Cameron Lee is one of many victims of suicide in Gunn High School. What hit me about this student is the question: Why did he commit suicide? Some people will say that usually the kids who commit suicide are the ones who are considered to be the "outcasts" in school, and are unsuccessful. Cameron was a high achieving student, and was very sociable from what people have reported in the article. If this was the case, then what provoked him to kill himself? Shouldn't he have been content with his life if he had all these available to him?
Depression is a mental illness that ignores social status. Cameron could have been affected by this while he was alive, which would explain why he "never seemed to sleep". Sleep deprivation is linked to depression, which could suggest that he was suffering from this and lied to his friends about his reasons for being awake so late.
It is said that Cameron's reasons for committing suicide were unclear, but it was unrelated to school, family, or friends. If so, then what could his real reason be? Why do you think Cameron left a note like this instead of explaining why he killed himself?
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ReplyDeleteI think that maybe he thought that he was explaining his death all that he needed to. Often, notes that are left may not bring a sense of closure to the parents and others affected in the way that the child thought that it would. They might not get all of the answers that they want because he couldn't have possibly anticipated everything that they would have wanted to know. I agree that it was probably depression that caused his death because it seems like the only logical choice. What I find alarming is that the lack of sleep that he was getting was some kind of norm in the area and that it was kind of almost like a competition. This is very present at the Los Altos community, but I think it is a little less severe. Cameron's friend did say that Cameron had a very healthy outward appearance and was a good student, so they were shocked that Cameron killed himself. But the parents didn't notice anything either, so it seems like it is very easy for Cameron to hide how he was really feeling. He could have been hurting on the inside, but didn't let it show through his outward appearance. This was likely the case. Cameron aside, I don't think that talking about one kid's death will help to identify a main cause of suicide or why people leave notes that leave loved ones without answers. I think that suicide is and always will be an enigma to everyone who hasn't attempted or been successful at committing it. Do others agree or disagree?
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