This Suicide Alert website and its suicide prevention movement for youths have been temporarily placed into recession due to greater enlightenment and a much better understanding of the nature of suicide and its psychological and physiological mode. Suicide Alert will continue in the near future with a whole new perspective upon the origin of suicide and its innate force of self destructiveness. The new movement will target the “will to live” as the most strategic and intelligent means of successfully addressing the act of suicide.

The wisdom, knowledge and experience of my entire work with youth suicide have manifested a very disturbing revelation – the prevention of suicide is impossible when the will to live dissipates in the mind and soul of the victim. This cold hearted fact has drastically changed the methodology of my suicide project. From now on Suicide Alert will relinquish its program as a suicide prevention movement and declare its new program the “Will to Live” movement.

Youth Advocate
Trialfa Ankh-Maat Omega

In retrospect, as I reexamine my initial motive and purpose of creating a suicide prevention movement for youths, I can readily acknowledge that it was the impetus of emotionalism that drove me into thinking that I could save youths from choosing death as a solution to the problems they faced and concluded that were too burdensome to live with.

The whole experience of spending decades as a Youth Advocate, counseling, educating, training, relating and serving as a confidant of so many youths transformed me into a co-parent that evolved into a loving bond with practically every child I knew.

My emotional commitment to preventing suicide in the life of the young manifested when I attended the funeral of a teen that I had known since first grade, and served as her martial arts instructor for several years. When I attended the funeral a part of my heart, mind and soul spilled over into the casket and refused to leave as I turned to walk away from viewing the body. It was extremely difficult to dispel the guilt ridden thought that I could have done something to prevent such a tragic circumstance and pitiful waste of human potentiality. To address the burden of my own guilt I emotionally set out to prevent suicide from happening to as many youths as my will, expression and determination could achieve. I didn’t really care if I didn’t truly understand what I was doing, or really know how to go about achieving a successful suicide prevention movement. All I cared about was eliminating as many funeral visitations and casket viewings as possible and evading that excruciating spell that death cast upon the human emotions.

With the help of my computer “Whiz Kid” I ordered my domain name, designed my website and launched my suicide prevention movement for youths and called it Suicide Alert. It was by pure happenstance that I was living in the city of the suicide capital of America (Las Vegas) when I chose to launch my movement. Teen suicide in Las Vegas had reached a disturbing climate of humanism. Youths were turning death into a canvas of dramatic statements. Their statements turned into publicity when flare was added to the drama of their suicides. A few youths generated media frenzy when they began jumping to their death from the highest structure in the city of Las Vegas – the Stratosphere Hotel and Casino.

The president of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas gave permission for my use of the alternate gym to teach martial arts as long as my karate class was registered as a student club at the campus student union; that I catered to the interest of college students primarily, and that I purchased a $2 million liability insurance policy covering all participants of my class.

My martial arts talent as a Grand Master martial artist has always attracted youths and encouraged them to practice the art diligently and with serious intent of achieving its rewarding fruits of self-consciousness, self-discipline and self-esteem. Youths attended my karate class at no charge. The popularity of the karate class attracted youths who were wholeheartedly seeking an alternative to suicide. I earned the status as a confidant and students began to keep me informed and up to date with the suicide buzz.

As I began listening to various contemplations of suicide and understand the impetus of motives, I knew very well that I was incapable of making a positive impact upon suicidal thoughts and intentions with just martial arts instructions and conversations of confidentiality. I needed a dynamic platform of community outreach to plug into the consciousness of the city and raise the awareness of this awesome epidemic of teen suicide. My first attempt was to collaborate with other suicide prevention programs in the city and solicit their help. I soon discovered that such programs were being sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, and that prescription drugs and anti-depressants were being administered as major treatments for suicidal syndrome. In my opinion drugs were only a form of perpetual treatment, and certainly not a curable solution.

