Do parents who are suicidal love their kids?

One question that I get a lot that I want to blog about is “Do parents who are suicidal love their kids?” also “How can parents who are suicidal love their kids?”. The short is, yes, just because someone is feeling suicidal that does not take away any other emotions that they are feeling, love included. The longer answer, to answer both questions, we must go back to what we know about suicide. Anything can cause people to feel and be suicidal. We need to remember that everyone processes things differently and some people are better able to cope with certain things, than others. Whatever situation or thing they are currently going through or have gone through (whether it being a crisis, trauma or otherwise) those instances help reinforce the feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. Relating back to their children, we need to remember that both hopeless and worthless feelings are extraordinarily strong, depending on the person. They could love their children so much, that they could see themselves as a hinderance or standing in their child’s way with whatever is going on with them as a parent. Again, hopelessness refers to a person’s situation or what is going on outside of them and worthlessness refers to the person’s wellbeing or what is going on inside of them. Parents will usually do what is needed to help their child, whether that is leaving their child with all their money, making sure they are taken care of with family and/or friends and making sure everything is lined up for them to succeed after suicide. Is that the case all the time, and the answer is no. Even if they do not have the means or resources, the parent will do whatever is needed to make sure their child is taken care of after the suicide. We also need to remember that not every parent who is feeling suicidal, completes suicide. Whether that is an unsuccessful attempt, they decide not to do it before the fact or they do not attempt or complete. Just because either situation happens, we need to remember that the feeling of love does not lessen or diminish. In conclusion, a parent’s love does not go down or disappear if they are feeling suicidal. We all need to remember that everyone reacts to everything differently, not put judgment on the parent due to not knowing what they are going through and work on getting rid of that negative stereotype and stigma to help parents who are feeling suicidal know it is okay to reach out for help.  

Remember if you or anyone you know is feeling suicidal please reach out for help.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255

Coresair A. Mack MS.ED, LCPC, NCC