When Phil and Donna Satow lost their son, Jed, to suicide in 1998, they met with the president of the college he’d been attending to try to gain some understanding. Were there suicide prevention programs their son might have turned to, they asked. There was a counseling service, the president said, but it was shared…
A distressing new report from the journal JAMA Pediatrics finds that adolescents and young adults in rural communities take their own lives twice as often as those in cities, sparking an “urgent” need to ensure mental health help and access in large swaths of the country. And the gap between remote and urban populations is…
The odds that a man who commits suicide will have alcohol in his system go up in counties with relatively large numbers of bars and liquor stores, a new study finds.
A recent case of bullying is that of Ronin Shimizu, a 12-year-old who was allegedly bullied because he was a cheerleader. His family and friends said he was a friendly young man with diverse interests, some of which didn’t conform to gender norms. As a result, he was tormented with homophobic taunts. In a moment…
She stood on a podium in the middle of a stage in a suburban Philadelphia mega-church building, this musical legend with cloud-like hair billowing above her beautiful, life-etched face and beaming signature blue eyes. Enwrapped in a jewel-tone purple skirt, among her first words that greeted the anticipatory audience were, “OK, let’s get this out…
On Nov. 2, 2014, a heartbeat ceased counting out the rhythm of a life that’d begun 29 years earlier. Along with her husband and parents, Brittany Maynard searched her conscience, consulted with the oncologist treating an end-stage glioblastoma, and decided to end her physical and emotional suffering under the physician’s supervision. She expressed her wishes…
Compared to many other threats to our health and safety, suicide often goes overlooked and undiscussed. As a result, you might think that suicide is rare, or that only a few people are at risk, or that nothing can be done to prevent a suicide. But none of these are true.
Could a simple blood test determine who is at a higher risk for suicide? Researchers from Johns Hopkins University say they have discovered a genetic marker linked to the human stress response that could predict a person’s risk of attempting suicide. The study was published in the July 30 edition of the American Journal of…
The late Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams was among the most effective public figures at de-stigmatizing mental illness and addiction by baring his own lifelong struggles with both. Williams, whose confessional brand of stand-up comedy was a form of “sharing his story” by coating anguish with humor, was found dead at his home Aug.…
People affected by certain mental illnesses have substantially increased risks for developing pain, and some diagnosable mental disorders feature pain as one of their primary symptoms. In a study published in July 2013 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, a multi-institution research team examined the connection between pain and the chances of dying from suicide. The…