2 Rick: A Suicide of a Young Adult
Antoon A. Leenaars PhD,
Corresponding Author
Antoon A. Leenaars PhD
Antoon A. Leenaars is with the University of Leiden and in private practice, Windsor, Canada.
Address correspondence to the author at 880 Ouellette, Suite 806, Windsor, ON N9A 1C7 Canada. Fax: 1–519–253–8486Search for more papers by this authorAntoon A. Leenaars PhD,
Corresponding Author
Antoon A. Leenaars PhD
Antoon A. Leenaars is with the University of Leiden and in private practice, Windsor, Canada.
Address correspondence to the author at 880 Ouellette, Suite 806, Windsor, ON N9A 1C7 Canada. Fax: 1–519–253–8486Search for more papers by this authorThere is nothing more important in our clinical practice with suicidal patients than sound consultation. I am pleased to acknowledge the unequaled clinical consultations of John T. Maltsberger, Joseph Richman, and Susanne Wenckstern regarding this case.
Abstract
A small but concerning percentage of completed suicides are seen as having left no clues. The classical case, albeit a literary one, is Robinson's Richard Cory. These people often dissemble, even about their suicide risk. An even smaller group of these individuals present themselves in therapy without communicating a sign of suicide risk. Utilizing an idiographic approach, the case of a young adult male (Rick) is presented. The narrative reconstruction gives voice behind the man's mask. The autopsy reveals a young man who was in deep pain and unable to adjust to life's demands. Rick lacked ego strength, being overly narcissistic and having deeply troubled, symbiotic attachments to his family in a world of interpersonal isolation. In the end, even the help of his therapist, who tried to reach through the mask, was not enough and Rick killed himself. The pain had become unbearable. A few guiding remarks for such cases are offered, noting that therapists must constantly address the dissembling in some suicidal patients.
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