Today’s Los Angeles Times carried a front page local story
regarding youth suicide in Palo Alto: "Palo Alto campus searches for
healing after suicides”. Although details are sketchy and of course incomplete,
the story points out that there has been a cluster of suicides involving students
from the same school campus over a short period of time, occurring in the same
place and under similar circumstances. As expected, such tragic events have
caused substantive community consternation.
Youth suicide is a very emotional issue. It
cuts to the very core of our families and our communities. It leaves scars in
parents, siblings, grandparents, other family members, friends and many others.
It elicits strong responses from individuals or from communities. Some of those
responses are of grief – private and shared with only a few. Some of those
responses are very public – it is not clear what motivates them or how these
differ from the private responses. Some of these responses may be helpful –
such as support and counseling from family and friends. Some of these responses
may be harmful – such as bringing in grief counselors and creating community
emotional contagion in the wake of a suicide. Some of these responses may be
neither helpful nor harmful – but may be costly. So, what can be done?
Here the evidence is not fully in yet and
each situation begs careful assessment and considered planning before anything
is started. What is not helpful is putting into place those things we know do
not work. What is likely not helpful is grief contagion. This can be created by
mass grief counseling and enthusiastic and well meaning initiatives to “do
something”. What may be useful is identifying young people who know the victims
and addressing their mental health needs and emotional concerns. What may be useful
is for the newspapers and television and radio stations to stop running front
page stories and prime time news about youth suicide. This does not mean that
we do not talk about it. This does not mean that we avoid the topic. Not at
all! This means that we address this tragic and emotionally issue rationally
and responsibly.
-Stan
