A 16-year-old Arab girl committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of her bathroom with her scarf in Al Rawdah area in Ajman, Khaleej Times reported.
A copy of the bestselling An Unquiet Mind written by American clinical psychologist Kay Redfield Jamison was found near her body.
The teenager, who was reeling under depression and was on medication, was apparently reading the book, which police suspect could have pushed her to put an end to her life.
The girl was already dead when the police team reached the family’s house. Forensic experts collected fingerprints and evidence which proved that the girl had decided to take her own life.
During the investigation, the girl's body was found near the book An Unquiet Mind whose last page the girl is believed to have been reading. A passage from the last page went like this: "I think I hit the point of life where I'm just done. I cried, I fought, I tried, but everything is crashing down. My demons are screaming louder, trying to eat away the rest of me and this time we're not going to fight back."
In the book, Jamison examines bipolar illness from the dual perspectives of the healer and the healed, revealing both its terrors and the cruel allure that at times prompted her to resist taking medication. Jamison is one of the foremost authorities on manic-depressive (bipolar) illness; she has also experienced it firsthand.
Police said anyone reading the book would get swayed by what was written in it, especially if the reader suffered from depression. The investigation revealed that the girl had bouts of depression and was on medication.
Major General Shaikh Sultan Al Nuaimi, commander-in-chief of Ajman Police, said the presence of the book near the girl's body does not mean it could be the main reason behind the suicide and could just be one of the key triggers.
He pointed out that there are books and websites that may affect children and cause them depression, especially the young and the adolescents.
The police chief urged parents to pay attention to what their children are reading and the kind of websites they are visiting to ensure their safety.
Emarat Al Youm said that the girl was 18 years old.