Tragic Consequences of Teen Mental Illness

Re “Teen Suicide and Feelings of Failure,” Jan. 1: I am saddened and angry after reading about the tragic life and sad death of Velia Huerta Victorino. This poor soul was screaming out for help in the only way most adolescents know, but she was misunderstood or ignored and left to fend for herself. The only real chance she had was denied her by her absent and self-described devout Catholic father, who didn’t believe in “giving kids drugs” and apparently sought religious counsel only after Velia’s death when he was afraid she wouldn’t see heaven.

It is a sad commentary on our society that young people like Velia are left to cope on their own no matter how loud their cries for help or how closely they are observed. Velia slept on the same mattress with her mother and killed herself while her mother slept. It doesn’t get much sadder than that.

James Cannon

Van Nuys

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As a psychiatrist treating adolescents, I see adolescent suicide as approaching epidemic proportions. You note that Velia’s tragedy is repeated 4,200 times a year in America. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for youths 15 to 24 years of age. Ninety percent of adolescent suicide victims have at least one diagnosable -- and treatable -- major mental disorder. Treatment can save lives, but old attitudes and stereotypes remain obstacles to treatment.

The message I see in your poignant article is that major mental disorders render particularly vulnerable teens unable to deal with life’s major stressors. In Velia’s story, emotional instability, family and social turmoil and successive, difficult losses were crippling when coupled with her mental disorder. Suicide apparently seemed rational, deserved or even a relief. As she said in her suicide note, “Sorry for what I did, but I had to.” Velia’s death and her family’s tragedy have touched us all. Hopefully, it will change our lives.

Colleen Copelan MD

Ventura