SUICIDE AND THE GIFTED ADOLESCENT: A PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY by LAURIE ALISON HYATT (Under the Direction of Bonnie Cramond) ABSTRACT In this qualitative case study focusing on a gifted adolescent female who took her life at the age of 18 using a firearm, the researcher investigated the personal, environmental, and cultural variables that may have contributed to her suicide. Data was collected from interviews, documents, and other artifacts, including a videotape which was a compilation of events throughout Amber’s life. This was a psychological autopsy in which the thoughts, feelings, and actions of a brilliant yet tormented young female were studied after her death by suicide. The purpose was to determine what factors led her to end her pain by choosing death over life. Some of the findings were similar to previous research findings on 1) the etiology of suicide in major theories, 2) the social and emotioinal issues faced by gifted adolescents, and 3) the findings of previous psychological autopsies of gifted adolescents. Themes discovered from this research study were crystallized into five major themes, including bullying, nonconformity, lack of trust, fears, and low self-esteem. Within these major themes, specific findings concerned individual traits, environmental factors, and the historical and cultural context. Individual characteristics such as high intelligence, creativity, unconventionality, perfectionism, and idealism were described. Environmental factors including being bullied, relationship difficulties leading to feelings of alienation, and lack of trust in adults seemed to be contributors to the suicide of this gifted female. Cultural influences, including the stresses of having high achievement goals, the pressure to conform, and some of the music of the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s were considered in the overall description of Amber’s life and the formulation of her perceptions. Arranging life events in chronological order added to the clarity of the findings. Implications include recommendations for further research on traits and cultural messages which increase vulnerability to suicide in gifted adolescents. INDEX WORDS: Suicide, Gifted, Adolescents, Adolescent females, Perfectionism, Bullying, High Achievement, Psychological Autopsy, Case Study, Stress, Vulnerability. SUICIDE AND THE GIFTED ADOLESCENT: A PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY by LAURIE ALISON HYATT B.A., Pittsburg State University, 1969 M.S., Pittsburg State University, 1971 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2007 © 2007 Laurie Alison Hyatt All Rights Reserved SUICIDE AND THE GIFTED ADOLESCENT: A PSYCHOLOGICAL AUTOPSY by LAURIE ALISON HYATT Major Professor: Bonnie Cramond Committee: Thomas Hebert Elizabeth St. Pierre Tracy Cross Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2007 iv DEDICATION To Amber. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My work has been supported by many. Thank you to my committee chair, Bonnie Cramond. You not only were a mentor and a zealous editor, but also brought nurturance by preparing delicious meals to accompany long strategy sessions. I have also been blessed with committee members, Thomas Hebert, Elizabeth St.Pierre, and Tracy Cross. All of my committee members are true scholars themselves. You have been positive, inspiring guides who I knew really cared about the excellence of the finished product and also led me through the research process as well. You all bring gifts and talents to the table, but most important of all, you bring warm and caring hearts. Many times as I immersed myself in the joy of discovery, I thought of how fortunate I am to have you pushing me forward. I was also fortunate to work with Amber’s parents who deeply love their daughter and have worked alongside me to give Amber a voice. I was welcomed into their home and had the privilege of access to documents and other artifacts which had been carefully stored. Not only do Amber’s parents yearn to understand their daughter’s death, but they are committed to suicide prevention and to the support of grieving families. My family and friends have been interested in my work and have patiently understood my frequent periods of isolation when I was behind closed doors with stacks of papers and my computer rather than spending time with them. You have been my cheerleaders and for that I am grateful. I am truly blessed. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................1 2 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ...............................................................................6 3 METHODS ..................................................................................................................50 4 FINDINGS...................................................................................................................69 5 IMPLICATIONS .......................................................................................................110 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................118 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................134 A AMBER’S WRITINGS INCLUDING POETRY AND PROSE FROM AGE 11 THROUGH AGE 18……………………………………………...134 B AMBER’S HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION SPEECH PRESENTED TWO MONTHS BEFORE HER DEATH………………………………………….153 C LYRICS TO THE MASH THEME SONG TITLED SUICIDE IS PAINLESS…………………………………………………………...155 vii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: RATES OF SUICIDE IN THE UNITED STATES ......................................................157 Table 2: DATA SOURCES .........................................................................................................158 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION There are men too gentle to live among wolves Who devour them with eager appetite and search For other men to prey upon and suck their childhood dry. There are men too gentle for an accountant’s world Who dream instead of Easter eggs and fragrant grass And search for beauty in the mystery of the sky. James Kavanaugh, 1970. The issue of suicide is personal for me. On March 15, 1999, my son, Trey, took his life. He was only thirteen years old and in the eighth grade. Trey was intellectually and artistically gifted. An analytical thinker, he often made sophisticated philosophical statements and asked penetrating questions. He attended gifted classes. He played first chair saxophone in the band at his middle school. He went to state finals in math. Yet I cannot tell you how many times he told me that he hated school. On the day that he died, he was making jokes about the television program South Park and working on his drawings between classes at school. That afternoon, he got off the school bus, walked his dog, brought the mail in the house, and then shot himself in the head. My world came crashing down that day. In the next weeks and months I searched Internet sites for clues that might explain the meaning of Trey’s suicide. Since my son spent a great deal of time on the computer, I attended a presentation at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, by an attorney who specialized in the possible elimination of Internet sites that may have negative effects on children. I read Iris Bolton’s book, My Son, My Son (1994), which she wrote following the suicide of her son. Iris was the 2 director of The Link counseling center in Sandy Springs, Georgia, when her son died. Since I was a counselor when my son took his life, I could relate to her confusion and feelings of failure to detect any warning signs. I put messages on an Internet site asking questions to try to solve the puzzle of my son’s suicide note and received a few replies. I really did not know how to go any farther with my research until I entered the doctoral program in Educational Psychology at the University of Georgia in the fall of 2003. What began as a personal quest to find answers to my son’s tragic death has also become a professional commitment to understand and to help to prevent suicide. As I read the statistics as part of my research, I was shocked to learn that the rate of suicide among young people in the United States has increased dramatically since 1955 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2006). In addition, younger and younger children are taking their lives. In 2005, following my presentation on suicide at the Social and Emotional Needs of Gifted (SENG) annual conference, a young woman approached me with tears in her eyes. She told me that she was a second grade teacher and that in the previous year two of her seven-year-old students had planned to kill themselves. She said that she had been at a loss for what to do. I have heard many stories about suicidal youngsters since then. In addition, the Center for Disease Control, which compiles the national data on suicide in the United States, has added age ranges of 5-9 years and 10-14 to their data base in addition to the current 5-14 age bracket. Even though only asterisks appear in those age ranges, it seems that the statisticians at