Sister took 12 panadols

johnsmith

I just found out that my 19 year old sister (I'm 22) took 12 panadols last saturday. She went to the hospital with our mum the next day and thankfully her liver and kidneys are ok.

I'm sure that she is smart enough to know 12 panadols is not a lethal dose, so I would regard it as more of a cry for help than a genuine suicide attempt. She doesn't have a history of depression (neither do the rest of the family) but she does tend to put herself under a lot of pressure. My suspicion is that she's feeling lonely and not sure where her life is going, she has a couple of good friends but nowhere near the amount that she had in secondary school. She dropped out of college and has split up with a boyfriend early in the year aswell

She told me herself what had happened, I asked her why she did it (not the most sensitive thing to say in hindsight but I was shocked to be honest). She said she didn't want to talk about it so I told her that she needs anything or wants to talk about anything to please let me know.

Anyway, should I approach her to see if she'd like to talk again? The fact that she told me what happened seems to suggest that maybe she does want to talk about it. At the moment I'm behaving as if nothing happened, obviously I'm being very mindful of what I say though. Any advice on how to approach (or not approach) this would be appreciated.

listermint

I would suggest trying to spend more time with her as in hanging out together more often, if its something that you would be used to. Spending time with her will get her more comfortable and when alone people tend to talk alot more rather than in a group or just being approached. Its a more easy a relaxed environment. Sorry to hear about her troubles hope everything works out.

stcatherine

Hi HUn,

It definately sounds like your sister has a lot on her mind an could do with someone to talk to, the trick is getting her to open up without pushing her away.

Could you maybe suggest you both go out for a walk or something ? somewhere with no one else around so you can just chat and take it from there ?

sh will be more likely to talk outside of ur familiar surroundings.

Just tell her again that if she wants to talk you are there, that no matter what she tells you you will not repeat it to your parents and that you will not judge her.


good luck, I hope she accepts your offer of emotional support.

LegacyUser

stcatherine wrote: »

Could you maybe suggest you both go out for a walk or something ? somewhere with no one else around so you can just chat and take it from there

It's definitely easier to talk when you are both doing something, and also easier when you are not facing each other directly!
Dunno what sort of relationship you have with your sister, but don't forget - to have quality time, you must have quantity time!
Good luck, and hope she can take up your offer of support.

LegacyUser

sorry to hear of your little sister going through a tough time-i always think that when someone goes to the point of contemplating sucide they have some real reasons for feeling this way... i would not be suprised if she is dealing with something inside her which she is unable to share with anyone else but it is eating her up-the family dont know what she is feeling and she is too scared to talk about it,but something may have happened her that no one knows about,and she is internalising how she sees herself in a negative way...

to get some perspective on the situation you have to look at what its like to be her,what her relationships are like with each family member and friends and who is she reacting off the most..... your parents may be able to get some support from the local gp,who may recommend a therapist.... it is important not to just let it go -because it is a cry for help and it will get worse if she does not get some support with it-families are not suppossed to know how to handle such a situaton,and they usually become a venting ground for frustration,but that is her only way of communicating right now... but it is important that your parents get some support and advice from a qualified doctor-and you shouldnt feel bad for not knowing what to do xx

Dr_Teeth

Sorry to hear that JS, I think you should talk to your sis. Have a read of this blog and the comments:

http://randomreality.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2008/2/25/3545286.html

Paracetamol poisoning is deadly, a slow painful death.

masterwriter

johnsmith wrote: »

I'm sure that she is smart enough to know 12 panadols is not a lethal dose,

well it would not be far off a lethal dose as paracetamol is deadly in overdose. I have seen report that 20 can kill. Also they can take a couple days to act, so she was right to go to the hospital http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetaminophen#Toxic_dose
Good luck with dealing with it

Abi

johnsmith wrote: »

She dropped out of college and has split up with a boyfriend early in the year aswell

^That wouldnt help tbh. It seems to me that shes lost her way a bit. You are a good guy to support your sister, but put away your shock and your judgements about her for now. A lot of people make the mistake of thinking "no, she couldnt be depressed. none of us have ever been like that. Besides, shes not the sort to be depressed".

Thats a common mistake. Anyone can become depressed. I dont think you should force the issue with her. If you would like to approach her and just let her know that you are there for her anytime, Im sure she will appreciate that. Given the situation, Im sure your parents have spoken to her about getting some help. She will talk when, and only when she is ready.

Monkey61

Hi OP,

At the moment the one thing your sister is probably feeling - other than depressed and whatnot - is embarassed. More than likely she was repeatedly lectured and generally patronised in the hospital - unless they have remarkably changed their ways in the last few years - and I imagine it is the last thing that she wants to talk about.

Twelve isn't much at all (I survived 45 and then ninety-something!)but at the same time labelling things as a "cry for help" can sometimes be very insulting to the person involved because it can make them think that you are not taking them seriously and it's almost like a challenge to do better next time.
Taking pills is an odd kind of self harm, so I would imagine that there has to be some kind of suicidal intent behind it at the time even though she later changed her mind.

The most important thing is to make sure that she has all the help and support that she needs. She needs to get some professional counselling whether the hospitals have set something up or not - it may be quite expensive but will be worth it.

Do of course talk to her yourself, but don't make her feel like it's some major big thing - and please make sure that nobody treats her any differently, makes any remarks about not trusting her to be left on her own for too long and stuff like that. Chat to her about dropping out of college, her break up and all the stuff that might have been contributing to her sadness. Ask how she feels about these things.

For people that have difficulty in talking about negative feelings (which I presume is how she ended up in the pill box in the first place), no amount of pushing can force them to do it. When they eventually do let it all out, for whatever reason (not that I am recommending it for a second, but I was under the influence of certain happy drugs when I did), it is an overwhelming sense of relief and once she has begun to talk about her feelings it becomes incredibly easy.

So good luck. And do keep an eye on her.

girl2

Hello

Believe it or not I just completed a 2 day course in suicide intervention this week. I really got my eyes opened to say the least.

My advice to you is that this is serious.....and I would strongly recommend that you talk to her. The very fact that she took the pills is very worrying. I would talk to her and find out all the things that are going on in her life that would in any way contribute to her wanting to die. And it would probably be a good idea for her to talk to someone professional, if even to get some relaxation, stress relieving or advice that may help to ease the pressures that are going on with her.

Im sorrry your family are faced with such a serious issue and hope you are all able to deal with it in an appropriate and sensitive manner.

Good luck.

chuci

just spend time with her if you live out of home maybe invite her to visit you for a weekend or you went home. its important to bond again, even if she doesnt want to open up after what happened at least you will have gained her trust that you will always be there that if she feels sad again or upset then she can talk to you about it.hope things get better for her.

johnsmith

Thanks for the help everybody, she went on holidays last week with a friend and she does seem to be doing a lot better. I haven't talked directly to her about what happened but we've certainly been spending more time together (going to the beach and stuff) and she does seem to be happier (although she is now on anti-depressants).

I'll keep ye posted.

About the 'cry for help' phrase. All I meant was that she is smart enough to know that 12 panadols isn't going to kill here. Perhaps she had intended to take more, I'm really not sure and I'm certainly not going to ask her about the semantics of why she decided to take 12 panadols and not more. I'm just hopeful that she'll never take more than the recommended dosage again and glad that she didn't take more than 12 this time.