Melanie Johnson  Family Dynamics in Teenage Suicide COLLAPSE Top of Form The Role of Family Dynamics in Teenage Suicide             Worldwide, every 20 seconds a person takes their own life, accounting for 1.4% of all deaths (Bilsen, 2018).  While statistically, suicide ranks as the fifteenth leading cause of deaths, for adolescents it ranks as the second leading cause of death (Bilsen, 2018).  That fact is of significant concern for mental health service providers focusing their work on adolescents.  Recognizing warning signs, and suicide prevention geared towards children and youth, is likely the most important function of counselors, both inside and outside of the school setting.  I, having personally been touched by one successful suicide attempt, and one unsuccessful attempt, by teenagers within the small community I grew up in.             As a high school student, one of the members of my cheerleading squad committed suicide, by overdosing on medications.  In retrospect, many of us were aware of the discontent she often talked about concerning her step-father, and his strict expectations for her.  Ivy was an outstanding student, very gifted academically, beautiful, talented, super friendly and easy-going.  Yet, regardless of all of these positive attributes, Ivy and her step-father could not seem to understand the needs of the other.  The constant stress and demand of not seeming to meet expectations, at a time in her life when she was engaged in making critical life-choices concerning college choices, finally led her to remove herself from the situation in the only manner she knew how.  Adolescents are “often confronted with high expectations, sometimes too high, from significant relatives and peers.  Such situations inevitably provoke a certain degree of helplessness, insecurity, stress and a sense of losing control (Bilsen, 2018).              Poor communication within the family is also found in many cases of suicide, not only with the child or about the child's problems, but in general between family members.  Direct conflicts with parents have a great impact, but so do the absence of communication and neglect of communication needs (Bilsen, 2018).  While these factors were present in the case of Ivy’s suicide, they were also present, in combination with other risk factors, in the attempted suicide of a teenage relative.  Keith is the youngest of four.  His older siblings had either all married within the past three years, or were in college, while he had just graduated high school.  His parents were in the process of divorce.  Keith and his dad were never close, and never really communicated with each other without arguing.  The structure that high school had provided had been an important support for Keith.  Faced with all of the upheaval within his family, at the same time his support network had been removed, was more than he could withstand.  Luckily, Keith’s attempt to slash his wrists were not successful, and he was institu.

1. Melanie Johnson
Family Dynamics in Teenage Suicide
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
The Role of Family Dynamics in Teenage Suicide
Worldwide, every 20 seconds a person takes their own
life, accounting for 1.4% of all deaths (Bilsen, 2018). While
statistically, suicide ranks as the fifteenth leading cause of
deaths, for adolescents it ranks as the second leading cause of
death (Bilsen, 2018). That fact is of significant concern for
mental health service providers focusing their work on
adolescents. Recognizing warning signs, and suicide prevention
geared towards children and youth, is likely the most important
function of counselors, both inside and outside of the school
setting. I, having personally been touched by one successful
suicide attempt, and one unsuccessful attempt, by teenagers
within the small community I grew up in.
As a high school student, one of the members of my
cheerleading squad committed suicide, by overdosing on
medications. In retrospect, many of us were aware of the
discontent she often talked about concerning her step-father,
and his strict expectations for her. Ivy was an outstanding
student, very gifted academically, beautiful, talented, super
friendly and easy-going. Yet, regardless of all of these positive
attributes, Ivy and her step-father could not seem to understand
the needs of the other. The constant stress and demand of not
seeming to meet expectations, at a time in her life when she was
engaged in making critical life-choices concerning college
choices, finally led her to remove herself from the situation in
the only manner she knew how. Adolescents are “often
confronted with high expectations, sometimes too high, from
significant relatives and peers. Such situations inevitably
provoke a certain degree of helplessness, insecurity, stress and a
sense of losing control (Bilsen, 2018).

2. Poor communication within the family is also found in
many cases of suicide, not only with the child or about the
child's problems, but in general between family members.
Direct conflicts with parents have a great impact, but so do the
absence of communication and neglect of communication needs
(Bilsen, 2018). While these factors were present in the case of
Ivy’s suicide, they were also present, in combination with other
risk factors, in the attempted suicide of a teenage relative.
Keith is the youngest of four. His older siblings had either all
married within the past three years, or were in college, while he
had just graduated high school. His parents were in the process
of divorce. Keith and his dad were never close, and never
really communicated with each other without arguing. The
structure that high school had provided had been an important
support for Keith. Faced with all of the upheaval within his
family, at the same time his support network had been removed,
was more than he could withstand. Luckily, Keith’s attempt to
slash his wrists were not successful, and he was
institutionalized for a month in a local hospital’s psychiatric
wing. While there, Keith was diagnosed as Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder, which compounded his inability to cope
with all of the changes in his life at once.
Both Ivy and Keith were dealing with some of the
family related risk factors our textbook authors point out as
impacting adolescent suicides. Separation of the family unit or
divorce, anger, rejection, emotional ambivalence, blended
families, limited positive interaction with parents, and poor
communication across the family unit are all considered risk
factors associated with families of adolescents who attempt
suicide – and Ivy and Keith shared most of these family issues
(McWhirter & McWhirter & McWhirter & McWhirter, 2016).
Tragically, Ivy did not survive her attempt, and never received
the support she needed to conquer her internal struggles and
pain.
References

