Dr Donovan Thomas

I HAD been attempting suicide from age 18 to age 28. I had attempted suicide at least 13 times," Dahlia says. "My reasons were many, and so were my methods. I had a general feeling of being 'damaged goods' due to the fact that I was sexually molested at age eight, age 10 and again at age 12. I had lost my father at age eight (he was murdered) and life just became very hard.

Dahlia's story is taken from the soon-to-be-released second edition of Dr Donovan Thomas' book, Confronting Suicide: Helping Teens at Risk.

She continues: "I woke up feeling lost and desperate. I was overwhelmed. The rent for the last four months had not been paid. I could hardly feed my three children. I thought about what I had lost: my husband, car, businesses, friends, popularity, money, stability and security.

"I walked over to my closet and found what I thought to be a very strong piece of string; something that could bear my body's weight without breaking, and the closet beam looked strong enough for the job. I locked the doors and went into the closet ... ."

Read the book and see how the story of this Jamaican woman panned out.

In the meantime, over the next three weeks, The Gleaner will, in its Positive Parenting feature, serialise this book. We present, in part, what causes teenagers to be suicidal, and we will provide a list of common causes of suicidal thinking in Jamaican teenagers. These are discussed in detail in the book.

In recent times there has been a significant rise in the number of teenagers committing suicide. Seven contributory factors have been highlighted by Blackburn:

1. Changing moral climate

2. Society's high mobility

3. High divorce rate

4. Frequent alcohol and drug abuse

5. Popularisation and glorification of violence in the mass media

6. Easy availability of guns

7. An already high suicide rate.

Victims of teenage suicide very often have experienced one or more of the following:

1. Moving to a new home

2. Changing schools

3. Separation or divorce of parents

4. Death in the family

5. Behavioural problems.

Teenagers who commit suicide are usually reacting to a recent distressing situation. More often than not, the problem relates to conflicts within their families. Some teenagers take their lives because they have not satisfied family/parental expectations. Some do so because they fear pressure from parents and some surrender due to a failure to establish relationships, or the loss of close interpersonal relationships.

Common causes ofsuicidal thinking inJamaican teenagers

Based on discussions with the focus group and teenagers who have attempted suicide, along with a literature survey, the more common causes of suicide attempts and committals among Jamaican teenagers are as follows:

Death and loss

Guilt and hostility

Broken love affair

Molestation at home

Unplanned pregnancy

Social isolation

Manipulation

Impulse

Escape (desire to escape unpleasant situations)

Reunion with deceased loved ones

Physical illness

Expression of love.

Next week: What are signs of 'suicidal tendency' among Jamaican teenagers?

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Dr Donovan Thomas is the founder and president of Choose Life International, a non-profit suicide-intervention organisation. He is the immediate past national director of Jamaica Youth for Christ, a post he held for 15 years. He can be reached at: 869-3403/ 920-7924 or email donovanthomas@chooselifeintl.org.