Wednesday, September 29, 2010
RUTGERS SUICIDE PROVES THERE"S A LONG WAY TO GO
Like everyone, I was saddened by the news that an 18-year-old male freshman at Rutgers committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Initial media reports said his roommate had put a tape og him having sex up on the internet. As distasteful as that is, I remember thinking to myself for most college freshmen that might be a badge of honor in a very juvenile way and certainly not something that would cause you to kill yourself. Then I learned the tape showed him making out with a guy. My God, how insane is that? They make movies about guys getting it on with a hot girl as half the campus tunes in but because it's not hetrosexual you have to kill yourself. We obviously have a long way to go when it comes to real acceptance of same sex relationships. I'm horrified this kid thought the only solution was to kill himself. This incident is a very sobering reminder that prejudice and hate are still very much alive even in places filled with young supposedly evolved college kids.
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A heart felt message on the subject by Ellen DeGeneres missed the point completely Teen Suicide Deaths, U.S., 2001
Suicide was the 11th leading cause of death in the United States.
It was the 8th leading cause of death for males, and 19th leading cause of death for females.
The total number of suicide deaths was 30,622.
The 2001 age-adjusted rate** was 10.7/100,000 or 0.01%.
1.3% of total deaths were from suicide. By contrast, 29% were from diseases of the heart, 23% were from malignant neoplasms (cancer), and 6.8% were from cerebrovascular disease (stroke) - the three leading causes.
Suicides outnumbered homicides (20,308) by 3 to 2.
There were twice as many deaths due to suicide than deaths due to HIV/AIDS (14,175).
Suicide by firearms was the most common method for both men and women, accounting for 55% of all suicides.
More men than women die by suicide.
The gender ratio is 4:1.
73% of all suicide deaths are white males.
80% of all firearm suicide deaths are white males.
Among the highest rates (when categorized by gender and race) are suicide deaths for white men over 85, who had a rate of 54/100,000.
Teen suicide was the 3rd leading cause of death among young adults and adolescents 15 to 24 years of age, following unintentional injuries and homicide. The rate was 9.9/100,000 or .01%.
The adolescent suicide rate among youth ages 10-14 was 1.3/100,000 or 272 deaths among 20,910,440 children in this age group. The gender ratio for this age group was 3:1 (males: females).
The teen suicide rate among youth aged 15-19 was 7.9/100,000 or 1,611 deaths among 20,271,312 teenagers in this age group. The gender ratio for teenage group was 5:1 (males: females).
Among young people 20 to 24 years of age, the youth suicide rate was 12/100,000 or 2,360 deaths among 19,711,423 people in this age group. The gender ratio for this age group was 7:1 (males: females). ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... As Ellen says it is a tragedy but it has been at or above epidemic proportions for a very long time. 4 out of 30,000 is a drop in the bucket. Young people of all genders, races, religions & sexual proclivities get teased, outed, bullied & beaten on a regular basis & don't choose suicide as a way to deal with it. Thats because suicide is a mental health issue. And until it's dealt with as such it will remain an epidemic. focusing on one small facet or cause of the overall issue won't solve anything. It would be like saving 4 trees when the forest is on fire. The decision that those 4 young people made to take their own lives however tragic & senseless was an irrational one therefore a mental health issue. And as far as that goes one irrational decision is as irrational as the next so focusing on what the decision stemmed from is a very good example of "not see the forest for the trees" And these stats are from before people under 30 started coming back from the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan I'm sure they changed & not for the better.
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