I have just had a 10 day break overseas to attend a wedding and left my 15 and 17 year old sons at home with my husband. I have never been away from any of them for so long and so was anxious about going.
6 days into the trip I saw an email from my doctor’s surgery confirming my 15 year old had an appointment. Confused as to why, I texted my husband who got back to me with the likes of ‘do not worry, you are on holiday, concentrate on having a good time.’ Such a response did worry me immensely. I wrote back and said I wanted to know what was wrong. He tried to FaceTime but I was with family and so I asked him to text.
He then wrote me this long, descriptive, detailed message saying my younger son had expressed suicidal feelings to him and had been self-harming, including cutting and burning himself. He has apparently been doing it for years. He said the appointment was to get him some help. My son is an upbeat kid and such news has come as a terrible shock. I am away from home and cannot discuss with my son and I feel completely helpless. I am delighted my husband is dealing with the situation but I have an issue in that I also feel incredibly cross he texted me this information. I know I told him to do so but I feel like he should none-the-less have found another means of relaying this sensitive, important information that we need to discuss thoroughly.
The news has not sunk in that my son would be self-harming. This is my priority and we will do everything we can to help him.
Perhaps my anger is really deriving from the fact I feel helpless at this second. Do I have a valid reason to be cross at my husband? Would anyone else be cross or is this just plain ridiculous? Thank you.