Night Falls Fast

by Kay Redfield Jamison

  15 automated interviews: J. H. Greist, D. H. Gustafson, and F. A. Strauss, “A Computer Interview for Suicide-Risk Prediction,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 130 (1973): 1327–1332; H. P. Erdman, J. H. Greist, D. H. Gustafson, J. E. Taves, and M. H. Klein, “Suicide Risk Prediction by Computer Interview: A Prospective Study,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 48 (1987): 464–467; S. Levine, R. J. Ancill, and A. P. Roberts, “Assessment of Suicide Risk by Computer-Delivered Self-Rating Questionnaire: Preliminary Findings,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 80 (1989): 216–220; K. A. Kobak, L. v. H. Taylor, S. L. Dottl, J. H. Greist, J. W. Jefferson, D. Burroughs, J. M. Mantle, D. J. Katzelnick, R. Norton, H. J. Henk, and R. C. Serlin, “A Computer-Administered Telephone Interview to Identify Mental Disorders,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 278 (1997): 905–910.

  16 National Depression Screening Day: D. G. Jacobs, “Depression Screening as an Intervention Against Suicide,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60 (Suppl. 2) (1999): 42–45.

  17 biological tests: V. Arango, M. D. Underwood, and J. J. Mann, “Postmortem Findings in Suicide Victims: Implications for in Vivo Imaging Studies,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 836 (1997): 269–287; J. J. Mann, M. Oquendo, M. D. Underwood, and V. Arango, “The Neurobiology of Suicide Risk,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60 (Suppl. 2) (1999): 7–11; A. Roy, D. Nielsen, G. Rylander, M. Sarchiapone, and N. Segal, “Genetics of Suicide in Depression,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60 (Suppl. 2) (1999): 12–17.

  18 young men in jails or prisons: Suicide rates in jails and prisons are three to five times the expected rate: J. E. Smialek and W. U. Spitz, “Death Behind Bars,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 240 (1978): 2563–2564; D. O. Topp, “Suicide in Prison,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 134 (1979): 24–27, R. L. Bonner, “Isolation, Seclusion, and Psychosocial Vulnerability as Risk Factors for Suicide Behind Bars,” in R. W. Maris, A. L. Berman, J. T. Maltsberger, and R. I Yufit, eds., Assessment and Prediction of Suicide (New York: Guilford, 1992), pp. 398–419; A. R. Felthous, “Preventing Jailhouse Suicides,” Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law, 22 (1994): 477–488; E. Blaauw, A. Kerkhof, and R. Vermunt, “Suicides and Other Deaths in Police Custody,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 27 (1997): 153–163; J. F. Cox and P. C. Morschauser, “A Solution to the Problem of Jail Suicide,” Crisis, 18 (1977): 178–184; L. M. Hayes and E. Blaauw, “Prison Suicide: A Special Issue,” Crisis, 18 (1997): 145–192; M. Joukamaa, “Prison Suicide in Finland, 1969–1992,” Forensic Science International, 89 (1997): 167–174; N. H. Polvi, “Assessing Risk of Suicide in Correctional Settings,” in C. D. Webster and M. A. Jackson, eds., Impulsivity: Theory, Assessment, and Treatment (New York: Guilford, 1997), pp. 278–301; F. Butterfield, “Prisons Replace Hospitals for the Nation’s Mentally Ill,” New York Times, March 5, 1998.

  19 police officers: P. Friedman, “Suicide Among Police: A Study of Ninety-Three Suicides Among New York Policemen, 1934–1940,” in E. Shneidman, ed., Essays in Self-Destruction (New York: Science House, 1968), pp. 414–449; C. H. Cantor, R. Tyman, and P. J. Slater, “A Historical Survey of Police Suicide in Queensland, Australia, 1843–1992,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 25 (1995): 499–507; J. M. Violanti, Police Suicide: Epidemic in Blue (Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1996).

  20 gamblers: D. P. Phillips, W. R. Welty, and M. M. Smith, “Elevated Suicide Levels Associated with Legalized Gambling,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 27 (1997): 373–377.

  21 homosexual and bisexual men: C. L. Rich, R. C. Fowler, D. Young, and M. Blenkush, “The San Diego Suicide Study: Comparison of Gay to Straight Males,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 16 (1986): 448–457; D. Shaffer, P. Fisher, R. Hicks, M. Parides, and M. Gould, “Sexual Orientation in Adolescents Who Commit Suicide,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 25 (Suppl.) (1995): 64–70; C. Bagley and P. Tremblay, “Suicidal Behaviors in Homosexual and Bisexual Males,” Crisis, 18 (1997): 24–34; G. Remafedi, S. French, M. Story, M. D. Resnick, and R. Blum, “The Relationship Between Suicide Risk and Sexual Orientation: Results of a Population-Based Study,” Americal Journal of Public Health, 88 (1998): 57–60.