My next approach resulted in starting a radio talk show. I named the radio show Youth Corp Radio. My 15 year old son and co-host, solicited sponsors from the business community, purchased air time and submitted our program to the radio station for approval. Our talk show was a two hour radio program on Tuesday evenings from 7 to 9pm. The program featured music by Madonna. We advertised products and services for our supportive sponsors, and invited teen guests to appear at the radio station to participate in the live broadcast of the show and discuss the subject of suicide and its issues. We concluded our show by answering phone calls from our listening audience and encouraging parents to open doors of sincere communication with their teenage children.

I visited high school campuses and talked with school counselors looking for support for my movement. Suicide was a hush/hush subject among school faculty members. One counselor at Chaparral High School respectfully questioned my qualifications and experience in suicide prevention, then warned me that I just might be well over my head when it comes to accountability if anything should ever go wrong with the youths who confide in me information that is exclusive to their parents. Such a warning turned out to be an omen. I had received the buzz about a very popular star running back for the Chaparral High Cowboys football team. Life at home had escalated in conflict with his father. This beloved high school athlete shocked the Chaparral community by committing suicide. The rumored story explained that the son asked his father for the use of his car to take his girl friend on a date. When the father refused to let him use the car, he went in the garage and shot himself in the head. Word got back to the mother that I was a confidant in the circle of his friends. While emotionally managing the shock of loosing her son, she channeled resentment toward me thinking that I knew something that could have prevented her son’s death, or at least forwarded some kind of warning that would have given her a possible chance to intercede such a tragedy. I was painfully reminded of the omen and the yoke of accountability that my shoulders were incompetent in bearing. Parents got wind of my role as confidant and flexed their muscles of authority. The radio station received a swarm of phone calls complaining about me and my suicide movement. Our sponsors responded by canceling their ads. Suicide Alert was confronting opposition that I was powerless to overcome. I canceled Youth Corp Radio, relinquished the movement temporarily, and took to the Internet for research of data that would arm me with the knowledge to successfully address the act of suicide.

My education about the subject of suicide had just begun. Unfortunately, I started at the backdoor of confidence and experience. Now it was time to approach the front door of wisdom and knowledge. I took residence on the Internet and added some impressive books about suicide to my library. The more books I read and the more I engaged in Internet research the more aware I became of the perplexity of suicide, and the more excited I became of my Suicide Alert project.

Suicide was officially declared a social epidemic. Our nation was experiencing more suicides than homicides, as social engineers were raising their eyebrows and shaking their heads in bewilderment. Suicide became the third leading cause of death in society; the second leading cause of death in the military, and second leading cause of death at colleges and universities.

I focused my research on teen suicide because I felt it was much more economical and less complex to cultivate a youth’s will to live and help upgrade his or her lifestyle to a more satisfying standard of living than that of an adult.

I learned that teenage males succeed in committing suicide more than girls, and that teenage girls attempt suicide much more often than boys. The striking results are that girls who contemplate suicide have a greater will to live than boys who harbor suicidal thoughts. I also learned by research and by my own experience as a confidant of youths that homosexuality and the fear of parental knowledge of their sexual identity is the leading cause of teen suicide.

My Internet research was significantly distracted when I went thumbing through my library and stumbled upon the dynamic works of Carl Jung, Erich Fromm, B.F. Skinner, Erik Erikson and Sigmund Freud, regarding the subject of suicide. Such impressive minds of intellectual prowess were far removed from emotionalism and its interference in their works and analysis of the human psyche and its patterns of behavior. These great men of psychoanalysis preferred the use of the term self-destruction, rather than suicide. They contended that self destructiveness was inherent in the natural order of things. When life looses its motive of motion and will of existence, atrophy assures the disintegration of matter, which liberates energy in order to reestablish itself in a new and more evolved form of matter.

Please take heed to what I have learned about suicide from the marvelous works of yesterday’s extraordinary minds of social psychology and psychoanalysis; profound lessons that have revolutionized my thoughts and ideas regarding the future of my suicide movement – Suicide Alert.

Carl Jung, one of the most adamant opponents against suicide that I have ever read. In Jung’s theory on suicide he states that life is premised on a teleological path-realization of the self; therefore, the goal of life of the individual is self-realization. So, contained within the psyche is the eventual psychic position the individual is striving towards.

