The Suicidal Adolescent

As our knowledge of the change and turmoil of adolescence grows, so the number of issues on which psychotherapeutic techniques can shed light increases: this monograph focuses on one of the most urgent. It provides not only practical insights into dealing with suicidal or potentially suicidal adolescents - with an emphasis on prevention of the problem as early as possible - but also a model of the way in which adolescents may find themselves becoming suicidal. Suicide attempts are rare in childhood; they are generally triggered after puberty by the adolescent's reaction to changes in his newly sexually mature body. It is the body that is perceived as the enemy, and sometimes the death of the body seems the only recourse. The adolescent who actually attempts to kill himself no longer doubts his actions or his solutions on his mental creations. At the time of his decision to kill himself, he is taken over by his need for peace more than by the fact of his own death.

The monograph contains papers on this topic written by members of the staff of the Brent Adolescent Centre/Centre for Research into Adolescent Breakdown together with the proceedings of a conference on "The Suicidal Adolescent" held in October 1993. It contains a wealth of case material illuminating many aspects of a harrowing problem. Because the book comes directly out of the Centre's work as a walk-in centre, the emphasis is on being alert to danger signals and on methods of arresting their causes. It will, therefore, be of interest not only to clinicians and therapists but also to workers in education, medicine, probation, family work or social welfare - indeed, to anyone who works with adolescents.