Autistic Teenager Killed Himself

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http://www.independent.co.uk/uk/home-ne ... 54692.html
Another one? Why do they consider this as the way to end it all? Don't they know who will grieve over them?

Oh no. His mom saw it coming if help wasn't gotten too. This is really not good.

Good god...the quotes! ...I can't even...

They always say that high school is usually the worst experience you could have bullying-wise but people are lying if they say bullying can't follow you to college. Sometimes getting bullied in college can actually be worse. I am a voice of experience there.

I know a lot of you will disagree with this but... Better to be dead than miserable. He's better off now.

You say that but you do know that those people are to blame by saying what they did.
What sort of teacher says you should die other than those creepy ones.
My thoughts go to the family, especially the mum.

In some countries they call high school "college". This article is from the UK; it appears that the boy was not in what Americans would call "college" but more of a high school type situation. So yes, it's not surprising. Also, some countries put kids in high school-like situations past the age of 18. I believe Germany's public education system lasts until age 21, after which a kid will either go to university or trade school. If this kid was going to be in a situation where he would be bullied for a few more years, despite being 18, then it's understandable. Then again, a surprising number of HS seniors (grade 12) in the US kill themselves. Nobody seems to understand why they can't wait to see what happens after graduation.

Knowing people will grieve usually does nothing to reduce the pain one's in when they are feeling suicidal, also it is possible to feel as though no one would grieve as well.......or that regardless of if they greive you still feel they'd be better off without you. Lets just say the suicidal mindset is a bit complex.

As for the article I doubt him taking the comment about being better off dead than in college literally was the 'cause' I can see how that could have been a factor if he was already feeling that way, and in pain from all the bullying and such and took it literally, but to point to that as the cause and ignore the long-term bullying and harrasment would be ignorant in my perspective

I don't think that mom had any idea what was going on in her son's head. Having autism doesn't make one a blind follower who will do exactly what someone tells them to do. She just made it sound like saying, "Go kill yourself" to any given autistic person would result in this. Most likely the comment was one of many; if the social worker said it with his mother in the room, he or she probably also said it at least several times before.

There's never one sole cause.

Stories of people driven to suicide by bullying always make me cry.

Depression is an illness that can really f**k up your notion of reality. Considering that this guy was being harassed by his peers and he didn't have access to the mental health services (despite having a history of suicidal tendencies) it's no wonder why he might have felt helpless. Plus, maybe he thought he was doing his mother a favor *shrugs*. Depression does that to you - it makes you a dumbass.

I'm actually shocked that these were COLLEGE STUDENTS who were harassing him! If there's one thing I loathe is when college students act like kids. This also further confirms that the mental health services in the UK are really lacking. That boy needed immediate psychiatric care. They KNEW that he was suicidal. They allowed a ticking time bomb to go off.



Well, not to offend, but you have no idea who this woman is and how well she knew her son. Remember that this is a short article and it can't tell us everything about these people. Plus, you don't know what this boy's symptoms were. Maybe he was very naive.

Also, the article never said that was the cause of his suicide. There seemed to be many different motivators and he had a history of being suicidal and not receiving the correct support. However, this may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Or maybe not. Maybe he was planning it for ages. Or maybe it was spontaneous.

At the end of the day, none of us will ever know the last thoughts of a person who killed themselves.

Last edited by MindBlind on 19 Apr 2012, 12:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well apparently there is no age limit on bullying.

Indeed. How else to describe war, terrorism, violent crime, rape, etc etc?

Please remember that in the UK, college students could be as young as 16. My husband went to uni at 16, I was 17, and that's pretty normal. That said, it's still wrong and shameful that this should have happened. I left uni after 3 years, the cause being social anxiety, not helped by being picked on by my fellow students.

Sometimes people can pound on a person until there's no life left worth living - particularly when every advantage is being stolen and you can tell they'll never be able to make it financially. I agree, better dead than miserable but it goes to show - this world has a lot of people who need a good old fashion chin-checking.

wow I hope that isen't a common justification for such behavior.

Lets go back to square one. The people who were messing with him need a chin-checking.