The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #137591   Message #3147712
Posted By: jacqui.c
04-May-11 - 10:29 AM
Thread Name: BS: Teenage Suicide Part 2
Subject: BS: Teenage Suicide Part 2
This is the opening post from SINSULL's previous thread, which suffered from the worst kind of thread creep.

New Hampshire Public TV has a series of Independent films which are shown on Sunday mornings. They are always brilliantly done and thought provoking.
Today's was about teenage suicide in Pennsylvania. The film concentrated on two aspects - first, a group that counsels families who have lost a child to suicide and second on research funded by the Mellon Foundation which seems to indicate a brain malfunction that triggers suicidal thoughts and actions in teenagers.
I found it comforting for the families who have blamed themselves for their own loss and frightening for the rest of us. The implication is that even the most watchful parent can not prevent a suicide with counseling, talking to their children, etc. If the impulse hits and a child is impaired little can be done to prevent him or her from acting on the impulse. It adds some credence to the claim that we here so often from close friends and families - "We saw nothing to hint that anything was wrong." Depression and bi-polar personality aside, there are teens with brains not fully functional who will try suicide because of a lack of brain activity in the frontal lobe.
The film was dedicated to the "lost" children whose photos, ages and date of suicide were played out at the end. So many beautiful, seemingly happy children in prom photos, sports uniforms, charity events, graduations,
Funny how often I have looked at a child who seemed ripe for hurting him or herself and never did. A piece to the puzzle.

Now, Mary is a very dear friend of mine and has raised a very serious subject that merits discussion. Let's see if the subject of this post can be discussed here WITHOUT being hijacked.