By Mary Alice Fields

It has been called “the terrible phenomenon,” “the quiet crisis,” “a national tragedy of enormous proportions.” In its wake, it leaves emotional and psychological devastation within the family units and school communities it touches. Suicide in the adolescent population of the U.S. has climbed at a rate of 41 percent during the past decade. In 1983, approximately 6,000 teenagers took their own lives. Four hundred thousand attempted suicide. In a study of seventh and eighth graders at a suburban Philadelphia parochial school, nearly one-third of the youngsters were significantly depressed and had suicidal thoughts.

Teenage suicide is, today, the second leading cause of death among young people between the ages of 15 and 34. It has been estimated that many of the victims of the number one cause of death - accidents - are actually suicides. Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, psychiatrist-in-chief at the United Nations, says that many suicides are not reported as such. The number of suicides is estimated to be at least twice what has been reported.

The numbers are staggering and have led some to call teenage suicide an epidemic. In the Westchester County suburbs of New York City, 32 young people have taken their lives in a two-year period. In Plane, Texas, a Dallas suburb, eleven youths killed themselves during the 1983-84 school year. Clear Lake City, Texas; Clearwater, Florida; Columbus, Ohio; the suburbs of Chicago, Denver, Cheyenne, among others, have experienced suicides in clusters.

The steadily mounting toll has brought together public health officials, law enforcement personnel, school authorities and mental health specialists in widening efforts to understand the cause and to respond to what is happening. In Quakertown, Pa., a center for adolescent studies and crisis prevention has been set up with help from the local hospital, mental health clinic and private donations. California and New York have begun pilot programs at the junior and senior high school levels to inform students about depression, feelings of despair and the risk of suicide. A National Commission on Youth Suicide Prevention has been formed. Lieutenant Governor of New York, Alfred Del Bello, co-chairman of the Commission, has said: “The public has got to get concerned and demand a coordinated national and local response to our nation’s number one preventable cause of death. The more rapidly we act, the more lives we can save.”

Many groups are moving to bring the crisis to light. The American Legion has published a pamphlet and distributed it through its posts across the country to create public awareness. Various TV talk shows have brought together surviving family members and mental health specialists to discuss this tragedy. Recently, a TV movie about teenage suicide. “Silence of the Heart,” dramatized the story and its effects on the family.

Crisis hotlines in Atlanta and other cities across the country were jammed by phone calls from both youths and adults; the young men worried about themselves and their friends, the parents are concerned about their children.

Studies indicate that suicide strikes all kinds of people and takes various forms. The eating disorder syndromes, anorexia nervosa and bulimia, are methods of slow suicide. According to a recent issue of the U.S. Pharmacists Journal of Drug Therapy and Patient Information, 15 to 25 percent of female anorexics die as a result of the disorder which leads to starvation through continual dieting. Dr. Guy Chelton who has opened a shelter in Atlanta estimates that 25 percent of the college population of the country suffers from some degree of bulimia. Bulimics systematically eat large amounts of food - as much as 16 lbs. at one setting -- then the induce vomiting or take laxatives to purge their systems. These children, like alcoholics and those addicted to drugs, are killing themselves slowly. Researchers and analysts, in attempting to define basic causes, point to certain factors in American Society as significant. They mention the mobility and status symbols. all factors in increasing divorce rate, the influence of movies and TV, the mobility of the family and lack of extended family ties, loneliness and alienation. They also note that U.S. culture encourages instant gratification and emphasizes competition and status symbols, all factors which could increase the number of youth who are susceptible to suicide.

The federal Center for Disease Control in Atlanta has begun an investigation into youthful suicide, but so far, answers are elusive.

“Whatever is happening is very complex,” says Michael Gorman, a public health officer at the Center.

Iris Bolton, executive director of The Link Counseling Center in Atlanta and a nationally recognized authority on the subject of teen suicide, describes most of the commonly recognized causes as “triggers” only.

She observes that the act stems from a combination of many things and is a result of built up anger, guilt, self-hatred and an impulsive choice. She describes the “3 H’s” of suicide as haplessness, helplessness and hopelessness. For the hapless person, one thing after another seems to go awry. Overreaction brings on feelings of helplessness - one can’t seem to get back on track. When hopelessness descends and the person feels trapped by unbearable, unending suffering, the risk of suicide becomes very high. The victim has stopped seeking solutions to his problems and has no

expectations for the future. This sense of having nothing to look forward to - despair - is a key element in the young person’s decision to try suicide.

Dr. Mary Griffin, in her book “A Cry for Help,” writes: “What really causes a person to destroy a life that is just beginning? The causes are internal, not external. Young people can handle societal problems. What they can’t handle are their personal problems, feeling hopeless, neglected, utterly alone. Most of all they can’t handle feeling that their parents’ love is conditional - that they must perform, beat out the competition if they hope to win that love.”

Mrs. Bolton affirms the necessity of communicating this unconditional love: “I love you just because you are, not because of your accomplishments.” “Parents assume their kids know they are loved. Yet this is not always the message the young receive,” she said.

Support is also needed for the survivors. Mrs. Bolton, who is also the co-founder of the North Atlanta Chapter of “Compassionate Friends,” a national self help organization for bereaved parents, stresses the need for communicating such non-judgmental caring.

She advocates training people to open the tunnel of hope for those gripped by despair and to offer alternative ways to assuage the pain they are experiencing. She believes so strongly that the young can help the young and is encouraging the placements of youth on national commissions and in community programs.

She writes: “It is important to know that survivors of a suicide often do not want to go on living for a time and feel overwhelmed by these thoughts. This soon passes as the healing begins. Experiencing a sense of shame is common. For a few weeks, I felt “foul” - to myself, to my family and to the center where I worked. But, in time, I realized that I was still me; I had the same values, morals, and principles I’d always had. I was the same person, but I was different too. I would never be the same but I had the choice of surviving or not. As parents we generally do the best we can in parenting. Remember, God does forgive. You can also forgive yourself.”

In a recent news article on the crisis, Catholic columnist Antoinette Bosco has written: “I can’t think of a more appropriate mission for our parishes and churches today than to focus on bringing back the joy and hope of life to our youth - helping them above all to want to live.”