“Mom, I want to die.” Within a period of 4 years, my guest Dawn Day heard this from all her three teenage daughters. One of them almost died from 2 suicide attempts; the other suffered from debilitating panic attacks; all struggle with depression. Dawn had the traumatic experience of reading a good-bye letter from one of her daughters. All this pain has transformed her life. Today, she educates parents who have children struggling with mental illness and suicidal ideation.

In this interview, Dawn talks about the individual traumas that her kids have endured, including different types of abuse. “I didn’t even recognize it as abuse at the time,” she says. She talks about her guilt and constant feeling that she should have known better, that she should have seen the signs.

The judgement of others is still present but together with her daughters, she is building a path of healing, one that is based on understanding, support, and love.

If you want to contact Dawn, visit her website:

https://hopefuldawn.com/

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:”

https://bit.ly/3ri6e0w

Donate to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3maL9RO  

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com  

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:”

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR 

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Phone: 800-273-8255