Teen suicide survivor wants parents to know the warning signs

By TARA JEFFREY, The Observer

Updated 7 days ago

I wish I'd known an Emily McLachlin when I was in high school.

The 18-year-old senior at St. Pat's has a story worth listening to, particularly if you're today's teenager, just trying to survive adolescence unscathed — which is no small feat. Looking back, I recall being awkward, anxious, nervous, insecure, or all of the above, on any given day. Peer pressure, bullying, who you're friends with, being part of the 'cool crowd' and even what not to wear, may seem like minor bumps in the road now, but when you're young, nothing else matters. To quote one of my favourite songs, "... you've got so much going for you, going right. But I know, at 17, it's hard to see past Friday night."

For Emily, those unsettling and overwhelming teenage feelings started around Grade 7. Something just didn't feel right. She was sad, angry, and exhausted. She started counselling, and her condition was repeatedly linked to her parents' divorce, but Emily knew it was more than that. She wasn't just sporting a bad attitude; she was fighting the disease of mental illness. By the time she hit high school, things got even worse. The constant teasing from other girls was wearing her down, and finally, in Grade 10, Emily tried to kill herself.
"Your mind is so disheveled, that it just doesn't seem real," she recalls.
She eventually switched schools, was referred to a psychiatrist, and began taking medication for depression.
She hadn't told anyone about her suicide attempt, but then, after a well-known student took his life last year, Emily felt compelled to speak out. "It's just so hard to sit back when there is so much happening," said the 18-year-old, who is now speaking to peer and parent groups about her journey through mental illness, the warning signs, the stigma, and ultimately, the light at the end of the tunnel.
She's designed her own power point presentation on the issue, and this month, she'll speak at two events hosted by the Sarnia Lambton Suicide Prevention Committee, geared towards parents and health professionals.
"The thing I hear the most from other teens is that 'people just don't care,' or that they don't know where to go,'" she said, noting that she encourages other students to seek help, providing a list of various community agencies.
"I tell them, there are people out there who care."
This week, Ottawa City Coun. Allan Hubley wrote about the suicide death of his 15-year-old son, Jamie. The openly gay, and constantly bullied teen had tried to start a Rainbow Club at his high school to promote acceptance of others, but the posters were torn down and he was called vicious names in the hallways and online.
Like Emily, he had been receiving professional and medical care for depression.
"[But] something in his mind kept taking him to a dark place where he could not see the positive side of life, which led him to this drastic and tragic decision," Hubley wrote.
It's too late for Jamie, but Emily's courageous story will no doubt help other teens find their way out of those dark days.
"More people struggle than you know," she said while speaking at a recent mental health rally at city hall. "But it's always worth the fight. You only have one life, and that's it."
Tara Jeffrey is a reporter at The Observer. Contact her at tjeffrey@theobserver.ca or Follow @ObserverTara on Twitter.

Teen Depression Linked to Lack of Sleep?

A large-scale survey on teens and sleep has made a big splash in the news recently with its results: most teens are not getting enough sleep, and their lack of sufficient sleep is being associated with a whole series of risky, unhealthy behaviors, from smoking and drinking to sexual activity and over-eating. This is a landmark study, the first of its size and scope to explore the connection between sleep and health problems in adolescents.

The results come from the 2007 National Youth Risk Behavior survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control. This survey of more than 12,000 teenagers assessed a range of health-risk behaviors among adolescents. Regarding sleep, the survey asked teens: "On an average school night, how many hours of sleep do you get?" The responses were divided into two categories: eight hours or more per night was considered sufficient sleep, and fewer than eight hours was considered insufficient sleep.

More than two-thirds of teens surveyed -- 68.9% -- said they received fewer than 8 hours of sleep on an average school night.

And if that's not enough, here's where things really get disturbing: Of the 11 health-risk behaviors that the survey examined, 10 of them were more likely to occur in teenagers who reported insufficient sleep during the school week.

