Very important post... our son was very suicidal for many years but now is better... I believe he is finally out of the woods....

We didn't get much help from our local authorities in Loudoun County, VA (near Washington, DC) however in January 2006 when our son was at his worst. Since he had also gotten drunk another time that week, I called his probation officer. All he was doing was leaving each day and getting drunk- he again needed to be off the streets. When I called on 26 January 2006, his probation officer was Elizabeth B. When I finally reached her, she was in a foul mood. She made it clear earlier that she didn’t like to talk to parents and clearly felt that Janice and I were just “enabling” him to misbehave. When I reached her, I told her he again drank this week and begged her to violate him so he could get off the streets. Another day like this and we could easily wake up to a dead Billy. Then she told me “You know what? Maybe it would be better for everyone if the next time he attempted to commit suicide you should just not call the police and let him die. And know that would be hard for you and your wife to do, but maybe it would be for the best.”

Billy made it through that bad time and no, we did not let him die as we were told to do. Our son is now stabilized with his medication, has just gotten his GED and is in the process of registering for college here in Florida. Obviously he was worth saving.

We relate our entire story in my book "One Family’s Insane Journey through the Virginia Mental Health System" published by Chipmunka Publishing Ltd