Bullies
n September 2010, six teens—Raymond Chase, Cody J. Barker, William Lucas, Seth Walsh, Tyler Clementi, and Asher Brown—all died of the same cause. Although they ranged in age from thirteen to nineteen and lived in different states, their deaths were linked by one sad commonality: all six had killed themselves after being bullied.
Their deaths were added to the rolls of the several thousand other teen suicides in the United States in 2010. Suicide is a major adolescent human health threat—among eight- to twenty-four-year-olds nationwide, it’s the third most common cause of death.
Like adults who commit suicide, teens who kill themselves usually have an underlying mental illness—in particular, depression or depressed mood. However, one familiar aspect of the adolescent emotional profile may make this age group especially vulnerable to suicide: their increased impulsivity. With access to physical and pharmacological weapons of self-destruction, an impulsive teen can tip a difficult situation into a deadly one.
Psychological “autopsies,” the extensive interviews and investigations conducted by psychiatrists after suicides, have shown that the triggers for teen suicide are remarkably similar across cases. Loss—such as the death of a close friend or family member. Or a best friend’s moving out of town, especially for teens who have few friends. Rejection—by a girl- or boyfriend. Deep embarrassment—being kicked off a team, failing an important exam, enduring a humiliating public reprimand by a teacher.
Loss, rejection, embarrassment. The kinds of experiences that are triggers for human suicide also occur within animal groups. But animal behaviorists give them different names: isolation, exclusion, submission, and appeasement. Along with loss, rejection, and embarrassment, these terms describe the complex mixture of reactions and behaviors that contribute to the dynamics of social status within animal groups.
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