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Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239




                      The Aftermath of Adolescent Suicide:
                      Clinical, Ethical, and Spiritual Issues
                                       Gustavo A. Girard, MDa*, Tomas J. Silber, MD, MASSb
              Chair of the Adolescent Health Program, Hospital Clinicas Jose de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina,
                               Juan A. Buschiazo 3077, 10th, PO Box 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina
                b
                 Director, Pediatric Ethics Program, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children’s National Medical
                     Center, Professor of Pediatrics, George Washington University, 111 Michigan Avenue NW,
                                                       Washington, DC 20010


             Suicide is an important contributor to the death rate, especially among young
             people and the elderly. Gender, culture, and ethnic origin determine a distinct
             epidemiological pattern. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO)
             show that in the year 2000 one million people committed suicide.1 It has been
             estimated that at present 3000 persons every day kill themselves, which means 1
             every 30 seconds. In the United Sates suicide is the second leading cause of death
             in adolescence, preceded only by accidents. During the course of our lifetime
             85% of us will lose someone we care about to suicide. That means that there are
             millions of survivors that are trying to cope with this loss.2

             IntroductIon

             The goal for this article is to share with professionals how to:

                 ■   Be prepared for the aftermath of an adolescent’s suicide
                 ■   Help others when one is also in need to help oneself

             The objectives are to:

                 ■   Analyze how death by suicide differs from all other experiences with death
                 ■   Recognize the magnitude of suicide survivors grief
                 ■   Make recommendations to the health care team to prevent pathological
                     grief and burnout



             *Corresponding author.
             E-mail: gagirard@ciudad.com.ar (G. A. Girard).

                                                                                                   {Pub: Please
             Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved. ISSN            provide ISSN}




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230                   G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239

             The objectives are approached systematically by reviewing:

                   ■   Conceptualization of suicide
                   ■   A typology of suicide
                   ■   Physicians’ attitudes toward suicide
                   ■   The aftermath of suicide (focusing on the suicide grievers)
                   ■   The impact of suicide on clinicians
                   ■   Research data
                   ■   The role of spirituality
                   ■   An outline of therapeutic interventions

             We conclude with the dénouement of the case presented at the beginning of the
             article.

             Case: Mary, a 19-year-old college student first consulted the adolescent medi-
             cine specialist when she was 15-years-old for bulimia, depressed mood, and cut-
             ting. Her primary physician felt overwhelmed by this, so the adolescent medi-
             cine consultant became her doctor. As years went by, in spite of the efforts of an
             interdisciplinary team, her depression worsened, she had two attempted suicides
             by overdose, followed by two psychiatric hospitalizations. In spite of all this, she
             was a good student and was accepted into a prestigious nearby college. Unex-
             pectedly one morning, while visiting her parents during spring break, she com-
             mitted suicide by bag asphyxiation. This coincided with her therapist’s vacation.
             Her psychiatrist had recently changed her from an SSRI to a different kind of
             antidepressant. By a twist of fate she had an appointment to see him on the after-
             noon of the day that would be her last. The adolescent medicine physician who
             had been taking care of her learned about Mary’s suicide from the father. What
             can and what ought he to do next?

             conceptualIzatIon of SuIcIde

             Research on suicide has embraced two conceptualizations: one looking at the
             individual as the object of analysis, the other looking at general data, such as the
             suicide rate in cities, communities, and countries.

             The studies based on individual characteristics take into consideration personal-
             ity types, attitudes, social functioning, and physical and mental health. Those
             that utilize aggregates focus on sociological variables. Durkheim3 studied socio-
             logical variables in the 19th Century, when he stated that each society has its
             own social nature and hence its own aptitude for suicide. Traditionally, in the
             first view suicide is considered the domain of psychiatry. The second view, with-
             out diminishing the importance of mental health, concentrates on the ecology of
             suicide, thus recognizing that there is a multitude of contributing elements.4
             Both views are not necessarily mutually incompatible and may eventually be
             integrated. Although this article is centered on the aftermath of suicide, the pro-




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G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239   231

             cess culminating in the act of suicide needs to be considered in dealing with the
             effects on family and the social environment in which the adolescent lived.

             typology of SuIcIde

             A typology has been proposed intending to define the role of the involved clini-
             cian.5 This classification distinguishes:

                 1. Unassisted suicide
                 2. Facilitated suicide
                 3. Assisted suicide

             The unassisted suicide represents an action that may take two forms. The first is
             when the victim completes suicide while not currently or recently in the care of
             a clinician. The second is when the victim was currently under the care of a clini-
             cian but not for a condition associated with suicidality.

             The facilitated suicide is an involuntary event. It applies when the victim com-
             pletes suicide while currently or recently in the care of a clinician and where the
             following factors were present:

                 ■   A clinical or custodial relationship existed
                 ■   The clinician or provider had knowledge of the risk
                 ■   Means of prevention or intervention may have been available

             This is the most devastating experience a professional may have in a lifetime and
             is carefully addressed in this article.

