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Suicide at MIT raises parents' ire
USAtoday ^ | 1-24-02

Posted on 01/27/2002 5:33:46 AM PST by mikenola

Edited on 04/13/2004 1:39:00 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

(Excerpt) Read more at usatoday.com ...


TOPICS: Front Page News; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 01/27/2002 5:33:47 AM PST by mikenola
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To: mikenola
"Elizabeth set herself on fire in her dorm room"

MIT should file charges of arson!

2 posted on 01/27/2002 5:41:04 AM PST by verity
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To: mikenola
Sad bump.
3 posted on 01/27/2002 5:41:31 AM PST by Artist
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To: mikenola
Apparently the university did notify the parents about her condition when they told them she was hospitalized. The Shin's knew she was seeing a psychiatrist. I don't think they'll get a judgment in their favor; however, the university will have to pay for legal costs, which will be passed down as increased tuition and school fees.

These parents go on about how mature their daughter was, then whine when the university doesn't break adult confidentiality regulations and tell Mommy and Daddy.

4 posted on 01/27/2002 5:44:59 AM PST by 3catsanadog
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To: verity
MIT should file charges of arson!

I once worked in a burn center. Attempted suicide by self-immolation is surprisingly common, and usually unsuccessful.

No matter how bad things may seem in life, don't ever, ever, ever set yourself on fire.

5 posted on 01/27/2002 5:49:43 AM PST by SlickWillard
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To: mikenola
Everything bad is ALWAYS someone else's fault(see prevaricator(#42)in-chief).This young woman should have been institutionalized by her parents!They were(obviously)into denial as to the true mental-emotional condition of their daughter!!!!
6 posted on 01/27/2002 5:50:59 AM PST by bandleader
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To: mikenola
I wonder why She wasn't discussing Her problems with her parents.
7 posted on 01/27/2002 5:52:04 AM PST by 57 Corvette
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To: bandleader
I am sorry for their loss, but I agree, they were in total denial.
They knew she had problems and should have never been sent to live on her own.
And you don't tell a depressed person: "Always be happy."
8 posted on 01/27/2002 5:57:35 AM PST by pubmom
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To: mikenola
Suicide at MIT raises parents' ire

Yeah. Pisses me off, too.

9 posted on 01/27/2002 6:00:37 AM PST by Lazamataz
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To: mikenola
Setting herself on fire , slashing wrists and wanting to stick a knife in her chest..........wow. From what I understand this is not the way most females commit suicide. They usually prefer the clean way as to not interfer with their looks. An acquaintance once committed suicide in a car with the motor running. This is what the family told me about the methods. So sad.
10 posted on 01/27/2002 6:02:34 AM PST by MadelineZapeezda
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To: bandleader
Everything bad is ALWAYS someone else's fault(see prevaricator(#42)in-chief).This young woman should have been institutionalized by her parents!

Good luck. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get someone committed against their will? In most states it requires them to be "an imminent danger to themselves or others, or gravely disabled." I deal wih this on a daily basis in the Emergency Room. By the way in the state where I practice this goes into effect at the age of 14. Yup. You can have a teen who is depressed, who can refuse hospitalization or medication ( many of you will think thats a GOOD thing....). To overcome that you need to arange for a court hearing in front of a judge. Who may be great at the legal details, but has no training in psychiatry.
11 posted on 01/27/2002 6:06:34 AM PST by Kozak
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To: mikenola
Some years ago, the parents of a man, who had comitted suicide, were blaming the Catholic Church because a priest had counseled him. Another priest, speaking for the Church, denied that the Church was responsible.

A "reporter", interviewing the priest, asked, "But if the Church is not responsible for his suicide, who is?"

"He is," the priest replied.

The "reporter" was dumbfounded--speechless. It had never occurred to him that anyone would be responsible for his own suicide.

To the mind of the decadent Liberal, it's always somebody else's fault. Someone else must always be held responsible.

The American people had better get their thinking straight--and fast--and repudiate Liberalism and all this decadence. The U.S. is in a struggle for survival, and its greatest threat, by far, is decadence--in the form of Liberalism.

Many Americans behave as though they had never heard of self-reliance and accepting responsibility for one's own actions and destiny. That is what built the U.S., and it is necessary if the U.S. is to prevail over its numerous, formidable enemies.

Foreign enemies, however determined, will not destroy America.

