Redefining Suicide Risk — and Prevention Strategy

8-18-2008 National:

Six percent of undergraduates and 4 percent of graduate students seriously considered suicide within the last 12 months, according to a national survey released Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. More than half of those students never sought professional help or told anyone about their suicidal feelings.

The paper on the study called for colleges to rethink their suicide prevention strategies. While colleges do a good job of offering counseling to those who present themselves “in crisis,” they need to focus more on the overall campus environment if they are going to have an impact on reducing the numbers of students who seriously consider suicide. The study was conducted by a research team at the University of Texas at Austin, and involved surveys of 26,000 students at 70 colleges and universities who were reached through the National Research Consortium of Counseling Centers in Higher Education.

Of all of the students, more than half reported at least one episode of suicidal thinking at some point in their lives. Five percent reported making a suicide attempt at least once in their lifetime.

Of those reporting suicidal thoughts, most described the period as “intense and brief,” with more than half of the episodes lasting one day or less. But the researchers stressed that the brevity of these episodes did not suggest that they were not serious threats. More than half of these students engage in specific planning during the periods — plotting scenarios, figuring out how they might kill themselves, writing notes, etc.

Fourteen percent of the undergraduates who seriously considered suicide in the last year and 8 percent of graduate students made a suicide attempt. Of those who attempted suicide, 19 percent of undergraduates and 28 percent of graduate students required medical attention.

Students seriously considering suicide gave the following reasons (in order): wanting relief from emotional or physical pain, problems with romantic relationships, the desire to end their life and problems with college or academics.

David J. Drum, the lead author of the paper, is a professor of education psychology and former director of the counseling center at Texas. In an interview Sunday, he said that the research shows the need for “a new paradigm” in campus suicide prevention.

“When you have 6 percent of your undergraduates who can report that they seriously consider suicide, that tells you that it’s a far more common phenomenon than you see when you just deal with students in crisis,” he said.

Especially since so many of these students never seek help, he said, colleges need to look at the circumstances that create “suicide ideation” and confront those — while continuing to serve those who seek counseling.

Given clear patterns between relationship violence, sexual assault, and substance abuse with suicide, efforts to reduce their prevalence can reduce the number of people who think about suicide. Further, he said that more depression awareness programs, as well as efforts to promote “campus inclusion” so students are less likely to feel “isolated and alone,” may have an impact.

While counseling centers need more resources to help those who seek assistance, Drum said that colleges must focus on the factors that “predispose people to suicide” and address them. Ultimately, he said, “we have to do things that strengthen the health of the entire student body.” ..News Source.. by Scott Jaschik

CA- Suicides Follow Porn Crackdown

5-28-2008 California:

Defendants who keep child pornography on their computers make tempting — and relatively easy — targets for federal prosecutors.

Few offenders elicit so little sympathy from all frequencies of the political spectrum. The cases are incredibly difficult to fight, according to defense lawyers: So long as the feds lawfully search the computer, stiff mandatory minimum sentences reduce plea bargaining leverage to nil.

The Justice Department has escalated its efforts since announcing Project Safe Childhood in 2006, filing 27 percent more indictments last year. Now, the psychological weight of child porn prosecutions — for family members, lawyers, judges and defendants themselves — is beginning to emerge.

In the Northern District of California alone, four child porn targets have committed suicide over the past nine months, according to government court filings in two separate cases. One additional defendant tried to kill himself in February, court records indicate.

"I'm not surprised the numbers are up, frankly," said San Francisco solo Miranda Kane, a former federal prosecutor who litigated and supervised child pornography cases for the government. "It's a devastating thing to be exposed, and you're publicly shamed. We would go to great effort to keep the victims' names out, but defendants' names are right there in the [San Francisco] Chronicle all the time."

The suicides are a pressing issue for magistrate judges, who must decide whether to remand defendants once they are arraigned. They add emotional baggage for defense lawyers, who already may not be enthusiastic about the subject matter they must delve into.

Prosecutors have been trying to share as much information about the suicides with judges as possible, U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said. Ultimately, he said, the courts must craft a solution.

