Jeff Weise - How Sad!
We have known a Native American boy and one part Native American that we have worried about -- and wonder whatever happened to them.
An Internet trail of a boy's death wish
An Internet trail of a boy's death wish
posted by Norman Larson @ 2:57 PM
2 Comments:
At 6:07 AM,
Anonymous said…
This morning on WCCO Radio I heard a media commentator by the name of John Raith (sp?) talk about media saturation and how prevalent were the outlets for young people, particularly on the dark side, turning a "troubled kid" into a "killer kid."
At 7:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
According to a story in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jeff Weise’s relatives have wondered about medication he was taking for depression, and an increase in his prescribed dosage. His grandfather’s cousin, Lee Cook, director of the American Indian Cultural Center at Bemidji State University, said Jeff’s relatives knew he had a problem with depression, and they took him to treatment last summer. He was getting counseling and his medication dosage had been increased.
Jeff’s grandmother said Jeff saw a mental health professional at Red Lake Hospital on Feb. 21, the same day his prescription was refilled for 60 milligrams a day of Prozac, which he had been taking since last summer. Studies have linked Prozac and similar antidepressants to a greater risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in kids. In October, the Food and Drug Administration revised the drugs' packaging to warn health professionals that they should closely monitor young patients when an antidepressant is prescribed or the dose is changed. Prozac's manufacturer said monitoring patients being treated for depression is critical, especially if they are children.
Jeff, in hundreds of postings attributed to him on the Internet over the past year or so, noted that he was on antidepressants, was going through therapy in Thief River Falls and had attempted suicide at least once by cutting his wrists.
In a posting in January, Jeff also wrote of his regret over not having ended his life and hinted that another attempt could be on the way. Friends of Jeff said this week that he had tried to kill himself earlier this year.
School officials and others have refused to discuss his medical situation except to confirm that he was placed on "homebound status" this year for an unspecified medical problem.
Relatives also knew Jeff spent time on the Internet, but they didn't really know what he was into there, and reports detailing his postings on a Nazi website have them shaking their heads.
Under a variety of user names, Jeff also visited other sites dealing with everything from government conspiracies to surviving school shootings. Last fall he posted a bloody animated video on the Internet in which four people are shot to death before the gunman shoots himself.
Jeff was brighter than usual and had a vocabulary more like a college student than a 16-year-old, a relative said.
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