Lack of sleep in teens was associated with a greater risk of:

• Drinking soda 1 or more times per day
• NOT exercising for 60 minutes on 5 of the past 7 days before the survey
• Using computers for 3 hours or more per day
• Participating in a physical fight at least once
• Smoking cigarettes
• Drinking alcohol
• Smoking marijuana 
• Engaging in sexual activity
• Feeling sad or hopeless
• Having seriously considered suicide

It's worth repeating: teenagers who reported sleeping fewer than 8 hours on school nights were more likely -- in many cases significantly more likely -- to engage in these risky behaviors than teens who slept 8 hours a night or more during the school week. These results do not prove that lack of sleep causes these behaviors to occur more frequently, but they do point out a strong association between insufficient sleep and many serious, risky behaviors. We know that sleep deprivation clouds judgment, diminishes self-control and willpower. It affects mood, energy, and outlook. And this is also true for adults! For teenagers, whose brains are still developing (and whose social and emotional skills are as well), the challenges of sleep deprivation are particularly serious.

We know that teenagers have their own special needs for sleep, and that aspects of their lifestyles make them particularly vulnerable to sleep deprivation:

• During adolescence, our circadian rhythms change, making teens biologically more inclined to stay up late at night and to wake later in the day. (Yes, your teen's determination to greet midnight wide-awake and never see noon is a biological thing!) This internal drive is at odds with the typical early-morning school schedule, which can leave teens woefully short on sleep during the week. 
• Teens just need more sleep than adults do. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 8½ to 9 ¼ hours of sleep per night for teenagers. Unfortunately, not many are getting this. The NSF estimates that only 15% of teenagers are sleeping 8 ½ hours nightly. 
• Their schedules -- with school, sports, and friends -- tend to be inconsistent, which makes it more difficult to establish a routine with regular bedtimes and wake times. 
• Teens today are constantly wired to an array of electronic devices. This ever-present technology can interfere with pre-sleep wind-down routines, and with sleep itself.

With the stakes for teenagers' health so high, news such as this survey shouldn't be ignored. The medical profession needs to pay more attention to sleep as a health factor for young people. As parents, what can we do to help our teens sleep better and perhaps avoid some of these risks to their health?

• Talk to your teen about sleep. You've made a point to have conversations about drinking, smoking and sex, right? It's time to add sleep to the list of topics to cover. 
• Give them a little time to sleep in -- but not too much. Allowing your teenager to sleep in on the weekends is okay, and can help them catch up a bit on any sleep they might have missed during the week. Just don't let them sleep more than 1 or 2 hours beyond their regular wake time. 
• Encourage your teen to get regular exercise. This can be in the form of organized sports, or just free-form recreational play. Physical activity -- ideally outdoors, where they can also be exposed to sunlight--will help overall health and nightly sleep. 
• Limit their exposure to technology. Let's be realistic -- cell phones, computers, video games, and PDAs are not going away. The goal here is to set reasonable limits, which should include no electronics in the bedroom. 
• Make sure to include your teen's doctor in the conversation. Don't let sleep be overlooked at your teen's check up. If your child's doctor doesn't ask about their sleep, raise the topic yourself.

As parents to teenagers, we're all engaged in trying to provide them with the skills to live healthfully, happily, and well. Guiding our teens to strong sleep habits is a critical part of that mission.

Sweet Dreams,
Michael J. Breus, PhD 
The Sleep Doctor™ 
www.thesleepdoctor.com

The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep

Everything you do, you do better with a good night's sleep™ 
twitter: @thesleepdoctor 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thesleepdoctor

Starved Testimony by Kelly Vegas

Hi I’m Kelly Vegas and the Lord put it on my heart to create this ministry. My heart goes out to this generation because so many are struggling with eating disorders and addiction. My vision is that through the Word of God, Prayer and the Power of the Holy Spirit you can be set FREE and completely delivered from what keeps you in bondage.   God Bless!!

Growing up as a teen in Southern California my emotions were too painful to endure as my life was spinning out of control.  The only thing I could control was my food and my weight.  I started to starve to numb my feelings and I became obsessed with being thin.  When starving wasn’t enough I had to throw up anything I ate.   Anorexia and Bulimia brought me comfort in my pain.  It provided a sense of security in my chaotic family.  It numbed all my feelings and gave me a false sense of control.  My eating disorder made me feel like I was invincible.  It became my everything.

I found myself in the grips of its deadly control.  I starved myself down to a deadly weight and at 16 I found myself in the hospital after suffering a heart attack.  Yet that wasn’t enough to stop me from starving and throwing up.  Suddenly I found myself in a battle of choosing to live or to die…

Kelly Vegas