In this episode, we listen to Melissa, a mother from rural Iowa, share her story about raising a son with severe depression. Please be advised that this interview discusses suicide and may be triggering for some of our audience. (See below for transcription.)Suicide Resources:The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255

The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.

Trans Lifeline - Trans Lifeline is a national trans-led organization dedicated to improving the quality of trans lives by responding to the critical needs of our community with direct service, material support, advocacy, and education. Our vision is to fight the epidemic of trans suicide and improve overall life-outcomes of trans people by facilitating justice-oriented, collective community aid.

The Trevor Project - The leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25.

You Matter -This is a safe space for youth to discuss and share stories about mental health and wellness, created and administered by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You Matter blog posts are written by a rotating Blogger Council of individuals between the ages of 13-24 that are passionate about suicide prevention and mental health.

 Transcription of Just Ask Mom, episode 17(0:00)

(music fades in)

Woman Speaker: Welcome to the Just Ask Mom podcast where mother share their experiences of raising children with mental illness. Just Ask Mom is a Mothers on the Frontline production. Today, we will listen to Melissa. A mother from rural Iowa, share her story about raising a son with severe depression. Please be advised that this interview discusses suicide and maybe triggering to some of our audience.

(music fades out)

Tammy: Hello. Can you tell us a little about yourself before or outside of parenting, what do you love? Who are you?

Melissa: My name is Melissa and I'm a mom here in rural Iowa. I farm with my husband in a small community. I love the environment. I love watching our children grow. Just being outdoors, reading, that kind of thing.

Tammy: You like watching lots of things grow, it sounds like.

Melissa: Yeah.

Tammy: That's awesome. I want you to pretend that you're talking to peers of kids that are going through mental health difficulties and their parents. What would you like them to know about your family's experiences?

Melissa: I would say that our experience as parents with a child with debilitating mental illness - would be to just maybe ask, be inquisitive. Try and find out, not in a nosy type of a way but just-- so maybe you can learn a little bit more about the situation and not just shut the doors essentially because it's very challenging on a daily basis. When you're feeling the doors slammed by parents or peers that don't necessarily know the story, it just makes life that much harder.  (2:00) My child has a lot to give to this world. He's beautiful and he's kind but he just struggles with certain things. But I think his life as a youth could have been much easier if some closed doors would have remained open.

Tammy: You bring up a really good point because a lot of times, if our children are sick, let's say if they have a physical illness or the measles or what have you, people would naturally say, "Oh, how is your son doing?" Right?

Melissa: Right.

Tammy: They would naturally ask. Maybe people are afraid to ask us or talk to us. They shut down or shut us out sometimes. Is that right?

Melissa: Yeah. I would say that. I know it is not the exact same thing but I spend a lot of time thinking about it. I kind of wonder if on some level, it's how people who are diagnosed with AIDS in the 80's feel.

Tammy: Yeah.