All issues > Volume 33(5); 1990

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1990;33(5):666-670. Published online May 31, 1990.

Four Cases of Attempted Suicide in Childhood.

Young Don Lee¹, Hyung Ro Moon¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Received: September 4, 1989;  Accepted: November 13, 1989.

Abstract

Suicides and attempted suicides in childhood are not as rare as in commonly believed by foreign literatures. However a few cases of suicide in childhood were reported in Korea until the present or up to the present. A suicide attempt is usually interpreted as a cry for help and an indication of an individuafs frustration, distress and feelings of inadequacy to cope in some immediate situation. We reported attempted suicides in four children admitted to the pediatric ward through the emergency room. Direct motivations for suicide attempt in cases 1,2 and 3 were feelings of inadequacy steering from parental pressure or poor school performance and frustration in dealing with school classmates in case 4. The role of pediatricians in childhood suicide and attempted suicide was emphasized together with review of the literatures.

Keywords :Suicide, suicide attempt