Topic: Teen Suicide

Suicide: Did it have to end this way?

By Christine Anne Piesyk | March 17, 2009 |

“Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.”

Suicide.  Self-inflicted death. The pain that drives an individual to commit suicide is mirrored by the pain experienced by those left behind to mourn.

In the past year, suicide has touched a number of families and individuals in our community. Two newly married men.  A high school boy. A college student. A friend. We react with shock that spirals into grief punctuated by a simple question: Why? And “was there something we could have done? Or noticed?” «Read the rest of this article»

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NEHS students grapple with loss of a friend; MySpace suicide blog says “goodbye”

By Christine Anne Piesyk | February 21, 2008 |

“Goodbye every 1.”

With those words with the numeric ‘1′ displayed in a small black-bordered box on the social networking website, MySpace,  a boy said goodbye to family and friends before taking his life on Wednesday. Above the ID box on his page, which had been set to private and therefore viewable only to his “friends,” this Northeast High School student had written the chilling words, “wishing it would all just end.” In the notation of his mood, he had entered a single word: “Blissful.”

Thursday morning, unsuspecting NEHS students heard the announcement of 16-year-old Steven McCausland’s death over the PA system, along with a request for a moment of silence. Crisis counselors were on hand to assist students, some of whom were crying the hallways and in class. Teachers reportedly made numerous referrals for any student affected by the loss of their friend and classmate. Many students gathered after school to console each other. «Read the rest of this article»

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Hate Crime Survivor, Thought Recovering, Now Suicides

By Turner McCullough Jr. | July 3, 2007 |

There are a multitude of people who keep saying that racism in America is passe, a relic of the past. That all minorities have to do is simply apply themselves and success will be theirs. To a 18-year old David Ritcheson, those claims proved unbearably false. Having initially survived a horrendous four hour physical and psychological assault, the student was thought to be making a remarkable recovery from his ordeal. College was assured him thru a free scholarship by the Anti-Defamation League. He testified before Congress in support of anti-hate crime legislation.

He was going to dedicate his life’s work to preventing hate crimes such as he had endured. However, some demons apparently still lingered on. Some pain was too great to overcome. For complete details, see the following pages:

The Dallas Morning News

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