  22 Native Americans: J. Fox, D. Manitowabi, and J. A. Ward, “An Indian Community with a High Suicide Rate—5 Years After,” Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 29 (1984): 425–427; L. J. D. Wallace, A. D. Calhoun, K. E. Powell, J. O’Neil, and S. P. James, Homicide and Suicide Among Native Americans, 1979–1992 (Atlanta, Ga.: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), 1996; M. EchoHawk, “Suicide: The Scourge of Native American People,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 27 (1997): 60–67.

  23 Alaskan adolescents: B. D. Gessner, “Temporal Trends and Geographic Patterns of Teen Suicide in Alaska, 1979–1993,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 27 (1997): 264–273.

  24 young African-American males: J. T. Gibbs, ed., Young, Black, and Male in America: An Endangered Species (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1988); D. Shaffer, M. Gould, and R. C. Hicks, “Worsening Suicide Rate in Black Teenagers,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 151 (1994): 1810–1812; R. L. Taylor, ed., African-American Youth: Their Social and Economic Status in the United States (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1995); “Suicide Among Black Youths—United States, 1980–1995,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 47 (1998): 193–196.

  25 adolescent boys in Micronesia: D. H. Rubinstein, “Epidemic Suicide Among Micronesian Adolescents,” Social Science and Medicine, 17 (1983): 657–665; D. H. Rubinstein, “Suicide in Micronesia and Samoa: A Critique of Explanations,” Pacific Studies, 15 (1992): 51–75; D. H. Rubinstein, “Suicidal Behaviour in Micronesia,” in K. L. Peng and W.-S. Tseng, eds., Suicidal Behaviour in the Asia-Pacific Region (Kent Ridge, Singapore: University of Singapore Press, 1992), pp. 199–230.

  26 inaccurate, misleading, and even damaging: J. C. Overholser, A. H. Hemstreet, A. Spirito, and S. Vyse, “Suicide Awareness Programs in the Schools: Effects of Gender and Personal Experience,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28 (1989): 925–930; V. Vieland, B. Whittle, A. Garland, R. Hicks, and D. Shaffer, “The Impact of Curriculum-Based Suicide Prevention Programs for Teenagers: An 18-Month Follow-up,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30 (1991): 811–815; A. F. Garland and E. Zigler, “Adolescent Suicide Prevention: Current Research and Social Policy Implications,” American Psychologist, 48 (1993): 169–182; J. J. Mazza, “School-Based Suicide Prevention Programs: Are They Effective?” School Psychology Review, 26 (1997): 382–396.

  27 Some investigators: J. Ciffone, “Suicide Prevention: A Classroom Presentation to Adolescents,” Social Work, 38 (1993): 197–203; J. Kalafat and M. Elias, “An Evaluation of School-Based Suicide Awareness Intervention,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 24 (1994): 224–233; L. L. Eggert, E. A. Thompson, J. R. Herting, and L. J. Nicholas, “Reducing Suicide Potential Among High-Risk Youth: Tests of a School-Based Prevention Program,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 25 (1995): 276–296; F. J. Zenere and P. J. Lazarus, “The Decline of Youth Suicidal Behavior in an Urban, Multicultural Public School System Following the Introduction of a Suicide Prevention and Intervention Program,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 27 (1997): 387–403.

  28 The Australian review: P. Hazell and R. King, “Arguments for and Against Teaching Suicide Prevention in Schools,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 30 (1996): 633–642, p. 640.

  29 Canadians, likewise: J. Ploeg, D. Ciliska, M. Dobbins, S. Hayward, H. Thomas, and J. Underwood, “A Systematic Overview of Adolescent Suicide Prevention Programs,” Canadian Journal of Public Health, 87 (1996): 319–324.

  30 a comprehensive American survey: A. Metha, B. Weber, and L. Dean Webb, “Youth Suicide Prevention: A Survey and Analysis of Policies and Efforts in the 50 States,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 28 (1998): 150–164.

  31 “Many curriculum-based programs”: A. F. Garland and E. Zigler, “Adolescent Suicide
Prevention: Current Research and Social Policy Implications,” American Psychologist, 48 (1993): 169–182, pp. 174–175.