             The assisted suicide is a voluntary event, when a clinician, with knowledge of the
             individual’s wishes and consent, enables suicide completion by providing the lethal
             means and guidance to use. Assisted suicide is outside the scope of this paper.

             phySIcIanS’ attItudeS toward SuIcIde

             Since their very early professional training doctors are taught that their mission
             is to help patients get well. Most professionals are not well prepared for the most
             radical rejection of their services that is implied by suicide. This may be enhanced
             by the discrepancy between what the individual was probably thinking and feel-
             ing at the time of his or her action, and how the members of the health profes-
             sions normally think and act. (Or perhaps not entirely: Every year the number
             of physicians that commit suicide is equivalent to the size of a medical school
             class). This leads to the postsuicide emergence of ambivalent, critical, and/or
             contradictory feelings that family, close friends, and the (formerly) treating pro-
             fessionals may share. Certainly all those involved also bring their own subjective
             experience, culture, and tradition to bear on the experience.




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232                   G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239

             When an adolescent suicide takes place, an awkward situation arises that is
             different from what is part of the doctor’s everyday professional life of treat-
             ing patients. This usually involves working on prevention and treatment of
             biological and sociopsychological pathologies. Suicide is different: it often
             renders the physician impotent and confused. Nevertheless the clinician’s
             intuition is that most suicides follow a “process” and do not come out of the
             blue, even though the adolescent may never have shared her suicidal ideation.
             It is precisely the suspicion that this may be the case that causes feelings of
             guilt that something could have been done to prevent the suicide. Feelings,
             though, are not necessarily markers for reality, and the more experienced
             health care workers understand that there is clearly a stretch between reflect-
             ing on what may have happened and responsibility for the actions of the sui-
             cide victim.

             the aftermath of SuIcIde

             “Suicide carries in its aftermath a level of confusion and devastation that is . . .
             beyond description.”6 The event shocks those that are close to the suicide victim,
             and similar emotional responses can be noticed among the grieving, although
             the way in which they may be expressed may vary. A tumultuous number of
             ideas and feelings arise one after the other and intermix, such as fury, anger,
             depression, guilt, failure, disappointment, shame, and hopelessness

             There are some extraordinary issues involved in adolescent suicide. Although
             loss and death are universal causes of grief, the death of an adolescent and the
             loss of that future is an added cause of grief. Moreover, death by suicide is a hor-
             rific death, which potentiates grief even more. Thus the survivors left behind can
             suffer extreme forms of grief, including a sense of disbelief regarding the death,
             anger and bitterness, intense yearnings for the deceased, with pangs of painful
             emotions, preoccupations with thoughts about the loved one, and avoidant
             behaviors (eg, not cleaning out the room of the deceased). More ominously it
             may lead to serious health problems such as alcoholism and even “re-encounter
             suicide.”

             It is true that death by itself has a tremendous impact on its witnesses. All human
             beings, starting around the age of 4 years old, acquire some understanding of
             death and rationally develop their consciousness about the end of life. Neverthe-
             less it is very difficult to fully accept the fact of one’s death and be truly prepared
             for death. For most of us our primary survival instinct is present even at advanced
             stages of illness. Suicide is a different way of dying. This is phenomenologically
             quite different from the experience of losing somebody to an illness, as hard as
             that may be. Next we address in more detail what happens to those left behind in
             the weeks and months following an adolescent suicide. It is important to notice
             that the treating physician is also at risk.




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             the SuIcIde grIeverS

             The definition of a suicide griever is an individual who has lost to suicide some-
             one he/she cared for deeply. The victim may be a parent, child, spouse, sibling,
             other relative, partner, or friend. It is estimated that every suicide leaves 6 to 8
             “survivors.” The 31,000 reported suicides in the US annually cause 180,000 to
             250,000 men, women, adolescents, and children to become suicide grievers
             every year. There may be up to 4 million grievers in the nation. Suicide, by its
             very nature, leaves in its wake a tremendous sense of confusion and displace-
             ment for those left behind.

             The grief that suicide causes is intense and prolonged. In the National Strategy
             for Suicide Prevention this is poignantly described: “Those who lose someone
             close as the result of suicide, experience an emotional trauma that may take
             leave, but never departs.”2 To make matters worse suicide is still stigmatized,
             which may result in suicide grievers withdrawing from seeking support. Suicide
             grievers may feel responsible for their loss. Those who witness the suicide or find
             the body may suffer post-traumatic stress. Between the suicide grievers the risk
             of suicide ranges from 1.5 to 5 times higher than the general population. Indeed
             1 in 4 suicide attempters has a family history of suicide. Moreover, suicide griev-
             ers who have consanguineous relationship to the victim may share neurobio-
             logical features that may increase that risk.2

             The parents

             The resource and healing guide of The American Foundation for Suicide Pre-
             vention (www.afsp.org)7 stresses that suicide bereavement manifests in 3 broad
             areas of grief response:

                1. Survivors seem to struggle with questions of meaning-making around the
                   death (“Why did they do it?”). They try to make sense of the motives and
                   frame of mind of the deceased.
                2. Survivors show higher levels of guilt feelings, blame, and responsibility
                   for the death than do other mourners (“Why didn’t I prevent it?”).
                   Occasionally survivors feel that they directly caused the death through
                   mistreatment or abandonment of the deceased. More frequently, they
                   blame themselves for not anticipating and preventing the actual act of
                   suicide.
                3. Survivors also experience heightened feelings of rejection or abandon-
                   ment by the loved one, along with anger toward the deceased (“How could
                   they do this to me?”).6 They grieve for the very person that has taken their
                   loved ones life. The best way of understanding this is by considering that
                   in German the word for suicide is “ selbst-mord,” meaning the murdering
                   of the self.




