My son has been on suicide watch. He called me a couple of days ago and said he was in a holding unit and would be coming home soon. He had been given his cell phone back. When he called he asked if I would mail him the charger for it and some single one dollar bills. He said he would call me back and give me his new address. I thought I would hear from him at least by Sunday because that is the day all of them get to call home. He still hasn't called. I'm worried about him. I have read all kinds of horror stories about basic training and how people are treated. What can I do?

Use the contact information on the Welcome Letter just like was said in this post.

Have you lined up psychiatric help for him yet? If he is on suicide watch now, regardless of the reason, he will need help when he gets home. You don't get over being suicidal overnight and just getting discharged from the Army will not get rid of having suicidal thoughts. In fact, I would be particularly watchful of him when he first gets home as he starts thinking about his failure in basic.

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Have you lined up psychiatric help for him yet? If he is on suicide watch now, regardless of the reason, he will need help when he gets home. You don't get over being suicidal overnight and just getting discharged from the Army will not get rid of having suicidal thoughts. In fact, I would be particularly watchful of him when he first gets home as he starts thinking about his failure in basic.

I can't set up a psychiatric appointment until I know what day he will be home. I'm not stupid, I know suicidal thoughts don't disappear over night. I am bi-polar and know about mental illness.

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as he starts thinking about his failure in basic.

I guess that means anyone who has suicidal thoughts are a failure to you.

Like I said in the other post, no news is good news and there are proper ways of contacting folks if you are concerned. I would not assume that something "horrible" is happening to your son, and I would stop reading those types of things if you can't get your thoughts away from that. He may not even be getting discharged as of yet.

Mturnb did not say your son was a failure, he said your son is going to THINK he's been a failure. It is going to add to the problem, whatever problem there is. It is also going to be a problem when he tries to go and find another job - the economy is already horribly and if he ended up with a dishonorable discharge (I'm assuming he hasn't given you those details yet), or even an other than honorable, he's going to have a hard time finding a job. That's going to lead to a lot of regret and again, feelings of failure.

I will say this, and I may get skinned alive (online) for saying it. There were a LOT (as in more than just 1 or 2, which is really too many as far as I'm concerned anyways) of folks in my husband's battalion in Basic who FAKED suicidal "thoughts" simply to get out of Basic/out of the military. Now, in my mind, they may not be suicidal but there's certainly some other kind of issue involved there. You may want to keep this in mind/be aware of it, because it would require handling & care a bit different than the suicidal tendencies.

I hope you hear something about your son soon.

I definitely was not saying that he is a failure. I was referring to those times, late at night, when there is nothing else going through his head and he thinks about how he did not make it through basic and might start thinking about being a failure. The same thing may start happening if he starts watching daytime TV. Heck, I started getting depressed watching daytime TV when I was working at a job well below what I had been doing for years. I knew that I was not a failure and the circumstances of the economy were what caused me to have the job I had but the commercials on TV during the day will make you feel like a failure. These are just things you will need to watch out for.

Suicidal thoughts do not equate to failure but thinking that you are a failure or have let others around you down can lead to suicidal thoughts - BTDT.

I hope that by now you have heard from your son and that all is well. Let him know that you are proud of him. Let him know that its ok that he didnt get through basic. Let him know that only 1% of americans can get through it. Its so hard to be in that 1% and it doesnt make him a failure to be part of the otehr 99%. Its very hard there. They are isolated from everything they know. And my son told me that the forests that surrounds Ft. Benning doesnt help at all. Just tell him, hey its not for you there are a MILLION other things that may be right. Its ok.

stay strong we are praying for you and for your son.
feel free to email me if you need to talk