Welcome to Nobody Told Me. I'm Jan Black.

And I'm Laura Owens.

It can be tough to be a teenager these days.

Teenagers experience some complex issues, all of which

may be caused by or contribute to depression and other mental illnesses. Bullying, anxiety, addiction,

peer pressure, academic stress, and family issues can leave teenagers feeling lost and perhaps suicidal.

Our guest on this episode, Certified Grief Recovery Specialist, Christy Huggstadt, has written a new

book called Beneath the Surface to help teenagers reach out when they're in crisis or want to help

a friend who's struggling.

Christy, thank you so much for joining us today.

This is such an important topic.

Oh, I'm so happy to be here and thank you so much for joining us today. This is such an important topic. Oh, I'm so happy to be here, and thank you so much for having me.

Tell us more about what led you to write beneath the surface.

Well, I had suicide touched my life personally. My husband completed suicide about six years ago

by running in front of a train in Dana Point

where we lived.

Oh, my gosh.

All the warning signs and risk factors of depression and suicide were there.

I spent about a year before his suicide trying to get him help, you know, taking him to

different psychiatrists, psychologists, church counselors, basically trying to get him help, you know, taking him to different psychiatrists, psychologists, church

counselors, basically trying to fix him. And looking back now, I can see he was the textbook case

of somebody that had suicidal ideation. You know, those warning signs and risk factors were

...