Jezebel 
Enter your username and password.
-
posts about #brigendcounty more → 
"Mystery" Suicide Epidemic Seems Anything But Mysterious
New York, 5:01 AM
Thu Dec 10
65 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip your editors:
Editor-in-Chief:
Anna Holmes
| Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Dodai Stewart
| Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor:
Tracie Egan
| Twitter
Contributing Editors:
Anna North
| Twitter
Sadie Stein
| Twitter
Reporter:
Irin Carmon
| Twitter
Editorial Assistant:
Margaret Hartmann
| Twitter
Contributors:
Rich Juzwiak
Email | Twitter
Latoya Peterson
Email
Jenna Sauers
Lizzie Skurnick
Interns:
Katy Kelleher
Twitter
Weekends/Commenter Moderator:
Hortense
| Twitter
| posts about #brigendcounty more → |
"Mystery" Suicide Epidemic Seems Anything But Mysterious |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
02/28/09
02/27/09
Everyone gets sad, but killing yourself can be selfish in terms of your family and loved ones. But maybe the sadness is strong that they can't think of anyone else but themselves?
So sad.
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
That would be a good part of sex ed. If you do get pregnant, and you do have a baby, be prepared to shit yourself.
02/27/09
02/27/09
I am Finnish and for a while, Finland topped (no pun intended) the global list of suicides per capita. Suicide is something I have been aware of since a child and it is something I can fully identify with. There are certain forums where people can discuss their suicidal feelings in a strictly non-judgmental environment. Sadly, it does not prevent every member from committing suicide, but it has proved an important safety valve for those who were very close to the edge of the abyss.
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
Am I being gullible again?
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
Plus, in agricultural areas especially, people are understandibly hesitant to just pick up and go somewhere else - because their land is their livelihood, and they can't just pack it up and take it with them.
And it sounds like some of these people have lots of extended family in the area, so there may be social pressures to stay close by.
02/27/09
This pretty much describes the area where I grew up and live now in Southwest VA. It's mountainous and dreary and there are no jobs or opportunities. There is a high rate of suicide in specific towns where the mountains limit the amount of sunlight into the town. This is the reason behind the even higher rate of prescription drub abuse.
I came back because ultimately I love this area and I want it to get better. My husband and I are trying to work here to make it better, but it is hard to ork here, and it worries me when I read articles like this and fear for my own children.
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
Not that I'm saying it's the parents' fault, but as long as kids know that there is always hope for them, and that they can overcome through things like education, they should be just fine.
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
Of course, there's a ton of gendered analysis that could go into this as well, as poverty disproportionately affects women and children, and poor healthcare for women (who are less likely to be employed and have health insurance) means unhealthy babies, who are sickly adults, who can't work...etc.
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
Also, it is incredibly grating to me that so many people like Dianne Sawyer probably had issues they deeply cared about and were invested in (like this) when they were our age, but have sold out in order to become commercially successful or whatever the reason may be. And really just become a joke, IMO because they are so out of touch. And it's not just journalists. It's all the douchey politicians who had good intentions starting out but "had" to sell their soul to get anywhere. Maybe THAT'S why Obama is a symbol of hope, because he didn't sell his soul to the devil to become successful and isn't a douche. Such high standards!
Sorry, that all probably didn't make sense. But I'm a little pissed.
02/27/09
02/27/09
You've all heard the stories of the choking game, where kids and teens would choke to get a "high." Most of the time, they do it because they want the 'high' feeling and/or because they want something daring and exciting in their lives.
The choking game took the life of one of my neighbors 7 years ago, where they first originally ruled it as a suicide. She was only 13 years old.
In any case, I just hope these people realize what's going on and they get the help for themselves and people they care about.
02/27/09
My town isn't like their town, but there's nothing to do at all here, since it's almost all shops and houses. And I knew there were several middle school and young high school kids playing the choking game because they were bored.
02/27/09
02/27/09
Really dude? Really? These kids are killing themselves because they're lazy/weak is that it? People don't kill themselves to get an easy out. The misconceptions surrounded suicide are ridiculous.
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
YES. THANK YOU!! People kill themselves because for many reasons, and all of those reasons are tragic--but they do not include being lazy or weak. Generally they include having so much emotional and or physical pain that death seems to be the only option.
02/27/09
02/27/09
But we always had this whole, "Hey, we can get out of here one day and BECOME something! We can move to a bigger town and see interesting things and make something of ourselves!"
So there was this HUGE academics push, extracurriculars, this race for scholarships, etc. The young people were so bored that it was FUN for them to put on plays and learn to play bassoon. They had nothing else to do.
It sounds like this town doesn't have the social structure in place to give the younger set something to aspire to, and that makes me sad.
02/27/09
The children of these families are achieving the least academically.
[news.bbc.co.uk]
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
I was recently in Cardiff and was blown away by how many pregnant 15-year-olds with prams I saw on the streets. It felt like worlds away from the Britain I know.
02/27/09
For those who don't - what can they do? The government hasn't even provided a qualified counselor to the area. I dunno. It's sad and scary.
02/27/09
PI read some research in which pregnancy in teenage girls was preductable from school attendance (or in fact non-attendance, i.e. truancy) at age 12.
02/27/09
02/27/09
Ironically, Wales has had a devolved parliament with some powers since 1998 and their MPs always claim to be very much in touch with their constituencies, in spite of lots of criticism. "The biggest gain in devolution is that you've got ministers who actually know the situation. If we're talking about a particular hospital, we all know it we've probably been there.
"we're talking about a particular road that needs improving, we all know it. The man in Whitehall doesn't know it, so there's no doubt in my mind that devolution is right." [news.bbc.co.uk]
02/27/09
That's what strikes me as so strange, growing up with a migratory family in the southern US... even at my darkest depression (after an unexpected move in high school), what kept me going was the idea that I'd be of college age soon, be able to get a job for a while at a minimum wage place while still living with my parents, then move back on to a larger city where I could enjoy my life again.
The fact that there seems to be this mindset of "this is where you are and where you'll always be" in the UK (and in many other countries as well) just is something I can't wrap my brain around... I wish I could, but I realize I can't. I just wish there was some silver lining like I had for those kids there (both for the ones that are thinking of ending their lives and for the ones that seem to think popping out a kid as soon as possible is the only way to give a purpose to your life).
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
him: Honey! Have you seen my Super Suit?
her: I put it up. We made these plans a month ago.
him: But this is for the greater good!
her: I AM THE GREATEST GOOD YOU ARE EVER GONNA HAVE!
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
02/27/09
And more to your point, yeah, it's easy to be like, "well, they can just leave" but really, there are a lot of big forces probably keeping them where they are.