A psychological autopsy of the suicide of an academically gifted student: Researchers' and parents' perspectives

This study uses the methods and procedures of psychological autopsy to portray the life of an academically gifted college student who completed suicide. The study is unique in that it follows the subject across his 21 years of life, highlighting relevant milestones and significant stages and events. A comprehensive view of the life and death of a gifted student is offered through both researchers' and parents' perspectives, along with multiple theoretical explanations, including a developmental explanation. This psychological autopsy yielded three sets of findings: those that reflected exclusively on the subject's life, those that compare his life with 3 previous psychological autopsies conducted, and those that reflect the parents' observations and experiences of his life. Two important findings of this study include a depiction of the psychological makeup of a subject in interaction with his environment and the fact that many of the factors contributing to suicidal behavior identified for the general population of adolescents and young adults existed in this case, as well. Consequently, as Cross, Cook, and Dixon (1996) found, certain types of aberrant behavior, belief systems, or both should not be considered a typical part of being a gifted person; they should be recognized as potential indicators of suicidal behavior.