.

Hi Jane I just wanted to thank you for your heartfelt comments @disarrangedjane

I want to assure you that all is not lost and there is so much more that we can be doing for children who are at risk. I was a youth pastor for more than 25 years and I've pretty much seen and heard it all. It doesn't change the fact that many kids lose their battle and give in to suicidal thoughts. But I just want to let you know that it doesn't have to be an inevitability. I am honestly too new to know whether or not this is permissible but I'm going to share a link that I shared with a friend of mine who's having great difficulty with her teenage daughter at this time and I'm doing what I can to support her.

As to the medication, I can't really speak to that because I'm not a doctor but I do know that one thing that is natural and completely not harmful is niacin. I would start with a very small dose like maybe 50 MCG I think is the measurement. Whatever you do don't use the 500’s that are common from the drugstore which can end up giving you a total epidermal flush. Niacin really helps with blood flow especially to the brain and can just give you a happier outlook on life and it's a lot healthier than a Red Bull. It's actually recommended by several mental health professionals as a way to just take the edge off of anxiety and depression. Nobody talks about it because there is no profit in it. Perhaps it's an orphaned substance and the drug companies can't make money on it.

The biggest takeaway from the article I'm sharing with you is that we need to help those who are at risk to distance themselves somewhat from their electronics and use some of the coping methods outlined in the article. We could all use a little distancing from our electronics, but especially for teens, you can implement things like teaching them to charge their phone in another room other than their bedroom and learning to tell their friends they won't be available at certain times because they're playing a game with the family. More often than not, teenagers who do this with their friends will create their own self-powered freedom that their friends will become envious of and wish that they could have the same type of relationship with their families as well.

If Steve Jobs ever knew what would have become of our children with the advent of the iPhone, he would have smashed it into a million pieces and sent the plans into space in ashes. As always my heart goes out to those in need and I wish you the very best.

Handsfreemama