Sadly, this young man seems to have had a long term mental illness that led to him taking his life. But last week NPR had a program about young suicide prevention, and I was thunderstruck by one anecdote. The parent of one victim said their child’s life wasn’t chronically bad, but he had a few negative incidents one week and because of his impulsive nature, he did an irrevocable thing. I had some very bad times as a teen, but impulsiveness was not one of my faults. It never occurred to me my tendency to inaction saved my life!
I always thought of impulsiveness as potentially fatal in terms of careless behavior, but how many young people die because they give in to a momentary feeling that they can’t bear? It breaks my heart. Ned couldn’t make it through, but for most of us, it gets better.
