Suicide attempt during adolescence: A way of killing the “infans” and a quest for individuation-separation

Background: Suicidal behavior among adolescents raises both the questions of object transactions and of how these objects have been internalized. Aims: This article uses a psychodynamic approach to highlight particularities of mental functioning in adolescents attempting suicide and presents the care provided for suicidal adolescents. Methods: The results of this longitudinal research are briefly outlined and a clinical  vignette is presented illustrating the latent meaning of the suicidal gesture. The hypothesis is offered that the murder of a part of oneself is an important latent component of suicide attempts in teenagers. Results:  Attempting suicide is interpreted as performing unconsciously in order to kill the insufficiently contained infans. The root of this word in Latin literally means “one who does not speak.” We refer to infans as the  idealized and speechless part of oneself subjugated to parental projections. A suicidal gesture is a way of relieving oneself of the part of the self that condenses trauma resulting from drives and parents’ idealized  expectations. Conclusions: Therapeutic work helps adolescents express representations of the meaning of their violent gesture. Murder representations appearing after a suicide attempt modify violence linked to puberty drives and reshape identifications.