An examination of the literature base on the suicidal behaviors of gifted students

Abstract

T 'he following is a gifted adolescent's last journal entry before he committed suicide. It is reproduced in the same format as originally written:This article involves an examination of the literature concerning suicide among gifted adolescents. Background is provided concerning the historical overview of the field of suicidology and the theory on suicide. The literature on suicide among adolescents in general is overviewed, and the literature concerning suicide among the gifted is examined in more depth. Lastly, the literature on the role schools can play in suicide prevention and intervention is examined due to the impact educational institutions can have on the lives of students, including the gifted. What is apparent from this review is that the knowledge about suicide among adolescents has grown dramatically since the conception of the field of suicidology. However, the literature directly concerned with the topic of suicide among gifted adolescents is filled with much conjecture rather than empirically sound research. At this time there is no significant research to support the claim that the rates of attempted or completed suicide among the gifted differ from rates on nongifted adolescents, but research does indicate that suicide occurs among the gifted population. It is also apparent that suicide is occurring among the gifted at a rate which necessitates school personnel to have the ability to recognize warning signs in an effort to help students and deter loss of lives.

Giftedness as a Possible Risk of Bullying

“…On the other hand, a research focused on incidence of depressions and suicides showed lower suicide rates among intellectually gifted pupils than among their peers. Similar results were obtained by Gust-Brey and Cross (1999). They confirmed that despite of risky factors, it is not possible clearly say whether cerebrally gifted individuals have a higher inclination to suicides or depressions than their peers.…”

Clinical and Mental Health Issues in Counseling the Gifted Individual

“…National suicide statistics record no indication of giftedness. Moreover, the research base has very few studies on the suicidal behavior of gifted individuals, and these tend to be very small‐scale studies, studies with nonrepresentative samples, or indirect studies (Gust‐Brey & Cross, ).…”

Perceptions of developmental, social, and emotional issues in giftedness:Are they realistic?

“…i egarding rates of delinquency, ..school drop-out, and suicide among children who are gifted, our respondents tended to underestimate the reported dropout frequency and to correctly represent the rates of delinquency and suicide according to the literature (Cross, 1996;Gust-Brey & Cross, 1999;Lajoie & Shore, 1981). Concerning the potential for future eminence among children who are gifted, perceptions did not vary from the longitudinal evidence, nor did beliefs about the relationship between intelligence and creativity deviate from the somewhat inconsistent evidence (Albert, 1994 notably counter to what recent researchers are finding (e.g., Delisle, 1990;Roedell, 1984).…”

“…Lajoie and Shore's (1981) findings suggest that suicide among the gifted may be more prominent at the college level than at other age levels. Based on recent reviews (Cross, 1996;Gust-Brey & Cross, 1999), little empirical evidence has been forthcoming that verifies the rate of suicide among children who are gifted, probably due to the lack of national data on the gifted status of children committing suicide. Lajoie and Shore suggested that the myth of increased suicide may have arisen from high-profile media reports on suicides of highly able students.…”