Thanks so much for sending me the link. I will now take the liberty to provide some feedback.

1.“Lew added that factors contributing to extreme emotions may be due to recent loss, which results from self-guilt or persistent negative childhood experience, for example, and it is not uncommon for this group of individuals.”

I did not say the above.  Recent loss most certainly does not result from self-guilt or persistent negative childhood experience. If you read my email below closely, I was writing that factors could include 1) a recent loss, such as a break-up that may lead to someone feeling guilty, and/or 2) persistent emotional pain, such as a negative childhood experience reinforced by other traumatic experiences in school.

2.“However, the underlining issue here is how much of this ‘suffering’ validates the rash acts of murder and suicide attempts that young people seem to be taking to.

Being ‘emo’ may become a fatal trend to follow.”

It might be confusing for the reader when, on the one hand, your interview with me deconstructs the term “emo” and explains that a state of extreme sadness is not a fad that has just come by recently, and on the other hand, the article ends half-way with how “emo” may become a fatal trend to follow.

Also, I think that the way in which you captured your well-intentioned message on the importance of life (“However, the … taking to”) might seem judgmental to individuals who suffer from severe depression and have attempted suicide in the past. Another way of sending this message would be to emphasize that the suffering is real, and that it is therefore important that youths seek professional help to seek ways of coping and overcoming their pain, other than through engaging in harmful, life-terminating acts.

Ann-Marie LEW (Ph.D.)
Head, Counselling Centre, University Health, Wellness and Counselling Centre