Comparisons between individuals who attempt suicide and those who complete suicide have shown that the two groups are not necessarily from the same population. Similar comparisons have not been reported between attempters and individuals who voice thoughts of suicide but make no overt attempt (ideators). Since therapists are commonly required to…

School administrators can learn how to take decisive and positive action in dealing with the grief and the emotional reactions of students and staff members in the event of a tragedy. Guidelines for dealing with tragedy can be implemented in most schools. An individual student affected by a tragedy should be informed quietly, simply, and directly…

Physicians have developed and tested a profile to be used by parents and professionals to help identify potential teenage suicide victims. The profile was developed using a study of 27 male and 37 female teenagers hospitalized in the Children's Psychiatric Hospital at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Adolescents were shown to be reliable…

Suicide assessment and prediction are important functions performed by psychiatrists. Although the specificity and sensitivity of assessment instruments are poor, trainees are instructed to become proficient in their application. The occurrence of suicides during training confronts trainees with personal and professional limitations. The charts of…

For adolescents faced with many developmental tasks, a loved one's death by suicide is a tragic event linked with increased morbidity, death fears, and psychopathology. Adolescents struggle to master tasks such as refining abstract thought, achieving independence, developing values, exploring intimacy in social and sexual relations, and becoming…

This paper, a literature review on adolescent suicide, was written to provide family life professionals with help in identifying adolescents at-risk for suicidal behavior, providing more effective interventions for suicidal adolescents and their families, and developing policies and preventive measures. The paper includes an overview of…

This manual was designed for use by teachers, counselors, and administrators and as a supplement to other school curricula which deal with the subject of suicide. It provides for the dissemination of information beyond the student body and assists school jurisdictions with the organization of both prevention and crisis oriented plans. Section One,…

The three major causes of injury and mortality among children in the state of Virginia are, in order of frequency, automobile-related accidents, poison ingestion, and suicide. With respect to injuries sustained in automobile accidents, adults traveling with children by car must accept responsibility for the safety of child passengers. Acute…

This booklet is concerned with the area of clinical depression. Questions about clinical depression are briefly answered in an overview section and are examined in greater detail in the five chapters that follow. In chapter 1, depression is defined and various types of depression are identified. The origins of depression are explored in the second…

This document contains transcripts of witness testimony and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine the issue of teenage suicide. Testimony is focused on the factors that may lead to teenage suicide, what might be done to prevent these deaths, what the federal government is currently doing in this area, and what action…

A review of the literature and a survey of texts show a remarkable absence of concern and reference to depression and suicidal behavior in young children. The meaning of death, the depressive and suicidal consequences of the agony of aloneness, and the fear of parental hostility, rage and abandonment are elements of early and middle childhood…

The 1977 Denver coroner's report found that 45% of all suicide victims received psychotherapy at some time, and 21% were in treatment at the time of death. The literature on suicide places all responsibility upon the therapist. Four major sources of variance deserving consideration, however, are patient variables, therapist variables, treatment…

This monograph on death education defines death education, discusses the need for it, and suggests ways of teaching it. Death education is defined as the process by which one explores man's relationship with life. The basic philosophy underlying death education is that through the study of death students will gain an appreciation for life which…