Perhaps, Jung’s most prominent mentions of suicide appeared in his letters, often in response to specific questions regarding suicide from correspondents. He was certainly not at all bashful in his stern view that suicide was indeed a terrible act of wastefulness. A reflection of Jung’s attitude is found in a letter he wrote dated July 10, 1946, to a correspondent regarding suicide. Jung wrote: “The idea of suicide, understandable as it is, does not seem commendable to me. We live in order to gain the greatest possible amount of spiritual development and self-awareness. As long as life is possible, even if only in a minimal degree, you should hang onto it, in order to scoop it up for the purpose of conscious development. To interrupt life before its time is to bring to a standstill an experiment which we have not set up. We have found ourselves in the midst of it and must carry it through to the end.” (Jung, 1973, p. 434) Jung’s strongest statement regarding suicide was made in a letter to a “Mrs. N.,” a 47 year old woman concerned about the impact of her suicide attempt at 21years of age. This statement is contained in a letter dated October 13, 1951: “It isn’t possible to kill part of your “self” unless you kill yourself first. If you ruin your conscious personality, the so-called ego-personality, you deprive the self of its real goal, namely to become real itself. The goal of life is the realization of the self. If you kill yourself you abolish that will of the self to become real, but it may arrest your personal development inasmuch it is not explained. You ought to realize that suicide is murder, since after suicide there remains a corpse exactly as with any ordinary murder. Only it is yourself that has been killed.” (Jung, 1975, p.25) In majority of Jung’s statements he consistently emphasizes that: “The goal of life is the realization of the self.” None of Jung’s letters appear to have been written by his clients. I assume that with the deepest of respect and sincere confidentiality the connection between his own clients and suicide went unmentioned. The content of Jung’s letters was demonstrative of how definite his attitude was toward suicide. He felt strongly that our lives are not ours to take; that destiny offers something beyond this life on earth. He stated: “The journey that the psyche takes requires the totality of experience including the indignity and suffering of terminal illness, because this suffering is stuff of the psyche. Without it, we cheat the psyche from obtaining its eventual goal.” Jung makes a clear argument regarding the prospective and teleological aspect of the self and the psyche.
*More reference toward this particular writing can be found in the essay, “Toward a Jungian Theory of Suicide,” by John D. Betts.

Erich Fromm, a brilliant mind of radical humanism, was a passionate social critic who combined psychological insight with social theory and achieved remarkable results that provided a fundamental contribution to the field of social psychology. In Fromm’s book, “The Sane Society,” he placed primary emphasis upon the necessity of the development and progress of humanism, particularly mental health. Fromm suggested that living under the cultural thralldom of domination, subjugation and exploitation will eventually deteriorate human sanity. And the deterioration of sanity robs the individual of his independence and genuine sense of self-hood, which eventually victimizes the person with neurosis. When a neurotic citizen is denied the basic human needs of productivity, self-actualization, freedom and adequate love human nature suffers defect and the human mind goes insane. Insanity is a form of self-destructiveness that readily borders on the brink of suicide. The American Association for Suicidology (AAS) directly links suicide with mental illness and notes that more than 90% of suicide victims have at least one form of mental disorder.

Knowledge of the prevalence of mental illness and its devastating consequences upon individual reality is no where to be found in our media dominant environment of propagandized information and manipulated consciousness. Although there is a miniscule of minds resting in institutions for mental care, the whole of human insanity has become asylums within the societal asylum; a gesture that society must protect the lesser insane from the greater insane. What this Western civilization and its social engineers must continue to deny and ignore is that capitalistic democracy and its dehumanizing culture is a stimulant to eventual suicide.

Burrhus Fredric Skinner, proclaimed the most radical behaviorist of the 20th century, is said to have had the most profound effect upon the field of psychology, particularly that of behavioral science. As a 21st century philosopher I share extreme likeness of mind, thought and conception with Skinner when it comes to behavior as a determinant and consequential reinforcement of humanism.

“Behavior is the true mark of existence and a reliable measure of operant conditioning.”

