Still at Risk

Still at Risk

Walked in the room, the teen greeted me with a smile

Six weeks have gone by; gosh it has been a while!

Sitting tall next to mom, makeup caused her face to shine

Life is great, fluoxetine is working just fine!

Any thoughts of not wanting to be alive anymore?

The room fell silent, her eyes looking at the floor

I swallowed several pain pills last night!

In hopes that I should never see the daylight

Mom looked at her in dismay: I thought we were in the clear?

She has attempted before; the risk is always there my dear

You have your own struggles; I did not want you to stress

After all I am the one responsible for my mess

A peer at school bullies me all day long

Lost all my friends, I’m worthless, can’t be strong

Have you been following up with a therapist?

Unfortunately, the one to take our insurance does not exist.

In this time of acute distress, I recommend inpatient hospitalization

A safe place to re-open conversation and attain medical stabilization

As I move on to my next encounter, in my mind I replay the scene

Had I not asked that question, how different it would have been

by Maryam Tariq, MD

This poem was inspired by a clinical encounter during my Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellowship. What began as a routine outpatient follow-up revealed, through a single screening question, a recent suicide attempt by a teen who had appeared stable. The piece reflects on the tension between clinical progress and hidden emotional suffering, and the critical importance of asking direct questions ,even when things seem “better.”

As we close out September, Suicide Prevention Month, this poem serves as a reminder of the ongoing vulnerability many young patients face  and the power of clinician presence, curiosity, and persistence in uncovering what might otherwise remain unspoken.

This submission is original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. Thank you for considering my work, and for creating space for poetry within the practice of medicine.

Comments