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234                   G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239

             After their son’s or daughter’s suicide some parents have indeed admitted thinking
             about committing suicide themselves, but they decided not to because they were
             all too familiar with the consequences for the bereaved. Nevertheless, caution is
             justified in the aftermath of suicide. The rate of suicide in families of suicide vic-
             tims is twice as high as in families of comparison subjects, and a family history of
             suicide is a significant risk factor independent of severe mental disorder.8

             The Siblings

             Although it is true that in general there is little support available to parents after
             their child’s suicide, there is even less support for the younger or older siblings.
             Silence about the death and even hiding its cause may be the case for the very
             young brothers or sisters. Few adults, professionals, or others have succeeded with
             involving children in sharing thoughts about the loss.9 Suicide notes rarely clarify
             the deep motivations that led to suicide and are seldom helpful to the siblings,
             even though they declare love and ask for forgiveness or attempt an explanation
             such as, “I can’t go on living like this.” Some letters yield instructions to pass on
             personal belongings to siblings, an uncomfortable inheritance for many.10

             We must be aware that children express their feelings differently from adults,
             and perhaps they may want to play with their friends as usual or may appear to
             be unaffected; they must know (be told) that they don’t have to feel sad all the
             time. Children express much of their grief through their behavior, rather than by
             words: They may become clingy, irritable, have problems concentrating, and
             play games involving death and violence. Many times they worry that someone
             else they love might die.

             A question that often arises for parents is “What should I tell my children about
             the suicide?” Many parents have had little experience talking with children
             about death, let alone suicide, and are worried about how their children will
             react and how the news will affect their child in the long term. The Children
             Bereaved by Suicide Project in Sydney, Australia, advices: “Explain death as
             being when the body stops working, ask the child what they understand about
             what ‘being dead’ means. It is not helpful to say that a person has gone away or
             they are just sleeping. One way to define suicide is to describe it as ‘when some-
             one makes their body stop working,’ because many times the word suicide is
             confusing so you must check out what they have understood.”11

             Most children experience difficulties that are not predominantly individual, but
             rather relational and social in nature, and largely contextually dependent.

             The peers

             Consideration has been given to the “contagion effect” of suicide, particularly
             among teenagers and young adults. School-based strategies, peer helper pro-




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             grams, and “postvention” (ie, suicide prevention activities, such as crisis debrief-
             ing interventions, aimed at youth recently exposed to suicide) are strategies that
             are not supported by sufficient evidence to substantiate their widespread or
             unqualified use.12,13 Unfortunately the same is true about suicide awareness cur-
             ricula used as part of school-based suicide prevention strategies.

             Parents and loving adults giving emotional support are still the mainstay of pro-
             tection.

             The physician and the medical team

             The theme of death and thinking about death has only recently made its way into
             medical schools and therefore for many professionals understanding of death is
             self-made as they progress throughout their professional life. This consists of
             “dying a little” with every patient that died under their care. An apprenticeship
             is needed to learn how to endure the anxiety, guilt, and the sensation of failure
             that such death can generate. However when death is not processed and becomes
             overwhelming, it can lead to burnout, evasion from responsibility, frustration,
             and death anxiety, leading the professional to attend mostly to his own needs
             rather than those of his patients. Indeed denial, distancing, and mood changes
             can all be defense mechanisms to ward of the anxiety and sadness evoked by the
             death of a patient.9

             Hence, paradoxically, aiming to incorporating death into one’s life results in an
             enriching experience that opens up the life of the physician. The knowledge and
             acceptance of one’s mortality allows the physician to continue to carry out his or
             her professional duties as a physician while confronting the death of his or her
             patients. Only that way can we really help our dying patients.14

             However, the applecart can be turned over by the adolescent who ends his own
             life. A completely different kind of suffering is added to the usual distress caused
             by death. The suicide of a patient can be extremely distressing for frontline pro-
             fessionals. The exposure to such situations can undermine a professional’s func-
             tioning and generate feelings of incompetence, cause them to question their
             professional standing, and ultimately contributing further to burnout. Concerns
             for the bereaved family, feelings of responsibility for the death, and having had a
             close therapeutic relationship with the deceased adolescent are key factors that
             influence the adjustment and coping of a health professional in the aftermath of
             the death of a patient by suicide.15

             The impact of suicide attempts or completion on the medical team may vary, but
             it is worrisome that many health professionals are not adequately trained to pro-
             vide proper assessment, treatment, and management of suicidal patients, nor do
             they know how to refer patients properly for specialized assessment and treat-
             ment. Despite the increased awareness of suicide as a major public health prob-




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236                   G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239

             lem, gaps remain in training programs for health professionals and others who
             often come into contact with adolescents in need of appropriate assessment
             techniques and treatment approaches. In addition, many health professionals
             also lack training in the recognition of risk factors often found in grieving family
             members of loved ones who have died by suicide (the suicide survivors).

             The WHO has produced a manual on suicide prevention that includes advice for
             clinicians in the aftermath of suicide that recognizes that the professionals
             involved may themselves experience reactions such as anger, resentment, sad-
             ness, and even post-traumatic stress, and strongly recommends the need for
             peer support.16

             reSearch

             Long-term studies and research about family reactions in the aftermath of sui-
             cide are lacking and clearly not easy to do. Approaching families and recruit-
             ing a large sample is understandably quite difficult. Because of this, the data
             obtained are more qualitative than quantitative. A landmark Swedish study,
             performed 2 years after the suicide of an adolescent, demonstrated the most
             important theme was still the search for the a reason why the adolescent had
             committed suicide. Almost all parents expressed anger at being deceived and
             that they had been denied the opportunity to provide parental support. Simul-
             taneously, they felt remorse for being angry with someone who obviously had
             been so lonesome and desperate. Some relief was expressed by families that
             had been living with a troubled and difficult adolescent. This sense of relief
             was not easily admitted.

