Page - 246 - in Psychoanalytic Perspectives on Puberty and Adolescence - The Inner Worlds of Teenagers and their Parents

246 Lost by the wayside – overstepping limits conflict whose “solution” leads to such a violent end. The member states of the WHO agreed upon a plan of action with the goal of reducing suicides by 10% by 2020 (WHO report 2014). Suicide is the second most frequent cause of death for this age group. After a suicide attempt, not only the adolescent’s family but also members of her school become deeply shaken. One senior graduating from academic high school described her reaction to a suicide attempt: Another pupil told me one day that a good friend of hers had tried to kill herself. Without warning, she jumped out a fourth -floor window of her class- room. Nobody had had any idea, and all the students were totally thrown. She was seriously injured and was brought to the hospital. Only afterwards did I learn that the girl had already made a similar attempt before. She had stood by the window in order to jump, but her neighbors saw her and immediately called the police, who were able to deter her. Neither my friend nor I knew what the cause was for these two attempts. My friend told me later that this girl’s mother was an alcoholic and that she lived with her father, who was seldom at home and had financial problems. I wondered whether there are signs beforehand when someone is thinking of suicide or is concretely planning it. What are the reasons for somebody wanting to die so young – a thought I that is completely unimaginable to me. If somebody understands the reasons and sees the signs or can recognize them, the family or friends could help this person to master this psychic crisis. (Hadaya 2015, 3) This shocking story led Samira Hadaya to the theme of “Adolescent Suicide” for her final paper in secondary school, in order to better understand these problems. Particularly for adolescents, suicide is an extremely effective “weapon” to deeply shake family, friends and teachers and elicit guilt feelings. Questions and self -blame arise: could I have seen the signs earlier? Did I neglect concerning myself with this girl/boy adequately? Suicide attempts elicit a range of intense feelings, shock and trauma as well as fascination – along with the phenomenon of other adolescents in the same social context also attempting suicide (Liu 2006). Robin Anderson points out that not only suicides, but also suicide attempts deserve to be taken with special seriousness, since those who attempt suicide are part of a particularly endangered group (Anderson 2009, 220). Tomadl writes: the ratio of suicides to suicide attempts lies somewhere between 1:5 to 1:10. (For every ten attempts, one is saved.) There are many more suicide attempts than people who actually die from suicide. (Hadaya 2015, 5) The death of these young people constitutes a tragic loss not only for society, but also for their families and friends. As Anderson points out, this trauma is disastrous