Anatomy of a Youngster's Suicide: Whose Problem is it?

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice Volume 2 | Number 4 Article 3 10-1-2004 Anatomy of a Youngster's Suicide: Whose Problem is it? Robert C. Grosz Nova Southeastern University, Follow this and additional works at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ijahsp Part of the Medicine and Health Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Grosz RC. Anatomy of a Youngster's Suicide: Whose Problem is it?. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2004 Oct 01;2(4), Article 3. This Commentary is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Health Care Sciences at NSUWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice by an authorized editor of NSUWorks. For more information, please contact . Anatomy of a Youngster's Suicide: Whose Problem is it? This commentary is available in Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/ijahsp/vol2/iss4/3 A journal dedicated to allied health professional practice and education http://ijahsp.nova.edu Vol. 2 No. 4 ISSN 1540-580X A Peer Reviewed Publication of the College of Allied Health & Nursing at Nova Southeastern University Commentary The Anatomy of a Youngster’s Suicide: Whose Problem Is It? Robert C. Grosz, EdD Professor Physician Assistant Program Nova Southeastern University College of Allied Health and Nursing Citation: Grosz, R.; The anatomy of a youngster's suicide. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. Commentary. October 2004. Volume 2 Number 4. Youngsters wanting to take their own lives: A few generations ago this was unthinkable and indeed unbelievable. What could drive a youngster to that point? What problems could he/she possibly have? They hadn’t even entered the "real world" yet. Did youngsters have the responsibilities that adults have? The consensus of thinking was, "of course not." After all, youngsters didn’t have to worry about getting jobs or being laid off jobs. They didn’t concern themselves with paying bills, being responsible for youngsters, making life decisions such as marrying, having a child, buying a house, buying a car, where to get the mortgage, saving for retirement or college, maintaining the health of a family, electing the right people, etc. To the average adult, these were the only problems that were worth getting concerned over. All the average youngster had to contend with was basic day-by-day needs such as going to school or getting along with someone else and even that was not a chore. If you don’t © IJAHSP 2004 like the other kid, don’t work it out just play with someone else! Other daily needs were if the child became ill, a parent (and/or doctor) would take care of it. Basic necessities were provided (food, clothing and shelter). As a matter of fact, we generally did just that. We looked upon youngsters as the "average youngster," because they had not yet experienced, participated in, concerned themselves with, or been exposed to what the average adult considered to be "real life decision-making." Indeed it was our (adults) mature responsibility to "protect and shield" youngsters from these "problems." In the movies, it was almost an unwritten code that virtually any movie that included anyone below the age of 18 should have at least one scene whereby the youngster was shown being tucked in and/or in a peaceful sleep without a care in the world as the admiring parent looked on. Even the early movies (silent and early talkies) that revolved around children growing up in rags, poverty and in the streets, had the scenes in which the parent or guardian would tuck in the peaceful face of the child who went to sleep immediately, while being told that there was nothing to worry about. It seems that it was the objective of the "real world" to keep children in a "world of fantasy" and thus viewed them as such. To better understand the anatomy of a youngster's attempt at suicide we have to explore the stages of development of the youngster. This usually entails three basic phases: The first phase is the Search for Identity which builds up under the ages of 15-17 when the youngster is looking for attention, asking "who am I" and hoping that someone "listens to me…I have something to say." Around 17 or so the youngster then starts to consider not just "who am I" but also "what shall/will I do/be?" In sorting these concerns out, the youngster usually runs into parental conflict (regimentation, restrictions, scheduling, all without input. When there is an attempt to have input, the input is generally rejected and decisions are made for them so we add some frustration to this phase of life. Add to this conflict some values confusion. Often parents or teachers demand one thing and then act in contradiction. In addition, feelings of guilt and confusion over loyalties and friendships enter the mix. The youngster often will resort to doing things that he/she knows should not be done and then experience some sense of guilt over their actions. In these early years, often beginning with early social experience and development, questions arise regarding who to be friendly with and for what reasons, how to decide, just how far should loyalty go, how can changes be made, and who are the role models that influence friendships and loyalties. These are all forces that help to shape the Self-Concept or Image (meaning how the youngster feels about him/herself) and the Self-Esteem or Worth (meaning how approving of their own behavior are they). For example, the youngster perceives of himself as being honest, yet he cheats on an exam and then is not happy with how he behaved. She believes that she is truthful yet lies when asked if she has been smoking, and thus is unhappy with how she behaved (self esteem). In addition to the aforementioned forces, other influences on image and esteem are their own physical images of themselves and acceptances or rejections into selected environments or groups. If they experience © IJAHSP 2004 difficulties and enter into some degree of "crisis identity," they frequently set the stage for the second phase of the Anatomy of a Suicide, which is Depression. Depression in adults is often represented by slightly different behavior as opposed to depression in a youngster. The adult usually shows clinical depression with withdrawal, retreat, isolation in addition to other signs. The youngster frequently demonstrates depression with periods of irritability, agitation and/or violence. Complications usually include cognitive difficulties demonstrated through academic underachieving, poor judgment, and social problems. The major underlying factor being that owing to the "lack of years and exposure" as opposed to an adult, the chances are the youngster will not have the coping strategies or experiences that adults have developed. When youngsters become clinically depressed they generally experience behavioral complications such as anxiety (in (...truncated)