Hal ElrodCreator of The Miracle Morning, Personal & Professional Success Coach

Their Teenage Son Was Struggling with Mental Health, This Helped

28 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this personal narrative, the speaker recounts a harrowing period from a year ago when their teenage son experienced severe suicidal thoughts and was admitted to a hospital for treatment. The son initially expressed resentment toward family values and cultural expectations, viewing them as oppressive. Through counseling and interactions with peers facing deeper crises, he gained a new perspective and began his recovery. The parent describes how, over the past year, they have focused on rebuilding their relationship by actively engaging with the son's interests and passions, aiming to support his ongoing mental health journey and strengthen family bonds.

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So what does family life look like right now, challenges included? I just want to be totally transparent in that a year ago, Lindsay and I were going through hell with our son. Like, he was suicidal. I share that knowing that he would be okay because of where he is now, and also because of how proud I am of how he went to seek help. He really raised his hand and asked for help through his counselor and was willing to be admitted into a hospital in order to get the treatment that he wanted, but It was interesting because in the middle of it all, there was sort of this tension around like, I hate all that values, family, culture bullshit that you do. So there was this little part of him that was sort of like rebelling against all these structures we had created. I think though, after he went through some treatment and he talked to some counselors and he spent some time with people in the hospital that were like far worse off than he was, came back with a different perspective. And then What I've done in the last year is to connect with him, really leaned into what he loves.