The fusion of pressing situation and releasing writing: on adolescent suicide poetry.
The poetry of adolescents in despair may provide us with early signs of suicide; hence referral to professional help may result at an early stage. The present study concentrated on two adolescents who wrote poetry and committed suicide. The words used in these adolescents' poetry and in the poetry of two nonsuicidal adolescents were analyzed and classified into semantic fields. Significant differences were found between the suicide and the control groups. These differences showed themselves in the vigor and intensity of the loaded words in the suicide group, as well as in the more extreme occurrence of two major foci, "Death" and "Bad Situation." These foci are demonstrated in a constructed model that may guide parents and professionals in early detection of suicide.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003643:Death; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011037:Poetry as Topic; D012660:Semantics; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*