Year: 1994 Source: Social Work, v.39. no.2, (March 1994), p.230-232 SIEC No: 19940540

This article seeks to dispell the following 5 myths about childhood suicide: 1) children under the age of 6 do not commit suicide; 2) suicide in the latency years is extremely rare; 3) psychodynamically & developmentally, true depression is not possible in childhood; 4) a child cannot understand the finality of death; & 5) children are cognitively & physically incapable of implementing a suicide plan successfully. (10 refs.)