INTERVENTION
PT NEWS EDITOR KAJA PERINA SPEAKS TO KITA CURRY, PH.D., ABOUT SUICIDE PREVENTION
It began in 1958 with a single telephone on the fourth floor of an abandoned tuberculosis ward in Los Angeles County General Hospital. The phone was the brainchild of psychologists Edwin Shneidman, Ph.D., and Norman Faberow, Ph.D., and the program--the nation's first crisis hotline--morphed into the Suicide Prevention Center of Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center. Today, under CEO and President Kita Curry, Ph.D., it is the largest of approximately 70 suicide prevention centers and 700 crisis hotlines nationwide.
Kaja Perina: Surgeon General David Satcher recently issued some 70 objectives to combat suicide, ranging from a violent death reporting system to implementing more support centers nationwide. What is the most important aspect of the Surgeon General's suicide prevention program?
Kita Curry: Satcher has not just raised awareness but also increased pressure for funding. States have passed laws to make statewide suicide prevention plans.
KP: What elements are lacking in most states?
KC: Many counties don't have 24-hour-crisis lines--they can't afford them. Our program costs $400,000 a year to run.
KP: How does the Didi Hirsch Suicide Prevention Center combat suicide?
KC: First, there's intervention: In addition to the regular line, we have a special line for gay, lesbian and transgendered teens, who are two to three times more likely to attempt suicide. We also focus on education and prevention: Kids often know a friend is contemplating suicide, but feel honor bound to keep the secret. About 75 percent of people let others know that they're thinking of taking their own life. We also have a program called Survivors After Suicide, for people bereaved over a suicide.
KP: What must one do for a friend or relative who exhibits suicidal tendencies?
KC: Get rid of any potential weapons. If there's an immediate risk, call the police or a psychiatric emergency team. Don't come straight out and ask, "Are you considering suicide?" because they might not tell you. Ask questions such as "Are you tired of life?" Never keep it a secret. Tell the person's significant other or relatives.
KP: What are some risk factors for suicide?
KC: Being male, white, over age 60 and widowed. But people are also really concerned about youths, because that rate is going up. Since 1950, the rate among 15- to 25-year-olds has increased fivefold. Also, access to guns, substance and alcohol abuse [are risk factors].
KP: What about the argument that suicide prevention hotlines are not effective because suicidal people do not pick up the phone?
KC: There are no definitive studies one way or another. But each year 100 to 200 people who are in the midst of committing suicide call us, and they're still alive.
SUICIDE FACT OR FICTION
Hazardous Occupation?
People are not just afraid of dentists, they're afraid for them. Dentistry is often labeled the profession most prone to suicide, so Roger E. Alexander, D.D.S., of the Baylor College of Dentistry, recently examined this stereotype. Alexander found data suggesting that female dentists may be more vulnerable to suicide, but unearthed no evidence that dentists take their own lives with greater frequency than the general population. "What we know about suicide in dentistry is based on weak data from the early 1970s, involving mostly white males," says Alexander, who called for additional research in the Journal of the American Dental Association.
—Diana Burrell
Is Suicide Contagious?
Exposure to media coverage or to victims of suicide may actually deter potential suicides, according to a controversial new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Researchers interviewed 153 survivors of suicide attempts and 513 non-suicidal controls, anticipating that the former group would report an increased exposure to suicide prior to their own attempts. But, as reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology, exposure to media accounts or personal involvement with suicide was .not linked to suicide attempts, even for depressives, alcoholics or others at a high risk for suicide. Media exposure to suicide was, in fact, linked to a lesser likelihood of attempted suicide. The research, conducted by James Mercy, Ph.D., associate director for science in the CDC's Violence Prevention division, contradicts previous findings that support the copycat theory. One rationale is that exposure to reports of suicide mitigates the isolation experienced by people with suicidal tendencies.
—Kaja Perina
