Newbie supporting my 18yr old son

Hi there,

Not sure quite how much to tell! And how much time you all have!

For the moment though, I recently found out that my son attempted suicide last month. I was unaware at the time. Luckily he has a few amazing friends and they took him to hospital and took care of him. However when they were concerned again, they actually contacted me. (which I will be forever grateful for)

My son ended up in a private hospital. He had agreed to go, but after the first night wanted out and refused to do participate. Being over 18yrs and a voluntary facility AND not at immediate risk of self harm or harm to others, there really wasn't anything we could do.

We have a plan in place with regard to psychologist appts. We've been incredibly lucky for the help we've received from both our family psych and the one who has taken him on now. But, it's hard. Obviously having him home I'm a bit on edge still. I'm trying not to 'smother' and doing a bloody good job I reckon, but of course for him, I'm 'making it all worse' still.

As a family, (2nd marriage) we've been dealing with the mental health issues for the best part of 5 years now. Both our exes suffer so I've learnt a lot, but I haven't dealt with this side. How to support my son in a way that helps him, are 'doable' for us all, as a family and when it comes down to it, how to not 'make it worse' for him.

I will have a look through the forum and see how it all works and if I'm doubling up on the advice I need. I'm sure there are others who have been through similar. Thanks for reading. x