Attempted Suicide and Creative Promise

Abstract

This article begins by discussing the creative problems of four individuals from four different countries and the problems and pressures which led to their suicide attempts. A proportion of suicide attempts are disguised as accidents and are not recorded in official reports, which results in under-reporting of suicide attempts. In the last twenty years the suicide rate among youths 15–24 years has risen three hundred percent. Suicide is second only to automobile accidents as the leading cause of death of this age group. The creatively gifted are particularly vulnerable to the boredom and depression which accompanies isolation during the adolescent years and earlier. This combined with parents and peers' expectations and the inability to find meaningful career opportunities poses numerous problems for the creatively gifted and often result in the drastic decision that life has no more to offer. It is our contention that suicide attempts among the creatively gifted is the “tip of the iceberg”. We also express our concern for the creatively gifted who have not committed the final telo de se but have first of all stopped being creative and then have stopped living. We suggest that this is a form of suicide.