"It's not our objective to destroy human lives," Russoniello said, "but it is our obligation to protect the most vulnerable in our society from exploitation."

Finally, the suicides present an overlay of grief for the defendants' family members, who already grapple with feelings of disbelief and betrayal following an indictment. ..For the rest of this excellent report.. by Dan Levine, The Reporter

Social network sites link to town's seven suicides

1-23-2008 United Kingdom:

Natasha Randall was 17, had a large circle of friends and was studying childcare when, without any indication that she was unhappy, she hanged herself in her bedroom.

Her death last Thursday was the latest in at least seven apparent copycat suicides in Bridgend, South Wales, that have alarmed parents, health authorities and police, who believe that they may be prompted by messages on social networking websites such as Bebo.

Within days two 15-year-old girls, both of whom had known Tasha, as she called herself, had also tried to take their lives. One cut her wrists and was later discharged from hospital into the care of her parents. The other tried to hang herself and spent two days on life support before showing signs of recovery. Police have since visited the families of 20 of Tasha’s friends, urging them to keep an eye on their daughters.

In the 12 months before Tasha’s death, six young men from Bridgend and the surrounding area had killed themselves. Most were known to each other. This month Tasha attended the funeral of 20-year-old Liam Clarke, who was found hanged in a local park the day after Boxing Day.

Tasha had left a tribute to Liam on his Bebo webpage. It said: “R.I.P. Clarky boy!! gonna miss ya! always remember the gd times! love ya x.”

After Tasha’s death police took her computer to try to find a reason for her suicide. They will also be looking for links to the other deaths.

Copycat suicides are a well-known phenomenon but in Bridgend the tributes left on websites such as Bebo appear to have had a significant impact. Friends have set up memorial pages where wellwishers have posted messages or bought virtual “tablets” in a remembrance wall. The 19 tablets on Tasha’s memorial page include the messages “RIP chick”, “Sleep Tight Princess” and “Sweet dreams, Angel”.

David Gunnell, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Bristol, said that research had shown a connection between reports of suicide in the media and copycat deaths, and it was likely that discussions of suicide on websites would have a similar effect.

He said: “Young people are more likely to see and read items concerning suicide on the internet than they are in newspapers. One can extrapo-late from wider research on responses to newspaper reporting that a medium like Bebo will have an impact on suicidal behaviour in young people.”

South Wales Police fear that the reason could be simpler. One officer said: “They may think it’s cool to have a memorial website. It may even be a way of achieving prestige among their peer group.”

South Wales already had one of the worst suicide rates for young people. Tasha, who called herself “Wildchild”, was not the only one to spend hours each day on the internet in a world about which their parents knew little.

Even before she died a task force that includes represntatives of the NHS trust, school, police and local authority was investigating the high suicide rate. It is due to report in the next few weeks. Tegwyn Williams, the director of mental health services for Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust, said: “The key is to break down the stigma attached to suicide in the community so that people aren’t afraid to talk to someone if they feel depressed.”

Melanie Davies’s son, Thomas, was the third young person from the area to kill himself last year. Mrs Davies, 38, said: “One of his friends told me that they feel these kids seem to be copying each other . . . so many of them are hanging themselves.”

The friends who killed themselves

Dale Crole, 18, hanged himself at the Coney Beach funfair at Porthcawl, near Bridgend, January 2007
David Dilling, 19, a former classmate of Dale from Pyle, near Bridgend, hanged himself, February 2007
Thomas Davies, 20, who had been at school with both Dale and David, found hanged from a tree in David’s home village two days before his funeral, February 2007
Zachery Barnes, 17, of Wildmill, Bridgend, a friend of Thomas’s family, hanged with washing line, August 2007
Liam Clarke, 20, a friend of Dale, found hanged in a park in Bridgend, December 2007
Gareth Morgan, 27, who knew Liam, found hanged in his bedroom, January 2008
Natasha Randall, 17, of Blaengarw, Bridgend, a close friend of Liam, hanged herself in her bedroom, January 2008