Suicide in the United States is on the rise. Approximately
121 people die every day by taking their own lives. For many years, social
service agencies and school officials have provided lists of warning signs for
parents and peers meeting a modicum of success. But for many families, the
signs were either quite subtle or not there at all. According to recent
research conducted by the Rand Corporation that may of may not be the case.
Rand researchers contacted coroners’ offices to conduct research regarding
daily routines, healthy or money issues and/or weapons in the home.
The team discovered that a number of the cases were people
suffering from depression. Others were drug users. They looked for “ new
behaviors” that people had exhibited prior to their suicide.
Schools are often in the forefront in the battle to identify
and report student who exhibit signs of suicidal behavior. They include giving
away valuable possessions, reading or talking about suicide, or students
harming themselves.
Currently on Broadway there is a show, “ Dear Evan Hansen,”
that deals with the teen suicide. The show, a musical, has garnered a great
deal of attention.
The Rand article referred readers to a more definitive
study. It is entitled “Opportunities to Intervene? Warning Signs for Suicide in
the Days before Dying, by
Rajeev Ramchand, Enchante Franklin, Elizabeth Thornton,
Sarah Deland, and Jeffrey Rouse and appeared in the January 2017 issue of Death Studies.
C.2017 J. Margolis
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