             The essential finding was that although 2 years had passed since the suicide, the
             families were still struggling to move on, and those who had lost their only child
             appeared to have the greatest difficulty. Even though all of them had returned to
             the routine activities of daily life, almost all the parents thought it impossible to
             ever return to “normality.” None had experienced one full day without thinking
             of the deceased.9 There is still scant research on “the forgotten bereaved;” the
             children and adolescents who lose a sibling by suicide and are suffering from
             post-traumatic and grief reactions, depression, and anxiety.8

             The recent development of research addressing post-traumatic stress disorder
             (PTSD) may be applicable to suicide grievers. Train conductors who have expe-
             rienced striking individuals attempting to commit suicide by jumping in front of
             a train who suffer from flashbacks and nightmares sustained a dramatic improve-
             ment of their symptomatology through eye movement desensitization and
             reprocessing (EMDR).17 This is a form of psychotherapy that was developed to
             resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences,
             using a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of dis-




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             turbing memories.18,19 A 2007 meta-analysis of 38 randomized controlled trials
             for PTSD treatment suggested that the firstline psychological treatment for
             PTSD should be trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy or EMDR.20

             SpIrItualIty In the aftermath of SuIcIde

             Suicide survivors often look for answers to the existential questions they are
             forced to explore within the framework of their traditions, beliefs, and philoso-
             phy of life. Spirituality may be awakened or deadened during this process. The
             term spirituality comes from the Latin word spiritus: the breath of life. It entails
             a way of being and of experiencing and acting that stems from the understand-
             ing of a transcendental dimension characterized by values that apply to oneself,
             others, nature, and life itself. It may or may not include a Supreme Being, but it
             includes the perception that there is transcendence and a sacredness to life that
             influences feelings and life goals and that nourishes the capacity to surmount
             life’s difficulties. Religion can be a particular case of spirituality, and it is charac-
             terized by being engaged in a particular faith, which implies a narrative, rituals,
             and common activities that connects persons with a deity.

             There are as yet no longitudinal studies about the impact of spirituality and reli-
             gion on the grieving process in the aftermath of suicide. Nevertheless there is
             currently a clear understanding that values and spirituality can be one of the pil-
             lars on which resiliency can be established. Resiliency eventually raises to the
             challenge posed by the suicide of a loved one and sometimes the survivor may
             emerge stronger than before. Adversity, physical or psychosocial, can annihilate
             a human being or can induce resistance and strength. Resiliency can manifest in
             many ways, and it emerges sometimes where least expected. It is like a vital
             energy, reminiscent of Henri Bergson’s élan vital. From a spiritual perspective
             this constitutes the vital center of every human being, and spirituality is about
             harnessing this energy to face adversity.21

             therapeutIc InterventIonS

             Most of the acute symptomatology seen in suicide survivors diminish and disap-
             pear over time. However this may not be the case with the psychological dis-
             tress.22 To alleviate this, every suicide griever needs immediate support at the
             time of the loss. This is known as postvention. This may include facilitating the
             previously mentioned spiritual endeavor. It may involve psychological interven-
             tions. EMDR falls under this category, as it may alleviate nightmares and flash-
             backs. (However, it needs to be emphasized that this treatment is contraindicated
             for those individuals that are becoming suicidal.)

             Another treatment approach can be done through groups. The New York State
             Office of Mental Health gives four reasons that support groups may be effective:




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             normalization: One of the most significant and helpful realizations for a survi-
                  vor of a suicide to have is that, given the situation, his feelings are normal.
                  In a group setting, it is reassuring to hear that others share his or her fears
                  and losses, and that it is not pathological to feel this way.
             understanding: This begins when the survivor starts to open up. By telling his/
                  her story and by verbalizing it, they can begin a process of organizing
                  thoughts and feelings. This may be the first step in processing the “whys,”
                  “what ifs,” and “why didn’t I?”
             monitoring: The third benefit is monitoring suicide risk. Given the link between
                  the suicide of a family member and the increased risk for other family mem-
                  bers, this is a critical benefit. Peer support groups may simultaneously provide
                  healthy role models for grieving survivors while increasing social support.

             Finally making sense of the suicide of a loved one is an emotional journey. Sup-
             port groups provide resources to help educate survivors regarding the nature of
             suicide and suicide bereavement. Coming together to share and interact with
             other survivors may be their first step in the long journey towards healing.23 For
             the members of a medical team that lost an adolescent patient to suicide there is
             nothing worse than silence.

             dénouement

             Mary’s suicide was devastating to her elderly parents, whose older son had long
             left home. They constantly repeated that if they had returned home sooner from
             their shopping they would have found her, been able to remove the plastic bag
             from her head, and save her. The experienced psychiatrist who had recently
             changed her medication was naturally very distraught, and the therapist on
             vacation immediately responded to the adolescent medicine physician’s call,
             who then proceeded to invite the family to join the 3 members of the interdisci-
             plinary team, and they accepted gratefully. All together, they reflected about the
             vicissitudes in the young woman’s difficult life. They realized that they had
             become, to different degrees, suicide survivors. The professionals then modeled
             for the parents, each in his own way, their sorrow, disappointment, angry frus-
             tration, caring, second guessing, and mourning for the young woman. The clini-
             cian asked the parents if it would be all right for him to call them to see how they
             were doing, and specially offered to see their adult son if he came back to town.
             (A few calls were exchanged). An important aspect in dealing with this tragedy
             was the exchange of thoughts between the team members and the ongoing sup-
             port for each other. Neither this young woman, nor the team members’ compas-
             sionate effort of mutual support, will be forgotten as long as they live.




