My son had a major work accident over a year ago which ended in his left foot being amputated. He says part of him died so he feels dead thru and thru. Suicide is big in his mind. How , as his mom, am I to handle the suicidal thoughts and situations? What can I say to him to let him know he has so much life left to live? How loved he is? Etc... He stays couped up in his room. Since the hospital he has become addicted to pills
2 Answers
Talk to a mental health specialist.
Random people online aren't qualified to provide mental health counselling. Your son needs to see a proper mental health specialist to get the treatment he needs for his suicidal ideation and his burgeoning drug addiction. Hopefully, fixing the former will also fix the latter, but you need the help of a qualified professional to say for sure.
I hope your son gets the help he needs to recover from the psychological toll of his injury.
I agree with nick0120000 that your son needs professional help.
Generally speaking, he needs a perspective for his future. And I think it would help him to meet other people who have had serious injuries like his and have already been able to build up a new life.
In Germany, where I live, there is a mandatory insurance for all employees in case of work accidents. If such an accident happens and the person is unable to do their work any longer, they get a lot of support and training to find other work that they still can do. Obviously, your son does not have this support. But there are a lot of things you can do, even with a prostetic foot. Perhaps you or other relatives and friends can help him to find out which work is still possible for him. Perhaps this even opens up new and interesting perspectives. Finding a new job helps him to gain independence and to build up a new life.
We also have a lot of disabled sports groups here. It helps people to discover the strengths they still have, in spite of their disability. But what is more important: They meet others with a similar disability and learn from them how to master life. You learn that you are not alone and that it is possible to live a happy life even with a severe disability. I do not know if there are such groups in your country, too, but perhaps you can help him to get in touch with other people with similar disabilities.
