If he died, I wanted our son to be remembered for how he lived. I did not want him remembered as a kid who committed suicide. Hours later, knowing that he would survive, I asked that a psychiatrist see him.

After briefly speaking with an intern, I met the first of many doctors and specialists. My wife and I never did feel certain which expert to trust on many issues such as when to leave the hospital, whether to return to school, how candid our son could be with friends about his suicide attempt, whether medication should continue, which therapist to counsel and what the future might hold. But we were able to cancel all social obligations and much of our work-related responsibilities for several months in order to devote ourselves to the recovery process for our son and, later, for our family.

It would be years before I added to the list of factors that allowed our family a positive outcome from this tragedy the fact that the hospital had an adolescent psychiatry unit. I did not realize during the crisis that few hospitals offer psychiatric wards for children, a separate ward from adults. Other families have explained that witnessing the typical activity of an adult psychiatric environment would have caused even more fear and confusion for us when our son was most vulnerable.

I believe that I did not recognize the depression that led to my son's suicide attempt because he was an over-achiever who enjoyed a wide group of friends. At the same time, I do not understand how I was blind to pain intense enough to drive him to harm himself. He had more than his share of stomachaches throughout childhood and he occasionally suffered migraine headaches in puberty. The only new symptoms I noticed before his suicide attempt were irritability and a reduced reading comprehension. I assumed irritability was normal for young teenagers and he claimed the reading material was boring. If I had interpreted his irritability as frustration or determined that concentration was increasingly hard for him, his severe mood disorder might have been discovered before he tried to take his life.

Things have turned out extremely well for us. Our son is preparing to leave for college following extraordinary accomplishments in most areas of high school life. We primarily credit his school for his remarkable recovery because the school head was so clear in wanting him back and in providing open communications with the entire faculty. Talking things over was always available to him and he vented his frustrations on several occasions. In turn, the faculty was always honest with us so that we knew where we stood with the school. His classmates were very welcoming so no stigma hampered his progress. This unusual clarity helped to reduce our son's stress and to eliminate our fears.

It was unclear whether medication was helpful so he stopped using it after the first year but he continued the talk therapy for several years. We consider his depression as well managed rather than eliminated. It is not preventing his enjoyment of life nor affecting any of his plans. He can recognize the onset of depression and offsets it by getting more sleep, working out and talking with friends.