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             23. New York State Office of Mental Health. Available at: http://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/savinglives/
                 Volume2/suicide_survivors.html. Accessed July 13, 2011




AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 239                                                                                     7/27/11 6:19 AM

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The aftermath oF adolescent suicide clinical, ethical, and spiritual issues Gustavo%20a.%20girard,%20m da,%20tomas%20j.%20silber,%20md,%20massb

  • 1. Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 The Aftermath of Adolescent Suicide: Clinical, Ethical, and Spiritual Issues Gustavo A. Girard, MDa*, Tomas J. Silber, MD, MASSb Chair of the Adolescent Health Program, Hospital Clinicas Jose de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Juan A. Buschiazo 3077, 10th, PO Box 1425, Buenos Aires, Argentina b Director, Pediatric Ethics Program, Division of Adolescent Medicine, Children’s National Medical Center, Professor of Pediatrics, George Washington University, 111 Michigan Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20010 Suicide is an important contributor to the death rate, especially among young people and the elderly. Gender, culture, and ethnic origin determine a distinct epidemiological pattern. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that in the year 2000 one million people committed suicide.1 It has been estimated that at present 3000 persons every day kill themselves, which means 1 every 30 seconds. In the United Sates suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescence, preceded only by accidents. During the course of our lifetime 85% of us will lose someone we care about to suicide. That means that there are millions of survivors that are trying to cope with this loss.2 IntroductIon The goal for this article is to share with professionals how to: ■ Be prepared for the aftermath of an adolescent’s suicide ■ Help others when one is also in need to help oneself The objectives are to: ■ Analyze how death by suicide differs from all other experiences with death ■ Recognize the magnitude of suicide survivors grief ■ Make recommendations to the health care team to prevent pathological grief and burnout *Corresponding author. E-mail: gagirard@ciudad.com.ar (G. A. Girard). {Pub: Please Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved. ISSN provide ISSN} AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 229 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 2. 230 G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 The objectives are approached systematically by reviewing: ■ Conceptualization of suicide ■ A typology of suicide ■ Physicians’ attitudes toward suicide ■ The aftermath of suicide (focusing on the suicide grievers) ■ The impact of suicide on clinicians ■ Research data ■ The role of spirituality ■ An outline of therapeutic interventions We conclude with the dénouement of the case presented at the beginning of the article. Case: Mary, a 19-year-old college student first consulted the adolescent medi- cine specialist when she was 15-years-old for bulimia, depressed mood, and cut- ting. Her primary physician felt overwhelmed by this, so the adolescent medi- cine consultant became her doctor. As years went by, in spite of the efforts of an interdisciplinary team, her depression worsened, she had two attempted suicides by overdose, followed by two psychiatric hospitalizations. In spite of all this, she was a good student and was accepted into a prestigious nearby college. Unex- pectedly one morning, while visiting her parents during spring break, she com- mitted suicide by bag asphyxiation. This coincided with her therapist’s vacation. Her psychiatrist had recently changed her from an SSRI to a different kind of antidepressant. By a twist of fate she had an appointment to see him on the after- noon of the day that would be her last. The adolescent medicine physician who had been taking care of her learned about Mary’s suicide from the father. What can and what ought he to do next? conceptualIzatIon of SuIcIde Research on suicide has embraced two conceptualizations: one looking at the individual as the object of analysis, the other looking at general data, such as the suicide rate in cities, communities, and countries. The studies based on individual characteristics take into consideration personal- ity types, attitudes, social functioning, and physical and mental health. Those that utilize aggregates focus on sociological variables. Durkheim3 studied socio- logical variables in the 19th Century, when he stated that each society has its own social nature and hence its own aptitude for suicide. Traditionally, in the first view suicide is considered the domain of psychiatry. The second view, with- out diminishing the importance of mental health, concentrates on the ecology of suicide, thus recognizing that there is a multitude of contributing elements.4 Both views are not necessarily mutually incompatible and may eventually be integrated. Although this article is centered on the aftermath of suicide, the pro- AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 230 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 3. G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 231 cess culminating in the act of suicide needs to be considered in dealing with the effects on family and the social environment in which the adolescent lived. typology of SuIcIde A typology has been proposed intending to define the role of the involved clini- cian.5 This classification distinguishes: 1. Unassisted suicide 2. Facilitated suicide 3. Assisted suicide The unassisted suicide represents an action that may take two forms. The first is when the victim completes suicide while not currently or recently in the care of a clinician. The second is when the victim was currently under the care of a clini- cian but not for a condition associated with suicidality. The facilitated suicide is an involuntary event. It applies when the victim com- pletes suicide while currently or recently in the care of a clinician and where the following factors were present: ■ A clinical or custodial relationship existed ■ The clinician or provider had knowledge of the risk ■ Means of prevention or intervention may have been available This is the most devastating experience a professional may have in a lifetime and is carefully addressed in this article. The assisted suicide is a voluntary event, when a clinician, with knowledge of the individual’s wishes and consent, enables suicide completion by providing the lethal means and guidance to use. Assisted suicide is outside the scope of this paper. phySIcIanS’ attItudeS toward SuIcIde Since their very early professional training doctors are taught that their mission is to help patients get well. Most professionals are not well prepared for the most radical rejection of their services that is implied by suicide. This may be enhanced by the discrepancy between what the individual was probably thinking and feel- ing at the time of his or her action, and how the members of the health profes- sions normally think and act. (Or perhaps not entirely: Every year the number of physicians that commit suicide is equivalent to the size of a medical school class). This leads to the postsuicide emergence of ambivalent, critical, and/or contradictory feelings that family, close friends, and the (formerly) treating pro- fessionals may share. Certainly all those involved also bring their own subjective experience, culture, and tradition to bear on the experience. AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 231 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 4. 