[SeamsLikeStitches]

Hi all,
Some of you may remember me, but I haven't been here for a while.
I am usually over on the Peripheral Neuropathy board. I pop in here once in a while, as I am also the daughter of a Suicide Victim. My mom committed suicide 8 years ago. It was a really rough time for us all.

This post is more for my niece. She is 14. She came to me two nights ago (on instant messages through Facebook) asking for help. She didn't know that my mom committed suicide, because at the time she was only 6 years old. She said that she had already tried a few days before. She was cutting herself, and she was really deeply depressed.

I talked with her a while, messaging. (I don't have a car, as I am disabled). But the next day, I made arrangements for her to spend the day with myself and my granddaughter (who is 8) in San Francisco at the Pier, shopping and just hanging out. She said it was really helpful to get out of the house, but that as soon as we started to head back home again, she started to get really sad again, and she started to think about ways to kill herself again.

Her mom is very "old world" Viet-Namese. She hadn't told her mom about any of her feelings, or thoughts. She didn't want to worry her or make her angry. (Her mom is my brothers ex-wife, but I love her very much and I respect her a lot! She works very hard raising her kids even though my jerk of a brother cheated on her with a younger woman and moved across the country and left her to raise her two kids alone!)

So, after our day in the city sight seeing, I took her home and sat with her mom. I told her we really need to tell your mom what is going on in your head. It is very important that she knows what is happening. Of course her mom had some angry reactions at first, she wanted to send her to her dad, she blamed the devil, she said it was just some stupid teenage thing she was going through... and told her she needed to read the bible!

I did tell my niece about the VERY STRONG history of depression in our family. That my mom committed suicide, my aunt, grandmother and two great aunts had all been hospitalized for this condition. It is not something that should be taken lightly. However, my sister in law said to me, in private, "Don't tell her about her grandmother committing suicide". She is afraid my niece will think she has inherited this "condition"!

AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

She isn't my child, I only see her every few months, and my brother is divorced from her mother, but I do love her! She is a beautiful soul! What can I do to help her? I know what she is feeling and what her little heart is going through!!!!!!!!!!!

Please give me any advice you can! Help me to help her!
You are all such wise people and have endured so much! Thank you all for being there for all of us when we need you!