CDC investigates reasons for Suicide Cluster in Kent & Sussex Counties

[hockey]

Suicide cluster reported in Kent, Sussex

by Beth Miller
http://www.delawareonline.com/articl...nclick_check=1



Delaware officials today released the first detailed report on a cluster of adolescent suicides and attempted suicides in Kent and Sussex counties earlier this year, when 11 people between the ages of 13 and 21 years old died by suicide and an estimated 116 others attempted suicide.The report does not identify the hometowns or the schools of the dead. But six of the reported deaths were high school students – including four from Polytech High School, just south of Dover. One was an eighth-grade student at Seaford Middle School, two were recent high school graduates, one had dropped out of high school, and the education status of another was not known. Seven were male, four were female.
Most died by hanging, others from gunshot wounds. Most of the attempts were by overdose or cutting. Those ratios were consistent with national patterns, according to Dr. Alex Crosby, medical epidemiologist with the CDC.
Crosby said researchers did not find a "contagion factor," - suggesting that the suicides did not a strong link.
Rita Landgraf, secretary of the state Department of Health and Social Services, and Jim Lafferty, executive director of the Mental Health Association in Delaware, requested the federal Centers for Disease Control’s expertise on March 12, after they learned of six deaths, including three at Polytech. By March 22, a fourth Polytech student and another adolescent had taken their lives – eight known suicides for that 10-week period, which is twice the annual average from 2009 through 2011.
The CDC report covers the period from Jan. 1 through May 4, but it also notes a 12th death just outside that period – an adult education student at Polytech, whose body was discovered Dec. 6.
The 28-page report was prepared by a four-person investigative team from the CDC that visited the area from April 24 to May 4, interviewing people in the schools and key communities, reviewing medical records and other data. The team examined deaths classified as “intentional self-harm” and non-fatal attempts as recorded in medical or police reports.


As a result of the team’s review, some cases previously classified as overdoses were later reclassified as suicide attempts.
Investigators did not interview students or other youth, did not have thorough access to students’ social media accounts, and did not visit all hospitals in the area. They acknowledged, too, that suicides and attempted suicides sometimes are misclassified as overdoses or injuries that appear to be accidental.
Other key points in the report:
• All 11 deaths had at least two known risk factors and more than half had five or more factors.
• Seven of those who died had mental health problems (depression, anxiety, prior suicidal ideas), five had problems with their parents, five had recent legal problems, four had problems with a boyfriend or girlfriend, four abused drugs or alcohol, three had academic problems, three left a note, a phone message or a text about suicide, two had recent problems with peers, two were sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender).
• Eight kids ages 12-13 attempted suicide during the period. Of the 116 attempts, 65 were females.
• Seventeen of the 116 youths who attempted suicide said a peer or friend had died of suicide or attempted it.

• Social media was widely used to report and – often – distort information about the suicides. Derisive comments were in the mix.
• There were at least 16 attempted suicides every two weeks from Jan. 1 through March 31, and there were 24 attempts between Feb. 16-29.
Researchers identified gaps in resources for mental health services, activities for youth outside of school, and ongoing training and awareness efforts for students, families, school officials, and others in the community.


I stole this from TNJ but credited the writer. IMO, this is too important not to share with fellow Delawareans so screw their subscriptions.

The part of this article that hit me the hardest was the very last sentence. I've always said there isn't enough things for teens to do in this state, area. It's either a safety issue (no walking around after dark) or criminal issue (no one under 18 in the mall without an adult). The only thing left to do is go to the movies but that gets expensive and there are only so many movies playing. Bowling Alleys are like war zones, skating rinks limit the public skates to only a few hours on a Friday night.

What did you do as a teen in Delaware to stay out of trouble or occupy yourselves?

[Jessica]

I had heard about the Polytech suicides, but I had no idea there were so many attempts as well. That number is staggering considering the populations of those areas. I agree that increased awareness of the signs of depression and anxiety along with an increased availability of mental health treatment options is a good place to start. I'm lucky I didn't have to deal with those kind of issues as a teen, but if I did I don't think I would have known how or where to seek help. So many teens, even those close to their parents, don't always feel comfortable approaching them for this kind of help.

As for what I did to stay out of trouble - I participated in after school activities nearly every day. Some schools don't have daily after school transportation for their students to stay and participate in things like the newspaper, yearbook, plays, and sports. Students without cars whose parents are unable to pick them up or secure transportation lose that as an option.

I also worked. A couple days a week after school and all weekend from the time I was 15. When I hung out with my friends or boyfriend it was at someone's house or sometimes we'd catch a movie, a concert, a baseball game. Still, I think that there are people who have real and serious mental health issues then even activities won't help with the pain and hopelessness they feel. I believe that one of the suicides I knew about was that of a young man involved in a lot of sports.

I think the part about social media is important. I've seen first hand how gossip and misinformation can spread around a high school. These kids are linked to each other like we never were - one person tweets something to 200 followers and the next thing you know someone's reputation is tarnished, sometimes incorrectly. These kids talk about themselves, each other, their teachers, and whatever other gossip they feel like spreading. Parents should be aware of what their kids are doing and saying on their phones and their computers, and it's getting more and more difficult to monitor.

[max1]

I wonder what the stats are for other counties per capita, is this consistent with other areas with similar makeup i.e. demographics?

[childOfLacroix]

One of my high school friends killed himself near the end of my senior year. In the ensuing years, a disturbing number of my classmates have killed themselves. I'm not the only one who has made note of it. When I reunited with a friend on Facebook after many years, she too remarked on how many of our classmates had died by their own hands.

