Definition: Suicidal Behavior
- "Anything that happens to the thinking within the brain, such as injury
or bad learning experiences that can interfere with serotonins ability
to keep basic instincts in line." Cardell Smith
Jared Benjamin High was
born Sept. 23, 1985 and died Sept. 29, 1998 by "bullycide,"
a teen suicide caused by bullying."
He was 13 years and 6 days old. This young man's suicide was such a waste
of a beautiful and kind boy and a true tragedy for everyone who knew him.
As his family has grieved his loss, we have found some solace in getting
answers to the "WHY" questions about his suicide and questions in general
on the subject of suicide.
If you are doing some studies on
bullying,
(teen) depression
and suicide, be sure and click on the other links to the left and/or support
the advertisers on this page. By supporting the advertisers on JaredStory.com,
you keep this website active on the web. If you have had thoughts
of suicide, be sure and read,
"Teenage
Suicide - Been There, Done That" and if you are
feeling down, be sure and read my favorite story about Jared, "The
Skittles War", and try out Jared's favorite (birthday) cake, "Dirt
Cake." It will take you back to the happy moments in your own
life and you will forget your own troubles for a time.
This page is here to help others that may have gone through
a suicide, or have thoughts of suicide themselves, so that they may get
answers to their questions. If you are suicidal, PLEASE, PLEASE,
get help!!! "Suicide doesn't get rid of
your pain, it just passes it on to your loved ones." (Check
out www.jaredstory.com/depression_causes.html
for answers to what depression symptoms are and what "Clinical Depression"
is.) Do not do to your loved ones what Jared did to us.
Talk
to a family member or a friend about what you are feeling and see
a professional counselor or mental health specialist. You are loved and
you are of value more than you can ever know!
Jared's death from suicide filled
our lives with
grief.
The healing has come slowly. Our family has
found hope in understanding Jared's purpose in life and in The
Meaning of Life. (Be sure and read "Commit
Suicide, and go where?") We were
left behind with only memories of Jared, mostly good, some bad, but our
healing journey goes on, forever.
Lots of love from Brenda (Jared's mom)
Watch
Jared's Story, Brenda's Story and Jared's Sister's Story featured on the
E!
Network, first
aired on April 21, 2010 - E!
Investigates: Bullying
HEAR JARED'S VOICE - PLAY
- From an interview with Pasco School District investagators
concerning the assault. This is a recording of a recording and it
isn't real clear, but worth the download effort. Jared had a real
mellow voice. Note: If you have a slow load wav, wait for it
to load entirely and then play again from the start. 5 minutes
long
...just wanted to let you know
that a young girl just wrote me and told me that she was ready to end her
life, but after finding our stories on your website she decided to live.
Her life is very hard but I have hope for her. She wrote, "I
was on your website because I almost did it yesterday. Almost.
It actually saved me." ...I apprecate you letting me be a part
of your website. Stacy Hone (http://www.jaredstory.com/kasey.html)
..
If thinking of suicide call:
1-800-999-9999
NOW
or call Samaritan's Suicide Hotline at
212-673-3000 or look up a
local phone number in Suicide
Hotlines and PLEASE CALL NOW!
Get a free
e-book, Suicide, The Forever Decision,
by Paul Quinett, Ph.D. Go to http://www.qprinstitute.com
to download.
"Life is not measured
by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take
our breath away."
WHEN SOMEONE TAKES HIS OWN LIFE An excerpt from THE
HEALING OF SORROW by Norman Vincent Peale
In many ways, this seems the most tragic form
of death. Certainly it can entail more shock and grief for those who are
left behind than another. And often the stigma of suicide is what rests
most heavily on those left behind.
Suicide is often judged to be essentially a selfish
act. Perhaps it is. But the Bible warns us not to judge, if we ourselves
hope to escape judgment. And I believe this is one area where that Biblical
command especially should be heeded.
Nor do we know how many valiant battles such a
person may have fought and won before he loses that one particular battle.
And is it fair that all the good acts and impulses of such a person should
be forgotten or blotted out by his final tragic act?
I think our reaction should be one of love and
pity, not of condemnation. Perhaps the person was not thinking clearly
in his final moments; perhaps he was so driven by emotional whirlwinds
that he was incapable of thinking at all. This is terribly sad...
but surely it is understandable. All of us have moments when we lost
control of ourselves, flashes of temper, or irritation, of selfishness
that we later regret. Each one of us, probably, has a final breaking point-
or would have if our faith did not sustain us. Life puts more pressure
on some of us than it does on others. When I see in the paper, as I do
all too often, that dark despair has rolled over some lonely soul, so much
so that for him life seemed unendurable, my reaction is not one of condemnation.
It is, rather "There but for the grace of God..."
And my heart goes out to those who are left behind,
because I known that they suffer terribly. Children in particular are left
under a cloud of "differentness," all the more terrifying because it can
never be fully explained or lifted. The immediate family of the victim
is left wide open to tidal waves of guilt, "What did I fail to do that
I should have done? What did I fail to do that I should of done? What did
I do that was wrong?"
To such grieving persons I can only say, "Lift
up your heads and your hearts, surely you did your best. And surely the
loved one who is gone did his best, for as long as he could. Remember,
now that his battles and torments are over, do not judge him, and do not
presume to fathom the mind of God where one is his children is concerned."
Suicide
Bullying