232 G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 When an adolescent suicide takes place, an awkward situation arises that is different from what is part of the doctor’s everyday professional life of treat- ing patients. This usually involves working on prevention and treatment of biological and sociopsychological pathologies. Suicide is different: it often renders the physician impotent and confused. Nevertheless the clinician’s intuition is that most suicides follow a “process” and do not come out of the blue, even though the adolescent may never have shared her suicidal ideation. It is precisely the suspicion that this may be the case that causes feelings of guilt that something could have been done to prevent the suicide. Feelings, though, are not necessarily markers for reality, and the more experienced health care workers understand that there is clearly a stretch between reflect- ing on what may have happened and responsibility for the actions of the sui- cide victim. the aftermath of SuIcIde “Suicide carries in its aftermath a level of confusion and devastation that is . . . beyond description.”6 The event shocks those that are close to the suicide victim, and similar emotional responses can be noticed among the grieving, although the way in which they may be expressed may vary. A tumultuous number of ideas and feelings arise one after the other and intermix, such as fury, anger, depression, guilt, failure, disappointment, shame, and hopelessness There are some extraordinary issues involved in adolescent suicide. Although loss and death are universal causes of grief, the death of an adolescent and the loss of that future is an added cause of grief. Moreover, death by suicide is a hor- rific death, which potentiates grief even more. Thus the survivors left behind can suffer extreme forms of grief, including a sense of disbelief regarding the death, anger and bitterness, intense yearnings for the deceased, with pangs of painful emotions, preoccupations with thoughts about the loved one, and avoidant behaviors (eg, not cleaning out the room of the deceased). More ominously it may lead to serious health problems such as alcoholism and even “re-encounter suicide.” It is true that death by itself has a tremendous impact on its witnesses. All human beings, starting around the age of 4 years old, acquire some understanding of death and rationally develop their consciousness about the end of life. Neverthe- less it is very difficult to fully accept the fact of one’s death and be truly prepared for death. For most of us our primary survival instinct is present even at advanced stages of illness. Suicide is a different way of dying. This is phenomenologically quite different from the experience of losing somebody to an illness, as hard as that may be. Next we address in more detail what happens to those left behind in the weeks and months following an adolescent suicide. It is important to notice that the treating physician is also at risk. AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 232 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 5. G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 233 the SuIcIde grIeverS The definition of a suicide griever is an individual who has lost to suicide some- one he/she cared for deeply. The victim may be a parent, child, spouse, sibling, other relative, partner, or friend. It is estimated that every suicide leaves 6 to 8 “survivors.” The 31,000 reported suicides in the US annually cause 180,000 to 250,000 men, women, adolescents, and children to become suicide grievers every year. There may be up to 4 million grievers in the nation. Suicide, by its very nature, leaves in its wake a tremendous sense of confusion and displace- ment for those left behind. The grief that suicide causes is intense and prolonged. In the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention this is poignantly described: “Those who lose someone close as the result of suicide, experience an emotional trauma that may take leave, but never departs.”2 To make matters worse suicide is still stigmatized, which may result in suicide grievers withdrawing from seeking support. Suicide grievers may feel responsible for their loss. Those who witness the suicide or find the body may suffer post-traumatic stress. Between the suicide grievers the risk of suicide ranges from 1.5 to 5 times higher than the general population. Indeed 1 in 4 suicide attempters has a family history of suicide. Moreover, suicide griev- ers who have consanguineous relationship to the victim may share neurobio- logical features that may increase that risk.2 The parents The resource and healing guide of The American Foundation for Suicide Pre- vention (www.afsp.org)7 stresses that suicide bereavement manifests in 3 broad areas of grief response: 1. Survivors seem to struggle with questions of meaning-making around the death (“Why did they do it?”). They try to make sense of the motives and frame of mind of the deceased. 2. Survivors show higher levels of guilt feelings, blame, and responsibility for the death than do other mourners (“Why didn’t I prevent it?”). Occasionally survivors feel that they directly caused the death through mistreatment or abandonment of the deceased. More frequently, they blame themselves for not anticipating and preventing the actual act of suicide. 3. Survivors also experience heightened feelings of rejection or abandon- ment by the loved one, along with anger toward the deceased (“How could they do this to me?”).6 They grieve for the very person that has taken their loved ones life. The best way of understanding this is by considering that in German the word for suicide is “ selbst-mord,” meaning the murdering of the self. AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 233 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 6. 234 G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 After their son’s or daughter’s suicide some parents have indeed admitted thinking about committing suicide themselves, but they decided not to because they were all too familiar with the consequences for the bereaved. Nevertheless, caution is justified in the aftermath of suicide. The rate of suicide in families of suicide vic- tims is twice as high as in families of comparison subjects, and a family history of suicide is a significant risk factor independent of severe mental disorder.8 The Siblings Although it is true that in general there is little support available to parents after their child’s suicide, there is even less support for the younger or older siblings. Silence about the death and even hiding its cause may be the case for the very young brothers or sisters. Few adults, professionals, or others have succeeded with involving children in sharing thoughts about the loss.9 Suicide notes rarely clarify the deep motivations that led to suicide and are seldom helpful to the siblings, even though they declare love and ask for forgiveness or attempt an explanation such as, “I can’t go on living like this.” Some letters yield instructions to pass on personal belongings to siblings, an uncomfortable inheritance for many.10 We must be aware that children express their feelings differently from adults, and perhaps they may want to play with their friends as usual or may appear to be unaffected; they must know (be told) that they don’t have to feel sad all the time. Children express much of their grief through their behavior, rather than by words: They may become clingy, irritable, have problems concentrating, and play games involving death and violence. Many times they worry that someone else they love might die. A question that often arises for parents is “What should I tell my children about the suicide?” Many parents have had little experience talking with children about death, let alone suicide, and are worried about how their children will react and how the news will affect their child in the long term. The Children Bereaved by Suicide Project in Sydney, Australia, advices: “Explain death as being when the body stops working, ask the child what they understand about what ‘being dead’ means. It is not helpful to say that a person has gone away or they are just sleeping. One way to define suicide is to describe it as ‘when some- one makes their body stop working,’ because many times the word suicide is confusing so you must check out what they have understood.”11 Most children experience difficulties that are not predominantly individual, but rather relational and social in nature, and largely contextually dependent. The peers Consideration has been given to the “contagion effect” of suicide, particularly among teenagers and young adults. School-based strategies, peer helper pro- AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 234 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 7. G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 235 grams, and “postvention” (ie, suicide prevention activities, such as crisis debrief- ing interventions, aimed at youth recently exposed to suicide) are strategies that are not supported by sufficient evidence to substantiate their widespread or unqualified use.12,13 Unfortunately the same is true about suicide awareness cur- ricula used as part of school-based suicide prevention strategies. Parents and loving adults giving emotional support are still the mainstay of pro- tection. The physician and the medical team The theme of death and thinking about death has only recently made its way into medical schools and therefore for many professionals understanding of death is self-made as they progress throughout their professional life. This consists of “dying a little” with every patient that died under their care. An apprenticeship is needed to learn how to endure the anxiety, guilt, and the sensation of failure that such death can generate. However when death is not processed and becomes overwhelming, it can lead to burnout, evasion from responsibility, frustration, and death anxiety, leading the professional to attend mostly to his own needs rather than those of his patients. Indeed denial, distancing, and mood changes can all be defense mechanisms to ward of the anxiety and sadness evoked by the death of a patient.9 Hence, paradoxically, aiming to incorporating death into one’s life results in an enriching experience that opens up the life of the physician. The knowledge and acceptance of one’s mortality allows the physician to continue to carry out his or her professional duties as a physician while confronting the death of his or her patients. Only that way can we really help our dying patients.14 However, the applecart can be turned over by the adolescent who ends his own life. A completely different kind of suffering is added to the usual distress caused by death. The suicide of a patient can be extremely distressing for frontline pro- fessionals. The exposure to such situations can undermine a professional’s func- tioning and generate feelings of incompetence, cause them to question their professional standing, and ultimately contributing further to burnout. Concerns for the bereaved family, feelings of responsibility for the death, and having had a close therapeutic relationship with the deceased adolescent are key factors that influence the adjustment and coping of a health professional in the aftermath of the death of a patient by suicide.15 The impact of suicide attempts or completion on the medical team may vary, but it is worrisome that many health professionals are not adequately trained to pro- vide proper assessment, treatment, and management of suicidal patients, nor do they know how to refer patients properly for specialized assessment and treat- ment. Despite the increased awareness of suicide as a major public health prob- AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 235 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 8. 236 G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 lem, gaps remain in training programs for health professionals and others who often come into contact with adolescents in need of appropriate assessment techniques and treatment approaches. In addition, many health professionals also lack training in the recognition of risk factors often found in grieving family members of loved ones who have died by suicide (the suicide survivors). The WHO has produced a manual on suicide prevention that includes advice for clinicians in the aftermath of suicide that recognizes that the professionals involved may themselves experience reactions such as anger, resentment, sad- ness, and even post-traumatic stress, and strongly recommends the need for peer support.16 reSearch Long-term studies and research about family reactions in the aftermath of sui- cide are lacking and clearly not easy to do. Approaching families and recruit- ing a large sample is understandably quite difficult. Because of this, the data obtained are more qualitative than quantitative. A landmark Swedish study, performed 2 years after the suicide of an adolescent, demonstrated the most important theme was still the search for the a reason why the adolescent had committed suicide. Almost all parents expressed anger at being deceived and that they had been denied the opportunity to provide parental support. Simul- taneously, they felt remorse for being angry with someone who obviously had been so lonesome and desperate. Some relief was expressed by families that had been living with a troubled and difficult adolescent. This sense of relief was not easily admitted. The essential finding was that although 2 years had passed since the suicide, the families were still struggling to move