The Suicidal Adolescent

Moses Laufer (1926 - 2006) was a Canadian psychoanalyst who pioneered work with adolescents and founded the Brent Centre for Young People in London. After moving to London in 1955, he became a member of the British Psycho-Analytical Society, becoming its president in the mid-1980s. He was also chair of the International Psycho-Analytical Association. He published a great number of papers in the 'International Journal of Psychoanalysis', and authored several influential works including 'Adolescence and Developmental Breakdown' (1984), 'The Suicidal Adolescent' (1995), and 'Adolescent Breakdown and Beyond' (1997).

As our knowledge of the change and turmoil of adolescence grows, so the number of issues on which psychotherapeutic techniques can shed light increases: this monograph focuses on one of the most urgent. It provides not only practical insights into dealing with suicidal or potentially suicidal adolescentswith an emphasis on prevention of the problem as early as possible - but also a model of the way in which adolescents may find themselves becoming suicidal. Suicide attempts are rare in childhood; they are generally triggered after puberty by the adolescent's reaction to changes in his newly sexually mature body. It is the body that is perceived as the enemy, and sometimes the death of the body seems the only recourse. The adolescent who actually attempts to kill himself no longer doubts his actions or his solutions or his mental creations. At the time of his decision to kill himself, he is taken over by his need for peace more than by the fact of his own death. The monograph contains papers on this topic written by members of the staff of the Brent Adolescent Centre/Centre for Research into Adolescent Breakdown together with the proceedings of a conference on "The Suicidal Adolescent" held in October 1993. It contains a wealth of case material illuminating many aspects of a harrowing problem. Because the book comes directly out of the Centre's work as a walk-in centre, the emphasis is on being alert to danger signals and on methods of arresting their causes. It will, therefore, be of interest not only to clinicians and therapists but also to workers in education, medicine, probation, family work or social welfare - indeed, to anyone who works with adolescents.

PART ONE Work with adolescence at Risk, CHAPTER ONE Psychological development In adolescence: danger signs CHAPTER TWO Depression and self-hatred CHAPTER THREE Depression and guilt CHAPTER FOUR A suicidal girl from a loving home CHAPTER FIVE Loss of the sense of reality about death CHAPTER SIX Don't help me! -the suicidal adolescent PART Two proceeding of a Conference on A Suicidal Adolescent, Understanding suicide: does it have a special meaning in adolescence? Discussion CHAPTER EIGHT The suicidal adolescent: experiences of a general practitioner CHAPTER NINE About not noticing the suicidal adolescent A research study into attempted suicide in adolescence, Discussion CHAPTER ELEVEN Can we prevent suicide In adolescence?