The Perennial Philosophy of Nungkyyii

Based upon his doctorial dissertation, Skinner published his first book in 1938, “The Behavior of Organisms,” which was to become the theoretical and experimental foundations of ‘Operant Science’ and the ‘experimental analysis of behavior.’ A radical behaviorist, Skinner developed the theory of ‘Operant Conditioning’ – the idea that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments. Through simple, yet powerful experimental procedures, Skinner demonstrated how operants came under the control of reinforcers and were conditioned. He demonstrated the orderly pattern of responding via the cumulative recorder, which plotted the cumulative number of responses over time. The changes in the slope of the cumulative record showed changes in the strength of the behavior.
Skinner’s analysis has give rise to a technology of behavior. More than 10 years of his laboratory research had contributed to the establishment of psychology as a natural science. Behavior was treated as scientific data in its own right. His approach emphasized the functional description of an observed behavior, which could be predicted and controlled through environmental manipulations such as reinforcement. Skinner defined this ‘radical behaviorism’ as ‘the philosophy of science of behavior.’ “The Behavior of Organisms was published more than 6 decades ago and its tremendous impact and its legacy is still evident.
After receiving ‘Humanist of the Year’ in 1972, Skinner later made this comment in his autobiography, “If humanism meant nothing more than the maximizing of personal freedom and dignity, then I was not a humanist. If it meant trying to save the human species, then I was.”
Skinner, along with several of his behaviorist comrades, realized that suicide is a behavior that is conditioned by an environment whose reinforcements are negative, and that depriving an operant of basic needs of human sustenance will eventually diminish incentives to live. Shocking as it may sound, behavior science reveals that suicide is a ‘built-in’ natural behavioral response to negative conditions that reinforce the deterioration of human reality and its conscious will to live. In order to successfully address the act of suicide you must eliminate the operant conditions of negative reinforcements and replace such conditions with positive reinforcements that rewardingly cultivate the humanistic qualities of the operant. 

Erich Erikson, psychoanalyst and developmental psychologist. Erickson’s eight stages of human development are very profound and far-reaching into comprehending the realm of developmental behavior. Erickson believed that the dichotomy of personality traits were significantly influential in character development. And that inborn temperamental traits of opposition cause people to think of themselves as emotional or unemotional, optimistic or pessimistic, aggressive or passive, leader or follower. Erickson claimed that other characteristics, such as feeling either competent or inferior, appear to be learned, based on the challenges and support received in growing up.

Based in part on his study of Sioux Indians on a reservation, Erickson became aware of the massive influence of culture on behavior and placed more emphasis on the external world, such as depression and wars. He felt that the course of development is determined by the interaction of the body (genetic biological programming), mind (psychological), and cultural (ethos) influences.

Erikson organized life into eight stages of development that extend from birth to death. Since adulthood covers a span of many years, Erikson divided the stages of adulthood into the experiences of young adults, middle aged adults and older adults. His basic philosophy seemed to have stood upon two major premises: (1) the world gets bigger as we go along and (2) failure is cumulative. The first premise is quite obvious, but the second raises questions. Although failure is a natural component of human reality, its accumulation is relative to the child’s strength of character, environmental circumstance and quality of support system.

Here is an interesting model of Erikson’s 8 stages of development:

Psychoanalyst Erik Erikson describes the physical, emotional and psychological stages of development and relates specific issues, or developmental work or tasks, to each stage. Infant Trust vs. Mistrust Needs maximum comfort with minimal uncertainty to trust himself/herself, others, and the environment Toddler Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt Works to master physical environment while maintaining self-esteem Preschooler Initiative vs. Guilt Begins to initiate, not imitate, activities; develops conscience and sexual identity School-Age Child Industry vs. Inferiority Tries to develop a sense of self-worth by refining skills Adolescent Identity vs. Role Confusion Tries integrating many roles (child, sibling, student, athlete, worker) into a self-image under role model and peer pressure Young Adult Intimacy vs. Isolation Learns to make personal commitment to another as spouse, parent or partner Middle-Age Adult Generativity vs. Stagnation Seeks satisfaction through productivity in career, family, and civic interests Older Adult Integrity vs. Despair Reviews life accomplishments, deals with loss and preparation for death Erikson’s analysis revealed that proper growth and development of a child’s maturity through each stage of transformation will more often result in an independent, confident and competent citizen armed with the psychological components it takes to socially succeed within a challenging culture. And that the lack of sufficient growth and development will unquestionably proceed toward self-destructiveness – the more clinical descriptive for suicide.

Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind; the defense mechanism of repression, and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis. Freud is also known for his redefinition of sexual desire as the primary motivational energy of human life. In a society where sexuality and it liberty of expression is culturally suppressed and dictated by sanctioned relationships of heterosexuality and monogamy, sexual desire is forced into deviation in a desperate search for ideal satisfaction. Such radical departure from the norm of the nature of sex takes toll upon the human psyche and its energetic force field.

The genius of Freud made him the most controversial figure in the world of psychology. His conceptions of the human psyche and the energetic forces of influence that surrounded it were too radical for mainstream psychology of accept and conform. Freud believed that humans were driven by two conflicting central desires: the life drive (libido/Eros – survival, propagation, hunger, thirst and sex) and the death drive (Thanatos). His description of Cathexis, whose energy is known as libido, included all creative, life-producing drives. The death drive (or death instinct), whose energy in known as anticathexis, represents an urge inherent in all living things to return to a state of calm: in other words, an inorganic or death state.

Freud developed his theory on the death drive in “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” He approached the paradox between the life drives and the death drives by defining pleasure and un-pleasure. According to Freud, un-pleasure refers to stimulus that the body receives as unpleasant. And conversely, pleasure is a result of the decrease of the stimulant allowing a pleasant experience to manifest. Pleasure and un-pleasure must maintain equilibrium of balance and reciprocation if the human mind is to retain it natural order of function. The moment pleasure exceeds it time phase of expression and un-pleasure is deprived of its expression (avoiding pain through methods of pain relief) the psyche is thrown out of sync and mental disorder progresses. On the contrary, when un-pleasure exceeds its natural order of expression the deprivation of pleasure (sexual satisfaction) defects the human nature and the mind contracts the illness of neurosis.
The dynamic impact that sexual desire has upon the human mind shakes the very foundation of conventional psychology and the rudiments of Western culture. What professor of psychology is dauntless enough to face the statue quo and proclaim that sexual inhibition and its resulting deviancy is a root stimulant of mental disorder? In an extreme sexual taboo culture whose sexual revolution has gone through a radical transition from a ‘close’ system to an ‘open’ system, the evolutionary form of sexual desire has become an unbridled spirit of desperation and cravings that are wreaking havoc upon human reality, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. The prevalence of sex abuse; the prominent rise in sex crimes, and increases of the prisons’ population of sex offenders send a disturbing message to every eye that is interested to open; every ear that is willing to listen, and every head that refuses to turn away.

We are living in an era of our civilization where Sex and suicide carry a profound correlation. Heterosexuality is losing cultural and moral grounds to the rise of homosexuality. Sexual desire, and its preferred identities, expressions and perceptions of ideals seem to be giving our culture an ultimatum. “Give me liberty or give me death.” Research shows that over 60 percent of teen suicides are related to homosexuality. Isn’t it a pitiful shame that the value of human life is held secondary to cultural supremacy? We would rather develop wealth and celebrate the accomplishment of prosperity than to cultivate humanity and celebrate the achievement of happiness.

Sigmund Freud held true to his philosophy of death. When the stage of un-pleasure (pain and suffering) loss equilibrium with pleasure and turned his life into an unpleasant experience of misery, he gladly welcomed death as a means of reestablishing the equilibrium of his next life – a philosophy too prepotently intellectual for this emotional culture to absorb.

Freud’s death was a questionable suicide; questionable in the sense that he solicited the assistance of his death from his doctor. Dr. Max Schur gave him 21 milligrams of morphine and he died in a matter of hours.

Summary

Wow! Time has gained unprecedented momentum. It has been over 10 years since my Suicide Alert Movement was placed into recession. I sincerely thank all of my philosophical predecessors for their invaluable contributions of experiential wisdom and laboratorial knowledge toward my profound education on suicide. After a decade love affair with the works of such great minds I feel possessed by the spirits of their character and the perceptions of their concepts and ideas.
I share with Carl Jung the adamant thought that suicide is a terrible act of human wastefulness, in which the human mind and its potentiality is much too promising to meet its fate by choice of egotism.

