Unexpected suicide and irrational thinking in adolescence: A case report

This report aims to draw attention to the fragility of adolescents' mind and irrational thinking in adolescence that might lead to suicide due to unusual experiences, by presenting a case of completed suicide with its unusual etiology. The victim, a 13 years old boy, had a quarrel with his mother as she sacrificed his pet, a cock, to prepare for dinner. Because of this, the victim had denied to join the family for dinner and wanted to be alone. While the family having dinner, a passing by neighbor realized that the victim was suspended with a ligature around his neck, in the backyard of the house. Meaningfully, there were feathers of cock in pants pockets of the deceased, in the corpse examination. Adolescents are experiencing dramatic physical and emotional changes, and being oversensitive and fragile in that period of life. Thus, a life experience that is tolerable to adults might badly affect adolescents and lead to suicide which is incomprehensible to them. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved.