BY B.G. GREGG and TANYA BRICKING
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A teen-ager plays Russian roulette, knowing there's a chance he can die. Another "land surfs," hanging from a speeding car for a thrill -- until he hits a mailbox. Yet another climbs a high overpass to paint graffiti and falls.
Two dead and one clinging to life.
Why? Experts don't know specific answers, but they do have theories as to why teens are more likely to engage in dangerous and deadly behavior:
They have a feeling of invincibility.
They want to die, or don't care if they do.
They are trying to escape pain or trauma.
They want to look cool and improve their standing with their friends.
"It is not uncommon for adolescents to have a sense of omnipotence, a belief that they are beyond death's hand," said Dr. Elizabeth Cottingham, an assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at Children's Hospital Medical Center. "And it is not uncommon for kids to become depressed and want to kill themselves, and they can come up with some very creative ways to do it."
She noted that about 13 million U.S. children and adolescents have mental health problems that require treatment, but only about 20 percent get that treatment.
Thus, she said, there are a lot of teens out there who may be so depressed they want to die.
She said most risk-taking occurs during the teen years, but some people are inclined to risky behavior.
"You can have very young children who are daredevils and that type of activity occurs into adulthood," she said.
Dr. James Brush, a psychologist who specializes in children and adolescents and writes a regular Teen Talk column for The Cincinnati Enquirer, said the teen-age years are naturally a time for taking chances.
"Kids want to take risks and need to take risks," he said. "It is normal for them to separate and become independent. If teen-agers didn't have some sense of invincibility and willingness to take risks, they wouldn't grow up and become independent."
But there are positive and negative gambles, he pointed out. A teen-ager who elects to take the bus from the suburbs into downtown and spend the day by herself exploring may be growing, but someone who speeds, drinks too much alcohol or plays Russian roulette has gone too far, he said.
"Risk-taking like that is really based in normal aspects of development that have gone awry," he said, adding that a lot of times it is accompanied by alcohol use.
But, he noted, the dangerous behavior could simply be a way of escaping other problems, such as depression, trauma, abuse and divorce.
"Excitement keeps you from feeling other things," he said. The challenge for parents is to help teens work through their emotions and avoid dangerous and copycat behavior, said Marilyn Gootman, of Athens, Ga., author of When A Friend Dies.
"There's going to be a lot of guilt for the kids who were there," she said. "Parents should encourage them to channel their emotions in a positive way -- to take up a cause, maybe gun control, or even just visiting the family."
