Samantha Kuberski, Only 6 Years Old, The Youngest Girl To Commit Suicide
Samantha Kuberski a 6-year-old girl, was a happy person who went to school. In December 2009, she took her own life. She apparently had no problems, so her suicide surprised health professionals.
When medical examiners examined her body in Yamhill County, south of Portland, they declared it was, indeed, a suicide, making Samantha a the youngest person to take his own life.
The events occurred on December 2 in the North American state of Oregon. After an argument with her mother, Samantha was punished in her room. While her mother and her sisters were in different rooms of her McMinnville home, the girl climbed into a crib that the Kuberski family had, but that she did not use.
After putting a belt around his neck, fell from the top of the crib rail. When Kellie, her mother, entered the room she saw the unconscious body of little Samantha. Although she tried to revive her, she could do nothing to save her life. She was later taken to the hospital where her death was officially announced.
Was little Samantha aware of what she was doing?
Samantha’s parents and siblings were questioned by the police, but it was the authorities themselves who later stated that They found no signs that the little girl had been a victim of abuse at any point in her life.
What is striking about this case is the question of whether Samanta was really aware of her tragic death. While the forensic medical team that examined the victim reported that it was a suicide, the police officers in charge of the investigation insisted that it could be an accident. Besides, They questioned whether such a young girl was aware of the consequences of her actions. and they had similar opinions from some experts, such as the psychiatrist Dr. Kirk Wolfe.
Do children understand the meaning of suicide?
“Many children this age are not aware of what death means,” Wolfe explained to Yamhill Valley News. Furthermore, he added that: “It is not until the age of 8, 9 or 10 that they begin to understand the meaning of death, and that there is no return once it occurs.”
The relationship between depression and suicide
The lack of hope for the future and the loss of autonomy regarding life and feelings are two of the most common causes that occur for a person to make the decision to commit suicide. Since depression It is capable of incapacitating a person and they usually reject the help that family and friends can provide. its diagnosis is complicated in many cases. Depressed people pay too much attention to the negative aspects of life, living in eternal pessimism.
It is the lack of hope and future expectations that causes suicidal ideas to occur and the act to end up being committed. In fact, many studies have been carried out with older people on depressive disorder and suicide, but what happens in the mind of a child that makes them take their own life?
In addition to adult life, Suicidal ideas are very common during adolescence, without this meaning that there is an imminent danger to life. If these ideas are not associated with different factors (understanding risk factors) or planned, suicide may not take place. During adolescence, it is considered that for every adolescent who commits suicide, nearly three hundred attempt it.
Suicidal acts are not common in individuals under 15 years of age
If many adolescents have suicidal ideas, the same does not happen with children under 10 years old. In fact, it is almost impossible to find studies that refer to this phenomenon. Regarding this, psychiatrists Karaman and Durukan (2013) write:
“Suicide before the age of 15 is not common. Many of the suicides of children and adolescents occur after that age. According to a study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that was carried out in 2009, the suicide rate in children between 10 and 14 years old was 1.3 per 100,000, and in young people between 15 and 19 years old it was 7.75. per 100,000, and in people aged 20 to 24 it was 12.5 per 100,000.”
Related article: “The letter from Diego, the 11-year-old boy who committed suicide after being a victim of bullying”