  32 “students who indicated”: A. Garland, D. Shaffer, and B. Whittle, “A National Survey of School-Based, Adolescent Suicide Prevention Programs,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28 (1989): 931–934, p. 933.

  33 David Shaffer and his colleagues: R. Beamish, “Computers Now Helping to Screen for Troubled Teen-Agers,” New York Times, December 17, 1998; D. Shaffer and L. Craft, “Methods of Adolescent Suicide Prevention,” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60 (Suppl. 2) (1999): 70–74.

  34 An early study: C. R. Bagley, “The Evaluation of a Suicide Prevention Scheme by an Ecological Method,” Social Science and Medicine, 2 (1968): 1–14.

  35 virtually every study since: I. Weiner, “The Effectiveness of a Suicide Prevention Program,” Mental Hygiene, 53 (1969): 357–363; D. Lester, “The Myth of Suicide Prevention,” Comprehensive Psychiatry, 13 (1972): 555–560; B. Bleach and W. L. Clairborn, “Initial Evaluation of Hot-Line Telephone Crisis Centers,” Community Mental Health Journal, 10 (1974): 387–394; D. Lester, “Effect of Suicide Prevention Centers on Suicide Rates in the United States (Health Services Report, No. 89), 1974, pp. 37–39; R. Apster and M. Hodas, “Evaluating Hotlines with Simulated Calls,” Crisis Intervention, 6 (1976): 14–21; T. P. Bridge, S. G. Potkin, W. W. K. Zung, and B. J. Soldo, “Suicide Prevention Centres—Ecological Study of Effectiveness,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 164 (1977): 18–24; C. Jennings, B. M. Barraclough, and J. R. Moss, “Have the Samaritans Lowered the Suicide Rate?—A Controlled Study,” Psychological Medicine, 8 (1978): 413–422; H. Hendin, Suicide in America (new and expanded edition) (New York: W. W. Norton, 1995). 277 “the body of every young woman”: F. B. Winslow, The Anatomy of Suicide (Boston: Longwood Press, 1978; first published 1840), p. 179.

  36 “The grenadier Groblin”: Napoleon Bonaparte, quoted in F. B. Winslow, The Anatomy of Suicide, p.178.

  37 “There are many examples”: O. Anderson, Suicide in Victorian and Edwardian England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987), pp. 372–373.

  38 There has been no shortage: A. L. Kobler and E. Stotland, The End of Hope: A Social-Clinical Study of Suicide (New York: Free Press of Glencoe, 1964); J. A. Ward and J. Fox, “A Suicide Epidemic on an Indian Reserve,” Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, 22 (1977): 423–426; D. H. Rubinstein, “Epidemic Suicide Among Micronesian Adolescents,” Social Science and Medicine, 17 (1983): 657–665; S. Fried, “Over the Edge,” Philadelphia Magazine, October 1984; L. Coleman, Suicide Clusters (Boston: Faber and Faber, 1986); J. W. Farrell, M. E. Petrone, and W. E. Parkin, “Cluster of Suicides and Suicide Attempts—New Jersey,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 259 (1988): 2666–2668; M. S. Gould, S. Wallenstein, and L. Davidson, “Suicide Clusters: A Critical Review,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 19 (1989): 17–29; T. Taiminen, T. Salmenperä, and K. Lehtinen, “A Suicide Epidemic in a Psychiatric Hospital,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 22 (1992): 350–363; N. Jans, “What Makes a Kid Happy One Day, Kill Himself the Next?” USA Today, July 16, 1997; S. Rimer, “For Old South Boston, Despair Replaces Hope,” New YorkTimes, August 17, 1997; J. Ritter, “Six Suicides Rattle Campus in Michigan,” USA Today, July 10, 1997; P. Belluck, “In Little City Safe from Violence, Rash of Suicides Leaves Scars,” New York Times, April 5, 1998; M. Jordan, “Overcome with Grief: Japanese Teens Distraught at Rock Star’s Death,” Washington Post, May 8, 1998.

  39 in a study of: L. E. Davidson, M. L. Rosenberg, J. A. Mercy, J. Franklin, and J. T. Simmons, “An Epidemiologic Study of Risk Factors in Two Teenage Suicide Clusters,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 262 (1989): 2687–2692.