It's weird to be in my early 40's and have so many peers who are dead (at least three of my ex-boyfriends are also dead; none of them made it past age 42).

We're all Gen X'ers. Part of me thinks that the suicides may be due to the fact that many economists feel our generation was hit worst by the economic depression--we were toppled over just as we entered our highest-earning years--but then again, a lot of the victims died years before things went bad, in the 90's and early aughties. So the economy cannot explain all of the deaths.

I don't know if a lack of recreational activities is necessarily at fault for the suicides among the kids in the present case. Kids can get into trouble when they are bored, but people don't kill themselves because they're bored; they kill themselves because they see no point in going on, for whatever reason.

Arguably, it can be harder to figure out a reason for a minor's suicide than an adult's. Many adult problems--money, marital issues, health difficulties--can be literally impossible to fix; while one may not agree with the choice to commit suicide over said problems, at least the reason can be comprehended. There are few problems that a kid can have that are not fixable; the reasons for a suicide are thus not comprehensible.

Whatever the reason, I hope these kids stop doing this to themselves. They're just kids. They haven't even started yet. As the years have gone by, it has hit me just how young my HS friend was when he died...17.

[childOfLacroix]

I never thought of looking at it from a generational perspective before, but a quick Google search brought up references to the unusually high rate of suicide that has marred my generation since we were teens:

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...972322996.html

I hope the Millennials do not fall victim to this as well.

[Jessica]

I agree that there is an added level of uneasiness when a young person commits suicide because as adults it's so hard to comprehend what could possibly be that horrible in a young person's life that they felt death was the only answer. It is easier to understand the reasoning when an adult chooses to end their lives, like you said CoL, even if we don't agree with the choice. I've known three people who ended their lives as adults. One was a longtime friend who struggled with drugs for over a decade and had recently lost his father, another was an associate of my husbands' who struggled with mental illness and had spent years in and out of facilities trying to get help, and the last was a woman in her 80s who decided she was tired of fighting a terminal disease and wanted to do it on her own terms. All very different circumstances, all of which I can find a pretty clear reason for, and in turn, understand.

Understanding without reason is almost impossible, and that's what we have to do with most adolescent suicides. I think the article stated that 8 of the attempted suicides occurred in 12 and 13 year-old children. My brother had a teammate on a pee wee football team who committed suicide by hanging at 11 after a fight with his parents back in the early 1990's. Apparently he changed his mind after jumping from the top of a bunk bed and struggled to free himself for some time. He was in a coma for almost a month before his parents removed him from life support. It's possible that he didn't entirely understand the implications of what he was doing - the finality of it all. He was angry, he probably wanted to some revenge on his parents from the fight, he wanted attention, he didn't necessarily want to die. Or ... maybe he did. We'll never know.

Adolescent emotions are so complicated and angst ridden, partially because of outside forces and partially because that's what an onslaught of hormones does to our bodies. As adults we know that a fight with family members or a bad grade or being picked on in school isn't something that has to stay with us forever and control our emotions. For an adolescent, that kind of reasoning hasn't been learned yet. For teenagers, even very young ones, who also have a chemical imbalance like depression, something that we know can be persevered through seems like it's worth dying over. On the other hand, there are kids who suffer from depression and don't really need a trigger to commit suicide. Their whole existence feels so hopeless that they simply don't want to live.

Sadly, suicide can become clustered like this because teenagers either begin to consider it a viable options for themselves after hearing about others, or they may attempt it in order to receive attention or help for problems that they don't have other solutions to. I'd like to see what the plan is now that the cluster is being investigated. Presumably the CDC would issue some recommendations to prevent more deaths.

[childOfLacroix]

For teenagers, even very young ones, who also have a chemical imbalance like depression, something that we know can be persevered through seems like it's worth dying over. On the other hand, there are kids who suffer from depression and don't really need a trigger to commit suicide. Their whole existence feels so hopeless that they simply don't want to live.

From what I understand, there is "regular" depression, and then there's a subtype called "atypical" depression; that's what I have:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atypical_depression

The basic difference is that people with "regular," or melancholic, depression don't feel better if their life circumstances get better. When they are questioned about why they are depressed, they'll either say they don't know or say something vague like, "Life sucks" or "The world is evil." Someone with atypical depression, OTOH, will point to a specific event or circumstance, say job loss. When the atypically depressed person gets another job, their depression will go into remission.

It would make sense that people with melancholic depression may not need a specific trigger to suicide; they are upset all the time, and they don't see any point in continuing.

Combine either type of depression with the normal hormonal fluctuations in the brain during adolescence, and you've got a toxic brew. Plus, as you said, these kids don't have the life experience to understand that most of the situations they find themselves in at their age are not permanent. To them, everything is "forever."

There's a page on Facebook called Putting a Face on Suicide, where people post photographs of suicide victims. I always find it especially sad when the victim was very young. I've seen photos pop up of children who were 11 or 12 years old.

[Jessica]

I'm lucky that I've never dealt with depression, but at the same time it makes it harder for me to understand those that do. Empathize, yes. But really, truly understand? I'll ever be able to. Sure, I've been sad from time to time. I've had what my Mom calls blue days. I've had breakups and loses and days where I felt really down on myself for one thing or another. But I've never experienced true depression. It's always easier to look from the outside in, so to speak, and try to make sense of things. But unless you've been on the inside you never *really* get it.

I really commend you for talking about your depression. I think that if more people talked about it and there was less of a societal stigma surrounding it, maybe we'd have less people thinking that suicide was the only answer.