Further reading on teen suicidal thoughts - the power of choice - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

This thread generated quite a bit of angst when I commented that suicide should be kept as an option. I was NOT advocating suicide nor condoning it. I was only advocating for it to be recognized as a choice.This post is to shed some light on what I was trying to get at, and to share the work being done in CBT for those interested in such things.When dealing with a teen who is thinking about suicide, we (the parents) are dealing with an adult issue - this is not a kid issue. This is not barbies and prom dresses. This is real "life stuff".So, to offer some clarification (hopefully), I wanted to share an article from NIH about work being done in the field of CBH (only for those interested, ignore otherwise).Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescent depression and suicidalityUnder the "Problem Solving" Section the authors use the SOLVE method:S stands for “Select a problem,” O for “generate Options,” L for rate the “Likely outcome” of each option, V for choose the “Very best option,” and E stands for “Evaluate” how well each option worked.When working with adolescents who have attempted suicide, the therapist reframes the suicide attempt as a failure in problem solving. This explanation helps provide adolescents with a better sense of control over future problems that arise. The therapist points out that many teenagers who attempt suicide pick the only option that they think that have, which is to hurt themselves. The therapist emphasizes that the more adolescents practice coming up with a list of “Options”, the more potential solutions they have to choose from when stressed, and the less likely they will feel that the only thing they can do is to hurt themselves.I advocate for suicide being allowed as one of the options when generating options - otherwise, what is the value? What is the realness of what you're discussing if you purposefully leave out a particular option because it's distasteful?I'm not alone in this at least (from the same publication):One contentious aspect of problem-solving is whether to have a suicidal individual include suicide as an option during the brainstorming portion of SOLVE. Some therapists feel that allowing suicide as an option facilitates the problem-solving discussion. Others fear that a cognitively restricted suicidal individual will not be able to generate other options beside kill oneself. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2eGbqZ7