  40 Many researchers believe: J. A. Motto, “Suicide and Suggestibility—The Role of the Press,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 124 (1967): 252–256; D. P. Phillips, “The Influence of Suggestion on Suicide: Substantive and Theoretical Implications of the Werther Effect,” American Sociological Review, 39 (1974): 340–354; D. L. Altheide, “Airplane Accidents, Murder, and the Mass Media: Comments on Phillips,” Social Forces, 60 (1981): 593–596; K. A. Bollen and D. P. Phillips, “Imitative Suicides: A National Study of the Effects of Television News Stories,” American Sociological Review, 47 (1982): 802–809; I. M. Wasserman, “Imitation and Suicide: A Reexamination of the Werther Effect,” American Sociological Review, 49 (1984): 427–436; J. N. Baron & P. C. Reiss, “Same Time, Next Year: Aggregate Analyses of the Mass Media and Violent Behavior,” American Sociological Review, 50 (1985): 347–363; L. Eisenberg, “Does Bad News About Suicide Beget Bad News?” New England Journal of Medicine, 315 (1986): 705–707; S. J. Ellis and S. Walsh, “Soap May Seriously Damage Your Health,” Lancet, 1 (1986): 686; B. P. Fowler, “Emotional Crisis Imitating Television,” Lancet, 1 (1986): 1036–1037; M. S. Gould and D. Shaffer, “The Impact of Suicide in Television Movies,” New England Journal of Medicine, 315 (1986): 690–694; D. P. Phillips and L. Cartensen, “Clustering of Teenage Suicides After Television News Stories About Suicide,” New England Journal of Medicine, 315 (1986): 685–689; D. A. Sandler, P. A. Connell, and K. Welsh, “Emotional Crises Imitating Television,” Lancet, 1 (1986): 856; A. L. Berman, “Fictional Depiction of Suicide in Television Films and Imitation Effects,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 145 (1988): 982–986; A. Schmidtke and H. Häfner, “The Werther Effect After Television Films: New Evidence for an Old Hypothesis,” Psychological Medicine, 18 (1988): 665–676; L. Davidson and M. S. Gould, “Contagion as a Risk Factor for Youth Suicide,” in Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Youth Suicide, Vol. 2: Risk Factors for Youth Suicide (DHHS Publication Number ADM-89-1622), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989; R. C. Kessler, G. Downey, H. Stipp, and J. R. Milavsky, “Network Television News Stories About Suicide and Short-Term Changes in Total U.S. Suicides,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 177 (1989): 551–555; M. S. Gould, “Suicide Clusters and Media Exposure,” in S. J. Blumenthal and D. J. Kupfer, eds., Suicide over the Life Cycle (Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Press, 1990), pp. 517–532; S. Stack, “Media Impacts on Suicide,” in D. Lester, ed., Current Concepts of Suicide (Philadelphia: Charles Press, 1990), pp. 107–120; K. Jonas, “Modelling and Suicide: A Test of the Werther Effect,” British Journal of Social Psychology, 31 (1992): 295–306; S. Simkin, K. Hawton, L. Whitehead, J. Fagg, and M. Eagle, “Media Influence on Parasuicide: A Study of the Effects of a Television Drama Portrayal of Paracetamol Self-Poisoning,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 167 (1995): 754–759; D. M. Velting and M. S. Gould, “Suicide Contagion,” in R. W. Maris, M. M. Silverman, and S. S. Canetto, eds., Review of Suicidology, 1997 (New York: Guilford, 1997), pp. 96–137.

  41 In Hungary: S. Fekete and A. Schmidtke, “The Impact of Mass Media Reports on Suicide and Attitudes Toward Self-Destruction: Previous Studies and Some New Data from Hungary and Germany,” in B. L. Mishara, ed., The Impact of Suicide (New York: Springer, 1995), pp. 142–155.

  42 Centers for Disease Control: P. W. O’Carroll and L. B. Potter, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Suicide Contagion and the Reporting of Suicide: Recommendations from a National Workshop,” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Record, 43 (1994): No. SS-6, 9–18, pp. 14–16.

  43 Olive Anderson traces: O. Anderson, Suicide in Victorian and Edwardian England (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987).

