Responses to article A Rise In Suicide

A Rise in Suicide Among Boomers

Published: May 6, 2013

To the Editor:

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Re “Suicide Rates in Middle Age Soared in U.S.” (front page, May 3):

The data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing higher suicide rates among the baby boomer population raise important questions about this generation’s special vulnerabilities and risks. While we may speculate on causes, there is less speculation about what we can do to prevent suicide, whether in this age group or other generations.

In light of about 38,000 suicides a year, other data showing that more than eight million adults think seriously about suicide and more than a million attempt suicide in the United States clearly suggest that most suicides are prevented. We know that making it easy to get help is critical, whether through mental health care, crisis hot lines (the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255), clergy or other professional assistance.

We know that reducing access to firearms, poisons and other lethal methods is vital in saving lives. We also know that staying connected to family and friends in meaningful ways can also keep people alive in moments of grave despair.

These are things we can all do to reduce suicide in our homes and in our communities. Sometimes it is as simple as picking up a phone and asking for help, or saying to a loved one, “I care about you, and we are not alone; let’s go find someone who can help you.”

JOHN DRAPER
Director
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
New York, May 3, 2013

To the Editor:

Your article reaffirms that neither mental health professionals nor family members of suicide victims can identify a presuicidal state of mind. Doing so is essential for suicide prevention.

Risk factors for eventual suicide, like previous attempts, psychiatric illness, lack of social support, recent personal or professional losses, and others, are well known. Those for imminent suicide are not. There is an urgent need for research into suicidal states of mind and an equally urgent need for family education in how such “suicide trigger states” may be detected.

Psychiatrists can intervene only when suicidal people come to their offices, often brought by a concerned and loving family member. A team of clinicians and family members working together is in a better position to detect presuicidal states and prevent suicide.

IGOR GALYNKER
New York, May 3, 2013

The writer is associate chairman of the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department at Beth Israel Medical Center.

To the Editor:

With the attention on the increased number of suicides in America’s boomer population, it would pay for us not to forget that for those suicides there are many family and friend survivors, each of whom may suffer from anger, guilt, fear, physical pain and, worst of all, depression and perhaps eventual suicide.

Experts estimate that there are as many as 30 million such men, women and children, each of whom will need some kind of “postvention” to keep healthy — and alive.

CHRISTOPHER LUKAS
Sparkill, N.Y., May 3, 2013

The writer is a co-author of “Silent Grief: Living in the Wake of Suicide.”

To the Editor:

My husband died by suicide two and a half years ago. From the start, I refused to have his beautiful being defined by the depression that plagued him and the manner in which he ended his life. I speak of his illness the same way I speak of the lung cancer that took my mother 10 months before.

Those left behind are the only people who can remove the stigma of suicide. Society will not become accepting until we ourselves are able to speak of mental illness the same way we address the physical illnesses that claim the lives of those we love. It is up to us.

CLAUDIA BROOKS WELSH