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Those Who Get Left Behind, Maggie Pfutner

3690: A Journal of First-Year Student Research Writing

Overview: For most people, losing a friend or loved one is the most difficult thing that they will have to deal with in their life. When that person is an adolescent who may not have personally dealt with death before and especially a death from suicide, the process of grieving can become even more difficult and complicated. In 2009, 4,630 young adults ages 10-24 died by suicide (“Youth Suicidal Behavior”). For each of these deaths a conservative estimate is that “as many as 6 to 10 survivors (persons close to the suicide victim) remain to cope with the loss” (Mitchell …