  44 if deprived of one method: E. Stengel, Suicide and Attempted Suicide (Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 1964); C. Hassall and W. H. Trethowan, “Suicide in Birmingham,” British Medical Journal, 1 (1972): 717–718; R. G. Oliver, “Rise and Fall of Suicide Rates in Australia: Relation to Sedative Availability,” Medical Journal of Australia, 2 (1972): 1208–1209; A. Malleson, “Suicide Prevention: A Myth or a Mandate?” British Journal of Psychiatry, 122 (1973): 238–239; F. A. Whitlock, “Suicide in Brisbane, 1956 to 1973: The Drug-Death Epidemic,” Medical Journal of Australia, 1 (1975): 737–743; N. Kreitman, “The Coal Gas Story:
United Kingdom Suicide Rates, 1960–71,” British Journal of Preventive and Social Medicine, 30 (1976): 86–93; M. Boor, “Methods of Suicide and Implications for Suicide Prevention,” Journal of Clinical Psychology, 37 (1981): 70–75; J. A. Vale and T. J. Meredith, Poisoning: Diagnosis and Treatment (London: Update Publications, 1981); N. Kreitman and S. Platt, “Suicide, Unemployment, and Domestic Gas Detoxification in Britain,” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 38 (1984): 1–6; P. Sainsbury, “The Epidemiology of Suicide,” in A. Roy, ed., Suicide (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1986), pp. 17–40; R. V. Clarke and D. Lester, “Toxicity of Car Exhausts and Opportunity for Suicide: Comparison Between Britain and the United States,” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 41 (1987): 114–120; S. A. Montgomery and R. M. Pinder, “Do Some Antidepressants Promote Suicide?” Psychopharmacology, 92 (1987): 265–266; S. A. Montgomery, M. T. Lambert, and S. P. J. Lynch, “The Risk of Suicide and Antidepressants,” International Clinical Psychopharmacology, 3 (1988): 15–24; P. W. Burvill, “The Changing Pattern of Suicide by Gassing in Australia, 1910–1987: The Role of Natural Gas and Motor Vehicles,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 81 (1989): 178–184; C. H. Cantor and M. A. Hill, “Suicide from River Bridges,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 24 (1990): 377–380; S. Donovan and H. Freeman, “Deaths Related to Antidepressants: A Reconsideration,” Journal of Drug Development, 3 (1990): 113–120; D. Lester, “The Effect of the Detoxification of Domestic Gas in Switzerland on the Suicide Rate,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 82 (1990): 383–384; M. J. Kelleher, M. Daly, and M. J. A. Kelleher, “The Influence of Antidepressants in Overdose on the Increased Suicide Rate in Ireland Between 1971 and 1988,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 161 (1992): 625–628; G. Kleck, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America (New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1992); P. M. Marzuk, A. C. Leon, K. Tardiff, E. B. Morgan, M. Stajic, and J. J. Mann, “The Effect of Access to Lethal Methods of Injury on Suicide Rates,” Archives of General Psychiatry, 49 (1992): 451–458; G. Isacsson, P. Holmgren, D. Wasserman, and U. Bergman, “Use of Antidepressants Among People Committing Suicide in Sweden,” British Medical Journal, 308 (1994): 506–509; P. W. O’Carroll and M. M. Silverman, “Community Suicide Prevention: The Effectiveness of Bridge Barriers,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 24 (1994): 89–99; J. G. Edwards, “Suicide and Antidepressants,” British Medical Journal, 310 (1995): 205–206; S. S. Jick, A. D. Dean, and H. Jick, “Antidepressants and Suicide,” British Medical Journal, 310 (1995): 215–218; A. Ohberg, J. Lönnqvist, S. Sarna, E. Vuori, and A. Penttila, “Trends and Availability of Suicide Methods in Finland: Proposals for Restrictive Measures,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 166 (1995): 35–43; M. W. Battersby, J. J. O’Mahoney, A. R. Beckwith, and J. L. Hunt, “Antidepressant Deaths by Overdose,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 30 (1996): 223–228; A. Carlsten, P. Allebeck, and L. Brandt, “Are Suicide Rates in Sweden Associated with Changes in the Prescribing of Medicines?” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 94 (1996): 94–100; A. Ohberg, E. Vuori, I. Ojanperä, and J. Lönnqvist, “Alcohol and Drugs in Suicide,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 169 (1996): 75–80; M. Öström, J. Thorson, and A. Eriksson, “Carbon Monoxide Suicide from Car Exhausts,” Social Science and Medicine, 42 (1996): 447–451; J. Neeleman and S. Wessely, “Drugs Taken in Fatal and Non-Fatal Self-Poisoning: A Study in South London,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 95 (1997): 283–287; K. Hawton, “Why Has Suicide Increased in Young Males?” Crisis, 19 (1998): 119–124; E. T. Isometsä and J. K. Lönnqvist, “Suicide Attempts Preceding Completed Suicide,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 173 (1998): 531–535; D. Gunnell, H. Wehner, and S. Frankel, “Sex Differences in Suicide Trends in England and Wales,” Lancet, 353 (1999): 556–557.