3. Bilsen, Johan (2018). Suicide and Youth: Risk
Factors. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9, 540.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00540.
Clinton, T., Clark, C., & Straub, J. (2010). The Quick Reference
Guide to Counseling Teenagers. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.
McWhirter, L., McWhirter, E., McWhirter, B., & McWhirter, A.
(2017). At Risk Youth: A Comprehensive Response for
Counselors, Teachers, Psychologists, and Human Service
Professionals: Sixth Edition. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Bottom of Form
Discussion 2
Sharon Williams
Suicide
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
Adolescent suicide is an enormous tragedy and is the most
common cause of death for teens (McWhirter, McWhirter,
McWhirter, & McWhirter, 2017, p. 241). Psychosocial
characteristics of suicidal youth include, but are not limited to,
loneliness, mental health disorders, living in violent homes,
poor communication, feeling unconnected to others and feeling
like a burden on others (McWHirter, 2017, pp 240-247).
LGBTQ (or sexual minority) youth are at an even greater risk
for struggling with depression, anxiety, victimization of
violence, and suicide than heterosexual youth. In fact, “Forty
percent of homosexual teens report having attempted suicide.”
(Clinton, Clark & Straub, 2010, p. 253). The two biggest
psychosocial factors to consider are the feelings of
burdensomeness and being excluded from others (Baams,
Grossman, & Russell, 2015, p. 689). Humans by their very
nature need to feel accepted and connected with others. Feelings
of being a burden can occur when the teen sees the pain they
have caused family, friends and loved ones for being
homosexual. Humans also intrinsically feel a need to contribute

4. to others in a positive way. (Baams, 2015, p. 694). When they
feel that they are a burden and are excluded from others, they
feel they cannot possibly contribute to them. These deficits
commonly lead to depression, loneliness, and hopelessness.
Even heterosexual teens who are merely perceived as LGBTQ
can experience exclusion, depression and bullying. (Poteat,
Mereish, GiGiovanni, & Koenig, 2011, p. 598).
With regard to cognitive distortion, many LGBTQ youth may
feel that because everyone they know hates them, they are a
terrible person. With regard to cognitive rigidity, they feel
stuck knowing that their sexual orientation is never going to
change and therefore feelings of depression, burdensomeness
and exclusion will never change either. If the youth has lost
hope for improvement in their situation then suicidal thoughts
and action are very likely to occur.
Hope means believing that things can be better at some time in
the future. Who could survive without hope? Jeremiah 29:11
says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,
“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a future.” This is the verse which gave me hope when
I felt hopeless at 14 years of age and wished I was no longer
alive. Of course, enduring hope only comes through a
relationship with God through Christ which gave me hope at the
time as well as hope for the future and for all eternity.
References
Baams, L., Grossman, A. H., & Russell, S. T. (2015). Minority
stress and mechanisms of risk for depression and suicidal
ideation among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. Developmental
Psychology, 51(5), 688-696.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1037/a0038994
Clinton, T., Clark, C., & Straub, J. (2010). Sexual orientation.
In T. Clinton (Ed.), The quick-reference guide to counseling
teenagers (pp. 148-153). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
McWhirter, J. J., McWhirter, B. T., McWhirter, E. H., &
McWhirter, R. J. (2017). Youth suicide. In (McWhirter et al.,

5. Eds), At-risk youth: A comprehensive response for counselors,
teachers, psychologists, and human service professionals (6th
ed.). Belmont, TN: Brooks/Cole Publishing Co.
Poteat, V. P., Mereish, E. H., DiGiovanni, C. D., & Koenig, B.
W. (2011). The effects of general and homophobic victimization
on adolescents' psychosocial and educational concerns: The
importance of intersecting identities and parent support. Journal
of Counseling Psychology, 58(4), 597-609.
doi:10.1037/a0025095
Bottom of Form
Case Analysis Format
1. Title of Case
a. Author of the written case
b. Your name
c. Date
2. Executive Summary (5-6 sentences. Summarize situation.
What is the name of the
company, what do they do? What is the problem definition?
What are your
recommendations?
3. Introduction (Describe the company)
4. Background (Give the historical event review. Only use

6. relevant events. Explain why
these are relevant to the case analysis.)
5. Problem Definition (2-3 sentences)
6. Top Management Team (Give degrees, universities, majors,
prior work experience,
awards, titles, basically describe the credentials of these
people.)
7. Competitors (List the competitors and define how they
compete with the company being
analyzed. What products, services, ranking in industry…are
competing?)
8. Discussion
a. Analysis (Use only those parts of these tools that are
relevant to the case.).
Provide your own interpretation to the results of analysis from
each tool.
i. SWOT
ii. PESTEL
iii. Porters 5 Forces
iv. Porters Diamond
v. VRIO

7. vi. Financials / Ratios (Always compare something to
something relevant,
such as competitors or years. Explain why you choose to
compare against
which companies over which years. Add your interpretation of
the
compared numbers. This tool can be the most revealing and
should be
used in most every case.)
vii. Others
9. Action Taken by Firm
10. Results of Overall Analysis and Interpretation of Results
11. Recommendations
a. How much will your recommendations impact the firm?
b. Are they feasible?
c. Which recommendations did firm follow?
12. Conclusion
Comments:
Critical Thinking is a very important skill in business. Critical
thinking involves understanding

8. what key factors are important in a situation, using these factors
in an appropriate analysis,
using the results of the analysis to build an argument, then
presenting your conclusions and
recommendations based on the analysis results and your
argument development. Everything
should flow logically, one stage to the next. Do not put
information in the report that does not
relate to the Conclusion.
Managers today have little time for in-depth reading. To get
your point across, use formatting to
help you organize your thoughts and allow managers to be
selective in what parts of your report
that they read. Start with an Executive Summary that includes a
synopsis of the situation,
analysis results, and your recs. Don’t force your reader to read
your whole report in order to
understand your ideas. Follow with a concise Introduction,
Background, Problem Definition,
Analysis, Results, Discussion, Recommendations, and
Conclusion. The key here is to effectively
and efficiently communicate your analysis of the situation. Left
justify unless you are an artsy

9. type and you want a stylish presentation.