THE GIRL BEHIND THE DOOR

A father's personal account of his teenage daughter's suicide. A gripping account that provides insight into the subjects of attachment disorder and teenager suicide. John’s hope is that Casey's story and what he discovered since her death will help others.

On a Tuesday morning John Brooks went to his teenage daughter’s room to make sure she was getting up for school and found her room dark, empty, “neater than usual.” Casey was gone. So was the Saab that John had planned to drive Casey to school in. He went back to Casey’s room and found a note: The car is parked at the Golden Gate Bridge. I’m sorry.

Several hours later a security video was found that showed Casey stepping off the bridge. John Brooks examines Casey’s journey from her birth in Poland, to the orphanage where she lived for the first 14 months of her life, to her adoption by him and his wife Erika, and their life in Northern California. Casey was a popular teenager. But she also had a troubled side, frequent tantrums that a parade of therapists assured her parents she would grow out of. She was accepted to Bennington College and seemed excited to start the next phase of her life.

Brooks spent months after Casey's suicide reading about international adoption, attachment disorder, and teen suicide, talking to Casey's friends, teachers, therapists, consulting social workers, doctors, and parents. He shares what he learned with readers, asking "What did everyone miss? What could have been done differently?"

The bottom line is that Casey’s life didn’t have to be cut short just as she was about to launch herself into the world. She might’ve been helped if someone had recognized that Casey suffered from attachment disorder – an affliction common among children who have been abandoned, neglected, or abused. John’s hope is that Casey's story and what he discovered since her death will help others.