on, and those who had lost their only child appeared to have the greatest difficulty. Even though all of them had returned to the routine activities of daily life, almost all the parents thought it impossible to ever return to “normality.” None had experienced one full day without thinking of the deceased.9 There is still scant research on “the forgotten bereaved;” the children and adolescents who lose a sibling by suicide and are suffering from post-traumatic and grief reactions, depression, and anxiety.8 The recent development of research addressing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be applicable to suicide grievers. Train conductors who have expe- rienced striking individuals attempting to commit suicide by jumping in front of a train who suffer from flashbacks and nightmares sustained a dramatic improve- ment of their symptomatology through eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).17 This is a form of psychotherapy that was developed to resolve symptoms resulting from disturbing and unresolved life experiences, using a structured approach to address past, present, and future aspects of dis- AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 236 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 9. G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 237 turbing memories.18,19 A 2007 meta-analysis of 38 randomized controlled trials for PTSD treatment suggested that the firstline psychological treatment for PTSD should be trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy or EMDR.20 SpIrItualIty In the aftermath of SuIcIde Suicide survivors often look for answers to the existential questions they are forced to explore within the framework of their traditions, beliefs, and philoso- phy of life. Spirituality may be awakened or deadened during this process. The term spirituality comes from the Latin word spiritus: the breath of life. It entails a way of being and of experiencing and acting that stems from the understand- ing of a transcendental dimension characterized by values that apply to oneself, others, nature, and life itself. It may or may not include a Supreme Being, but it includes the perception that there is transcendence and a sacredness to life that influences feelings and life goals and that nourishes the capacity to surmount life’s difficulties. Religion can be a particular case of spirituality, and it is charac- terized by being engaged in a particular faith, which implies a narrative, rituals, and common activities that connects persons with a deity. There are as yet no longitudinal studies about the impact of spirituality and reli- gion on the grieving process in the aftermath of suicide. Nevertheless there is currently a clear understanding that values and spirituality can be one of the pil- lars on which resiliency can be established. Resiliency eventually raises to the challenge posed by the suicide of a loved one and sometimes the survivor may emerge stronger than before. Adversity, physical or psychosocial, can annihilate a human being or can induce resistance and strength. Resiliency can manifest in many ways, and it emerges sometimes where least expected. It is like a vital energy, reminiscent of Henri Bergson’s élan vital. From a spiritual perspective this constitutes the vital center of every human being, and spirituality is about harnessing this energy to face adversity.21 therapeutIc InterventIonS Most of the acute symptomatology seen in suicide survivors diminish and disap- pear over time. However this may not be the case with the psychological dis- tress.22 To alleviate this, every suicide griever needs immediate support at the time of the loss. This is known as postvention. This may include facilitating the previously mentioned spiritual endeavor. It may involve psychological interven- tions. EMDR falls under this category, as it may alleviate nightmares and flash- backs. (However, it needs to be emphasized that this treatment is contraindicated for those individuals that are becoming suicidal.) Another treatment approach can be done through groups. The New York State Office of Mental Health gives four reasons that support groups may be effective: AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 237 7/27/11 6:19 AM
  • 10. 238 G. A. Girard, T. J. Silber / Adolesc Med 022 (2011) 229–239 normalization: One of the most significant and helpful realizations for a survi- vor of a suicide to have is that, given the situation, his feelings are normal. In a group setting, it is reassuring to hear that others share his or her fears and losses, and that it is not pathological to feel this way. understanding: This begins when the survivor starts to open up. By telling his/ her story and by verbalizing it, they can begin a process of organizing thoughts and feelings. This may be the first step in processing the “whys,” “what ifs,” and “why didn’t I?” monitoring: The third benefit is monitoring suicide risk. Given the link between the suicide of a family member and the increased risk for other family mem- bers, this is a critical benefit. Peer support groups may simultaneously provide healthy role models for grieving survivors while increasing social support. Finally making sense of the suicide of a loved one is an emotional journey. Sup- port groups provide resources to help educate survivors regarding the nature of suicide and suicide bereavement. Coming together to share and interact with other survivors may be their first step in the long journey towards healing.23 For the members of a medical team that lost an adolescent patient to suicide there is nothing worse than silence. dénouement Mary’s suicide was devastating to her elderly parents, whose older son had long left home. They constantly repeated that if they had returned home sooner from their shopping they would have found her, been able to remove the plastic bag from her head, and save her. The experienced psychiatrist who had recently changed her medication was naturally very distraught, and the therapist on vacation immediately responded to the adolescent medicine physician’s call, who then proceeded to invite the family to join the 3 members of the interdisci- plinary team, and they accepted gratefully. All together, they reflected about the vicissitudes in the young woman’s difficult life. They realized that they had become, to different degrees, suicide survivors. The professionals then modeled for the parents, each in his own way, their sorrow, disappointment, angry frus- tration, caring, second guessing, and mourning for the young woman. The clini- cian asked the parents if it would be all right for him to call them to see how they were doing, and specially offered to see their adult son if he came back to town. (A few calls were exchanged). An important aspect in dealing with this tragedy was the exchange of thoughts between the team members and the ongoing sup- port for each other. Neither this young woman, nor the team members’ compas- sionate effort of mutual support, will be forgotten as long as they live. AAP_AMSTARs_Article-6_229-239.indd 238 7/27/11 6:19 AM
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