I wholeheartedly agree with Eric Fromm that living under the cultural thralldom of domination, subjugation and exploitation will eventually deteriorate human sanity. And that humanism must be cultivated by a “Sane Society” if the epidemic of suicide is to experience a successful panacea.

I love Burrhus Frederic Skinner! And I passionately embrace his concept that the cultivation of human evolution and the future of human destiny centers upon greater developments of human behavior. I also agree with Skinner that suicide is an operant condition that can be induced by negative reinforcements and reduced by positive reinforcements.

I think so much like Eric Erikson. My philosophy is that human development should be a non- stop progression of humanism from womb to tomb. Erikson’s 8 steps of human development are still very outstanding in the science of psychology.

I herald Sigmund Freud as a mind of genius. His perceptions of life and death, pleasure and un-pleasure will some day liberate us from the tradition of ancestral worship and the emotionalism of death that imbue our culture so profoundly. Then death will become mere abstract property of its owner to do with as he or she so duly chooses.

I hereby declare the Suicide Alert Project a Will to Live Movement for youths. Suicide prevention will no longer be a consideration of possibility in our program. The prevention of death as a human choice will be regarded as a violation of the human free will and sheer intervention of the Grand Scheme of Omnipotence. Human development and its positive reinforcements will be the operant conditioners and behavior modifiers of the movement.

The new movement will be founded upon a ‘perennial philosophy’ of the 21st century called Nungkyyii (the science of self-evolution and the art of self-discipline). The Perennial Philosophy of Nungkyyii is founded upon the purpose, reason and meaning of life. The purpose of life is perfection; therefore, the purpose of being human is to diligently strive to become a perfect human being. The reason of life is support, sustenance or service; therefore, the reason of being human is to serve humanity (God) wholeheartedly. And the meaning of life is reward; therefore, the meaning of human life is happiness. And not just mere happiness, but divine happiness – a spiritual reward of abstract values indestructible by worldly events and affairs.

The movement will focus its social, economical and cultural aims at providing a spiritual lifestyle of education, health, vocation, security, and overall well being. Spirituality in this movement has no religious implications whatsoever. Cultivation of the human spirit and the development of its consciousness and destined expression is the meaning of spirituality.

A youth movement of this caliber has no possible chance of success without wholehearted commitment and diligent support of educated, intelligent and loving parents. To accomplish such an important enterprise I created the Concerned Parents Organization. My goal of the organization, since its founding in 1975 has always been to eventually develop parenting into a profession of spiritual inspiration and financial reward, with just as much meaning as any other profession. For thirty five years I have been preaching to parents that a 100% investment of love, time, money and diligent support into the development and education of their children is a far greater investment than investing into any stock on Wall Street.

Suicide Alert is a satellite movement of The Youth Corp Movement. Once the will to live have been cultivated beyond the contemplation of suicide, the youth obtains a sense of self, confidence and independence, but greater reinforcements for further human development of the youth’s reality is just as important to safeguard the will to live as it was to cultivate it.

The Youth Corp Movement was perceived as a movement that would acknowledge, cherish and support youths as the future navigators of human destiny. It has been economically and intelligently designed to protect them from the ills and harmful conditions of a troubled society; the violence of unsafe neighborhoods; the abuse of dysfunctional households, and the negative influence of pier pressure. The Youth Corp Movement will significantly distinguish itself from other youth agencies by its state of the art mega cultural centers. These magnificent facilities will be engineered to accommodate the time schedule of every youth from the time they leave their academic class rooms until bed time; architecturally designed to feed and shelter youths for entertainment and emergency purposes. For further understanding of the seriousness of our commitment and dedication to the health, education, development and well being of youths visit our website at www.youthcorpmovement.com  and read about the Endangered Species Movement for Children.

Youth Advocate & 21st Century Philosopher
Trialfa Ankh-Maat Omega