Elopement of Adolescents: Dynamics in the Treatment Process
Abstract
The authors believe that an adolescent's elopement from the hospital is often an attempt to communicate with staff. Therefore, by examining the various aspects of the elopement, staff may obtain information that will be valuable for treatment planning. The authors discuss seven of the most frequent causes of elopement, which include discomfort brought about by change, fear of being close to others, rejection of the treatment concept or of treatment staff, anxiety about a lack of external control, and an inability to show change while in the treatment milieu. They present a case illustration of an elopement by a teen-age boy and the messages that the act conveyed.
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