Citation

Babow I, Rowe R. Adolescence 1990; 25(100): 791-798.

Affiliation

California Polytechnic State University.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, Libra Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2275433

Abstract

In a study of hospitalized suicidal youth, the account of a sixteen-year-old girl, diagnosed as schizophrenic, is analyzed to gain insight into a family's role in the suicidal career of an adolescent preoccupied with death and dying, sleep, and drugs; the interplay of her construction of reality with her risk-taking, self-injurious way of life; and her perceived problems of living and need for help. Her cessation orientations revealed a kind of Sleeping Beauty syndrome with fantasies on sleep, drugs, and death, including a death of the mind from overdosing. Such qualitative research on suicidal careers may increase our understanding of the at-risk adolescent population and assist in the development of a policy for identifying and meeting needs and following up on clues for prevention and early intervention.

Language: en