Written by Dr Astik Joshi

The recent incidents of a 16-year-old boy in Delhi and a nine-year-old girl in Jaipur dying by suicide have sent shockwaves among families, schools and society at large for not being able to help them and spot their triggers in time. These stories underscore a grim reality, that children are silently suffering, and their emotional pain often goes undetected until it is too late.

Much as we see self-harm as impulsive, they are not. There are always early signs, yet parents and teachers usually fail to recognise them or dismiss them as “mood swings” or “phase.”

How parents can spot triggers

If a child says things like, “I don’t want to live” or “It’s better if I disappear,” then do not dismiss them as a rant or take them lightly. Children lack words for

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