However domestic enemies--Liberals and their decadence--will--if the American people do not cleanse the U.S. of them, and soon.

12 posted on 01/27/2002 6:09:48 AM PST by Savage Beast
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To: mikenola
Suicide has always been a problem at The Institute.

I commend Pepper White's excellent book, The Idea Factory. It's the best I've found for capturing the feel of the place. White entered M.I.T about a year or two after I graduated, and his experience was similar to mine.

Only I didn't have the wit to write a book about it!

--Boris

13 posted on 01/27/2002 6:12:03 AM PST by boris
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To: mikenola
Please refresh my memory, why do parents deserve any compensation for the death of their children? Shouldn't any possible damages only be recoverable by someone who was actually a dependent of the decedent?
14 posted on 01/27/2002 6:25:03 AM PST by TN Republican
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To: verity
Yes, MIT should sue for arson. And sue the parents for bad parenting. These greedy parents are revolting!
15 posted on 01/27/2002 6:27:04 AM PST by Dante3
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To: mikenola
At MIT alone, 12 students have committed suicide since 1990.

MIT has a student population of about 10,000. Twlve years @ 10,000 gives us about 120,000. so 12/120,000= almost no problem at all. I'd be willing to bet that the overall suicide rate for the Greater Boston area is much greater.

Indeed, suicide has long been the third leading cause of death for college students, after accidents and homicide.

What the he!! is supposed to kill 18/22 year olds? Lung cancer? Heart disease? What a load!

Those pressures are considerable: 74% of students surveyed by the MIT task force said they had an emotional problem that interfered with their daily lives.

LOL! 100% of honest people said, that at one time or another, they had an emotional problem that interfered with their daily lives.

But of course the lives of our future betters a much more important than the drudge filled existences of peons...

16 posted on 01/27/2002 6:29:22 AM PST by metesky
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Comment #17 Removed by Moderator

To: bandleader;mikenola;MadelineZapeezda;Kozak
I have worked in both university based counseling centers and psychiatric hospitals. This situation is not unique. The laws are writter based on a model code from the seventies which provided complete confidentialy to patients. Do you know that if your loved one has been picked up by police or ambulance and brought to a pscyiatric hospital, they have the perfect right to refuse to see or involve you, even if they are so disturbed that they are hallucinating and delusional and psychotic. Even if you are picking up the tab? The age this "privilige" begins varies from state to state.

And all mental health provides and hospitals can be sued if they break this confidentiality.

Our culture values autonomy more than it values anything. Even ridiculous autonomy of people with not ablility to judge, those who are incompetent.

The severely mentally have little insght or judgement. They kill themselves in horrifying ways, a severely mentally ill woman really doesnt care how her corpse looks, she just wants the pain to end.

In my opinion, the horror of having a severely mentally ill family member is tripled by becoming emeshed in a self perpetuating system that is looking for dependents.

18 posted on 01/27/2002 6:37:04 AM PST by mlmr
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To: boris
Suicide has always been a problem at The Institute. I commend Pepper White's excellent book, The Idea Factory. It's the best I've found for capturing the feel of the place. White entered M.I.T about a year or two after I graduated, and his experience was similar to mine. Only I didn't have the wit to write a book about it! --Boris

Hey Boris. I'm class of '81, Course 16. When I was there, freshman year was pass-fail - because they wanted to lower the suicide rate by softening the blow and allowing all these geek hotshots to adjust to the fact that they're now just average - or worse.

Of course, the cut-throat premeds (which I think she might have been if she was going to be a geneticist) totally thwarted this common-sense measure by demanding that MIT release their hiddlen freshman grades to med schools. All this was 20 years ago - so I have no idea what the Institute is doing now.

P.S. Remember the "IHTFP" T-shirt?

19 posted on 01/27/2002 6:42:43 AM PST by ctonious
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To: mikenola
Indeed, suicide has long been the third leading cause of death for college students, after accidents and homicide.

That would be alcohol-related accidents...

The problem that schools like MIT wil never solve is that there is enormous pressure NOT to drop out and correct whatever problems you might have. At the top universities in the country, it's a tough decision to say that you can't handle it and need some time off. People push themselves through it regardless of their situation. I'm surprised that there aren't more suicides there.

But any way you slice it, it's still the student and her parents' job to make sure the right decisions are made. MIT isn't there to keep psychological tabs on all of its students.
20 posted on 01/27/2002 6:43:23 AM PST by July 4th
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