11 year old commits suicide.

imthemom · #1 06-12-2008, 09:46 AM

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x19220480...enseless-death

PEORIA —
The grief Christina Wood felt Tuesday in the wake of her 11-year-old daughter's death was equal only to the questions running through her head.
Bethany Lutes of 901 W. Broadmoor St. was pronounced dead about 6 p.m. Monday at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, a day after she was found hanged from a tree in her front yard.
"It's totally senseless," Wood said Tuesday.
Wood said the happy-go-lucky fifth-grader had been complaining of problems with friends at school. She had dismissed it as regular preteen squabbles.
But about 4 p.m. Saturday, a neighbor spotted Lutes slumped over in a kneeling position in her yard with a scarf tied around her neck and to a tree branch. She had been unconscious for an unknown amount of time.
When she was told, Wood, a certified nursing assistant, performed CPR on her, but "she just wasn't able to come back."

This is so senseless. I am not sure what this little girl was going through but my sister used to babysit for her aunt and her aunt said that the home life was not good. The mother is blaming kids at school but it is hard to believe an 11 year old would commit suicide. My son is almost 10 and I can't imagine him evening knowing how to hang himself in a tree or take a bunch of pills. My prayers for the family.

michelle · #2 06-12-2008, 09:50 AM

How sad, it is hard to believe an 11 year old would do that, poor thing.

LadyLuck · #3 06-12-2008, 11:08 AM

This is so sad. I can not imagine a 11 year doing this.

Karole28 · #4 06-12-2008, 11:15 AM

What could be so bad about an 11 year old's life that they'd want to end it?

kahskye · #5 06-12-2008, 11:20 AM

I have a 12 yr old and can't even imagine what that family must be going through.

calidreamin · #6 06-12-2008, 11:22 AM

This is really sad I can't imagine an 11 year old killing themselves.

pixies · #7 06-12-2008, 11:25 AM

It happens.

Where I volunteer, there are all sorts of teens and preteens with severe issues. Almost all is related to abuse.

I have seen some catty extremely rude 11 year olds come through so I can just imagine what this girl went through in school.

Her homelife sucked, school sucked and she was not emotionally sound to deal with any of it.

So tragic.

Hopeful One · #8 06-12-2008, 11:27 AM

This one raises questions for me. The mother believed her daughter took pills, then passed out in the yard? How did she get hanged then? And why would she hang herself in the yard? Why not inside the house?

Strange and very very sad.

Meyahna · #9 06-12-2008, 12:03 PM

Yes, it happens. I read a book about kids and teens committing suicide, was sad. It's French though, I don't think it was translated to English, it's called "to die at ten". Well kids just need to have no friends and a life not necessarily great at home to think about dying. Loneliness is pretty hard on some people.

sleuthin4fun · #10 06-12-2008, 04:19 PM

We had a 9yo boy in our old neighborhood who committed suicide a couple years ago. Very sad and disturbing.

michelle · #11 06-12-2008, 04:21 PM

Its never to early to talk to our kids about these things is it? I have a 7 year old and cant imagine.

crash676 · #12 06-12-2008, 04:56 PM

How sad..quite possible this young girl had the early stages of bi-polar disorder. How very very sad..

jubie · #13 06-12-2008, 05:08 PM

Oh wow. My little girl is 11 and I can't even for a second imagine her being so depressed she'd 'think' about suicide never mind actually 'trying' it AND being successful!!

My heart hurts for what this little girl suffered, right to the end.

Dam*it!

southcitymom · #14 06-12-2008, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crash676

How sad..quite possible this young girl had the early stages of bi-polar disorder. How very very sad..

I thought of this too, crash. Newsweek recently had a cover story on a young boy with BPD - IIRC, he first tried to commit suicide at 8.

philamena · #15 06-12-2008, 07:48 PM

More mean girl chit! grrrr

Will it EVER STOP??!@?!@??@??

Texana · #16 06-12-2008, 07:49 PM

Not all abuse occurs outside the home.

We here all know about abuse within the home.

This is heartbreaking, but not too far from a 12 or 13 y/o taking their own lives.

Poor child, to be so tremendously disappointed and suffering in life, that she felt it was better to be dead than alive.

philamena · #17 06-12-2008, 07:51 PM

Well said Texana!

mic730 · #18 06-12-2008, 09:27 PM

I don't believe it takes abuse in the home for an 11 year old to commit suicide.
Being 11 is enough to feel like you can't go on. Issues such as popularity, being bullied, and not knowing that JR High ends are things I get. God Bless this child.

lizzybeth · #19 06-12-2008, 09:32 PM

Depression can affect you at any age unfortunately. I remember being about five (I know I hadn't started school yet) and sitting on my front porch talking with God about wanting to die and be with him. I'm not sure I understood the finality of it but I knew I didn't want to be where I was.

