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Moms Talk About Losing Teen Sons to Suicide

Moms Talk About Losing Teen Sons to Suicide - Monday, May 24, 2010 at 04:07AM EST

Reported by: Kyla Campbell
Monday May 24 2010
5.0000/ 5 rating

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Schuylkill counties have some of the highest suicide rates in the state. Now, health care professionals are keeping a closer eye on a specific group of people at risk - 14- to 24-year-olds. Two mothers who lost their sons to suicide think schools should follow suit.

One of those mothers is Laurie Munley of Olyphant. Her life hasn't been the same since June 25th, 2002.

"He said 'Rob's gone.' I said, 'What do you mean he's gone?,'" said Laurie. "I thought he ran away. He said, 'He's dead.'" Her son, Robert Cleary, committed suicide at the age of 17. "At that point, all I remember is wrenching uncontrollably."

She says Robert started showing signs of depression when he was six, after his parents divorced. He acted out in class. As a teenager, he couldn't sleep, he'd have stomach aches. Robert saw a number of counselors over the years.

"He lost weight, he didn't care if his clothes were rolled up in a ball for a week, he'd put them on, and that's how he went to school," she said.

Robert tried to kill himself two months earlier with carbon monoxide poisoning. A passerby spotted the hose linking his exhaust pipe to his car window and saved him. Robert spent two weeks in the hospital, before doctors released him.

"They said, 'Rob made a mistake. Typical teen. He knew it was stupid,'" recalls Laurie. " These are all experts telling you, he's okay. So, who are you to doubt them?"

But Robert completed suicide two months later.

" I found out after the fact from kids at school that he used to sit at the lunch table and cry, and they'd ask him what was wrong, and he'd just say, 'Leave me alone,'" Laurie said through tears. "And it bothers me, because, where were all the adults, the counselors, the teachers? They had to have seen it. Why didn't they say something?"

She wants suicide prevention programs in schools, so teachers, staff, and students can know what signs to look for.

" I'm here to say to you, as a mom, don't do this to your family. It's the worst feeling in the world," Karen Robbins said about her son, Brandyn. He was 17 years old and a junior at Wyoming Valley West High School when he committed suicide on April 24, 2008.

His mom didn't see it coming. "No, not in a million years," Karen said. Now, she spreads suicide awareness and prevention through a program called "Music with a Message."

"If we could help just one person," said Karen, "that makes all the difference."

For more on the program, "Music with a Message," as well as more information on suicide prevention and signs to look for, please look on our web site for "Suicide Prevention Program in Local Schools."
 


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