t

A22 - Sunday, February 12, 1984 - North:Shore News

with: the’ question: .of
adolescent suicide, a
ajor con: e

’ special * repo rom
writer Joanne
MacDonald.

Today, she deals with

- the professionals’ views

TUDOR STYLE

The. LOCATION is in Central West Vancouver in a well established neighbourhood.

CONVENIENCE is a highlight. Schools, Library, Parks, and all shopping facilities are
close at hand. A short walk takes you to the recreational and seniors centre and to
the seawalk. The municipal bus system passes directly by

to take unacceptable

— their own lives and, too

often, todie, 2 => :

ELAINE HENDERS, -
social worker at Lions Gat
Hospital, helps deat with th
survivors.

'

This property has always been PROFESSIONALLY MAINTAINED and features a ‘ |

delightful pond, fruit trees, and a large garden with mature shrubs ‘and an illuminated _.

Badminton Court. It is the ideal setting for a FAMILY with young children. The area of
the property is approximately 18,000 square feet.

Henders says she would be
hard pressed to develop .a.
profile of 'a ‘‘typical’’ adoles-
- cent who has attempted —
suicide. oo -
The picture she comes up
with is anything but what
most , would expect: “The
kids who try it aren’t normal-
ly the: ones with behaviour: ’
problems. They’re “usually” ~
normal kids at. school. and «
normally very sensitive.’* :
Professionals ‘have traced
common denominators in the
background of the victims of
suicide — the loss of a parent
through death or divorce, ©
physical illness in themselves
or the family, low self-
esteem, a mis-placed need for
revenge and even such things
as. numerous changes in
environment.
What. they have in com-
mon, too, is intent.
Dr.'Steven Scofield, a Van-
couver psychologist who
specializes in adolescent

TERERES

a

Onty’3 families have occupied and loved this HOME since built in the mid 1930's. It
is large, well constructed, very bright and completely modern. On the main floor
there is a Den, a good sized Kitchen, separate large Dining Room and a big
comfortable, and bright Living Room,-featuring teaded glass windows and fireplace.
There is'a large Master Bedroom (ensulte) featuring 15 feet of floor to ceiling .
windows, a private deck and ‘large mirrored closets. ;

‘

The attractivce entrance includes a staircase leading to three large bedrooms, a full,
cedar finished bathroom and linen storage. . .

The ground level lower'floor Includes a Bathroom with sauna, laundry and furnace
room, as well as a large Family Room. There is a great deal of storage available In
the separate workshop ‘area. _

.. You will.enjoy an OCEAN VIEW from the large, glass walled sun-deck and yours
"': ould be the FOURTH FAMILY to enjoy this charming home. There is attractive
: financing in place, and It Is fairly priced at $285,000.00. This property wil! be
..available-for possession as of June 1, 1984. —

-~ “Please call (604) 685-6281 (Weekdays - 9am to 4pm)
“for an appointment to view or for further Information.
Principal s only ‘please. , |

o ° t an

,

%

Try something new
for your Valentine

A special spring bouquet with $2990
A bud vase with carnations or

a Valentine balloon. From
a rose and a Valentine 95
From of 2

ve

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2 Pig

per ‘Ge Pi)
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of what drives teenagers

risks, to attempt'to-end _

Despite that work,"=]

cen

‘

development, says. while the
incidence of suicide’ afhong

those:under 12 is very rare,
the rateincreases markedly in
the teens. os

The reason, says Scofield,
is that ‘teenagers are able to
comprehend that death is
irreversible.

“If they have a serious in-
tent with a solid plan and

‘method in mind, they know

that’s what they want,’’
Scofield says. ‘‘They decide
‘| want to finish it’.”’

Many adolescents who
chose suicide, he adds, are
acting not on impulse but
after long deliberation on
how, when and where they
will act.

Whether or not the adoles-
cent will then be successful
depends largely on the ac-
cessibility of ‘‘the tools’’ of

‘that death. Teenage males

tend to chose the most violent
methods and are more
successful.

Dr. Roger Tonkin, a
pediatrician at the B.C.
Children’s Hospital, studied
100 jsuicides documented in
B.C. coroners’ reports bet-
ween 1978 and 1980,

He estimates that 45 per
of the adolosecent
suicides ended their lives with
firearms. Twenty-five per
cent chose hanging and only
18 per cent resulted from
alcohol or drug use. Of the

. cases of unsuccessful suicide,

84 per cent were the result of
drugs or alcohol and 13 per
cent were by hanging.
Tonkin says that the
overall pattern of violence
Among B.C. adolescents has

‘remained the same since his

1981 study, with a‘slight im-
provement in the number of
acjual suicides,

“*But this is probably due
to improvements (in the lives)
of native adolescents,’’
Tonkin says. ‘*They’ve
developed different programs
within the bands (that are

the increase in the number of
children aged 10 to 14 who
are trying to take their own
lives. ;

“These kids,’’ he says,
“‘have a different sense of
what failure is all about. And
it could be part of what we
call the loss of ‘childhood.
Parents are puttting adult
pressures on kids that they’re
not emotionally or physically
equipped to handle.”’

Beyond the frightening pic-
ture of adolescent suicide is
the even larger problem of
risk-taking behaviour. Like
the suicide attempt, risk-
taking too often results in
death.

The ‘‘accidental’’ death
that results from reckless
driving, excessive drug and
alcohol abuse, prostitution
and even running away from
home can often be traced to
the same root causes as
suicide,

Teenagers who flirt with
death may not understand
the consequence of their ac-
tions might actually be death,
Scofield says. Such teens may
have poor impulse -control,
may tend to have poor logic
skills and may act withou
thinking. .

“*There’s still a kind of
almost magic thinking on the
part of some teenagers ...
that kind of teenage Immor-
tality kind of thinking,’’ he
says. ‘“‘And, for a tot of
them, it’s just an escape from
pain. It’s a way to get out of
the pain as much as it is a way
to get into pleasure.'’

Ira Applebaum, the co-
ordinator of the Queen Mary
Community School in North
Vancouver, has had ex-
perience with troubled teens.

He worked as a street-

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