Another unfortunate thing is most people don't think young children or pre-adolescents can suffer this much so they don't recognize it until sometimes it's too late.

I wish there had been someone in this little girl's life that she could open up to and maybe work through those feelings. Somewhere she felt that she was safe from ridicule and whatever else was going on in her life.

Linda7NJ · #20 06-12-2008, 10:14 PM

When I was working as a social worker I once had a child, 8 years old, that tried to kill himself several times in really imaginative ways. Myself and several others worked really hard to have him admitted AGAIN to a children's crisis center. Took quite awhile because Medicaid didn't want to pay again. Finally got him in and while there ON SUICIDE WATCH he managed to kill himself by ramming a plastic fork down his throat while in the bathroom. So much for suicide watch.

I was devestated...

Hopeful One · #21 06-12-2008, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lizzybeth

Depression can affect you at any age unfortunately. I remember being about five (I know I hadn't started school yet) and sitting on my front porch talking with God about wanting to die and be with him. I'm not sure I understood the finality of it but I knew I didn't want to be where I was.

Another unfortunate thing is most people don't think young children or pre-adolescents can suffer this much so they don't recognize it until sometimes it's too late.

I wish there had been someone in this little girl's life that she could open up to and maybe work through those feelings. Somewhere she felt that she was safe from ridicule and whatever else was going on in her life.

I think part of the problem is that someone who hasn't experienced true clinical depression cannot comprehend the feelings associated with it. I know I have tried to explain it to my mom on several occassions and she's just blown away. Even when I'm feeling 'good', I can barely comprehend the feelings. But in the midst of it, it complelety and utterly changes your mind.

Boyz_Mum · #22 06-12-2008, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda7NJ

When I was working as a social worker I once had a child, 8 years old, that tried to kill himself several times in really imaginative ways. Myself and several others worked really hard to have him admitted AGAIN to a children's crisis center. Took quite awhile because Medicaid didn't want to pay again. Finally got him in and while there ON SUICIDE WATCH he managed to kill himself by ramming a plastic fork down his throat while in the bathroom. So much for suicide watch.

I was devestated...

Thank you Linda7NJ for trying. Why was an 8 year old taking such desparate measures? Was it home life? Was it school life? I'm angry because I don't know what to do to protect my own 11 year old- it happens, even in the best of families.

OneLostGrl · #23 06-13-2008, 02:22 AM

The term "Depression" has become so broad and is so widley used in our society that there is massive misconception as to what "true" depression is.

A marriage breaks up and a person becomes "depressed", our car breaks down, we fail a class, we have financial problems, a loved one dies, our beloved pet runs away from home, we get laid off from our job...we get "depressed", it is "depressing". These are examples of situational depression which differs from clinical depression.

A person does not have to have difficulties in their life to become "depressed". In fact, they could have everything they ever dreamed of and still they want to die. These people have a chemical imbalance in their brains. Their depression is not a reaction to a person or event. They have a brain disorder, theirs doesn't work like yours!

I can understand you all wanting a reason for a kid wanting to die at 11 or at 8 years old but it's as simple and as complicated as this- some people are born not wanting to live... our depression is uncaused and comes from within. It is a part of our very existence. Sadly sometimes mental illness is fatal, no matter a sufferers age.

You should be angry! You should be scared to death because it very well could be one of your loved ones someday. More people suffer from Depression than Cancer, Heart disease and HIV. Over 30,000 Americans die by Suicide each year.

We need more funding for mental health research. We need more studies on causes, treatments and prevention. We need to DEstigmatize mental illness- we need to stop feeling ashamed and speak up.. we need to tell our stories and get in peoples faces.

We need to find a cure!

okok, I'm sorry- I'm done now!

txsvicki · #24 06-13-2008, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linda7NJ

When I was working as a social worker I once had a child, 8 years old, that tried to kill himself several times in really imaginative ways. Myself and several others worked really hard to have him admitted AGAIN to a children's crisis center. Took quite awhile because Medicaid didn't want to pay again. Finally got him in and while there ON SUICIDE WATCH he managed to kill himself by ramming a plastic fork down his throat while in the bathroom. So much for suicide watch.

I was devestated...

Do you think he was bipolar? It's not easy trying to find help for a child who is having severe problems unless there is some really good insurance involved. It's disgraceful.

dingo · #25 06-13-2008, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karole28

What could be so bad about an 11 year old's life that they'd want to end it?

Its too sad to even comprehend