45 During perestroika: I. M. Wasserman, “The Effect of War and Alcohol Consumption Patterns on Suicide: United States, 1910–1933,” Social Forces, 68 (1989): 513–530; D. Wasserman, A. Värnik, and G. Eklund, “Male Suicides and Alcohol Consumption in the Former USSR,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 89 (1994): 306–313; A. Värnick, D. Wasserman, M. Dankowicz, and G. Eklund, “Marked Decrease in Suicide Among Men and Women in the Former USSR During Perestroika,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 98 (Suppl. 394) (1998): 13–19.
46 in 1996, 60 percent: U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, Monthly Report, 45 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997).
47 a gun in the home: D. A. Brent, J. A. Perper, C. E. Goldstein, D. J. Kolko, M. J. Allan, C. J. Allman, and J. P. Zelenak, “Risk Factors for Adolescent Suicide: A Comparison of Adolescent Suicide Victims with Suicidal Inpatients,” Archives of General Psychiatry, 45 (1988): 581–588; M. Boor and J. H. Bair, “Suicide Rates, Handgun Control Laws, and Sociodemographic Variables,” Psychological Reports, 66 (1990): 923–930; D. Lester, “The Availability of Firearms and the Use of Firearms for Suicide: A Study of 20 Countries,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 81 (1990): 146–147; J. H. Sloan, F. P. Rivara, D. T. Reay, J. A. J. Ferris, and A. L. Kellerman, “Firearm Regulations and Rates of Suicide: A Comparison of Two Metropolitan Areas,” New England Journal of Medicine, 322 (1990): 369–373; D. A. Brent, J. A. Perper, C. J. Allman, G. M. Moritz, and M. E. Wartella, “The Presence and Accessibility of Firearms in the Homes of Adolescent Suicides: A Case-Control Study,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 266 (1991): 2989–2995; C. Loftin, D. McDowall, B. Wiersema, and T. J. Cottey, “Effects of Restrictive Licensing of Handguns on Homicide and Suicide in the District of Columbia,” New England Journal of Medicine, 325 (1991): 1615–1620; A. L. Kellerman, F. P. Rivara, G. Somes, D. T. Reay, J. Francisco, J. G. Banton, J. Prodzinski, C. Fligner, and B. B. Hackman, “Suicide in the Home in Relation to Gun Ownership,” New England Journal of Medicine, 327 (1992): 467–472; D. A. Brent, J. A. Perper, G. Moritz, M. Baugher, J. Schweers, and C. Roth, “Firearms and Adolescent Suicide: A Community Case-Control Study,” American Journal of Diseases of Children, 147 (1993): 1066–1071; M. Killias, “International Correlations Between Gun Ownership and Rates of Homicide and Suicide,” Canadian Medical Association Journal, 148 (1993): 1721–1725; D. Hemenway, S. J. Solnick, and D. R. Azrael, “Firearm Training and Storage,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 273 (1995): 46–50; R. J. Blendon, J. T. Young, and D. Hemenway, “The American Public and the Gun Control Debate,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 275 (1996): 1719–1722; P. Cummings, T. D. Koepsell, D. C. Grossman, J. Savarino, and R. S. Thompson, “The Association Between the Purchase of a Handgun and Homicide or Suicide,” American Journal of Public Health, 87 (1997): 974–978; J. Hintikka, J. Lehtonen, and V. Viinamäki, “Hunting Guns in Homes and Suicides in 15–24 Year–Old Males in Eastern Finland,” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 31 (1977): 858–861; M. S. Kaplan and O. Geling, “Firearm Suicides and Homicides in the United States: Regional Variations and Patterns of Gun Ownership,” Social Science and Medicine, 46 (1998): 1227–1233; M. Miller and D. Hemenway, “The Relationship Between Firearms and Suicide: A Review of the Literature,” Aggression and Violent Behavior, 4 (1999): 59–75.
48 The American Academy of Pediatricians: L. Adelson, “The Gun and the Sanctity of Human Life: Or the Bullet as Pathogen,” Archives of Surgery, 127 (1992): 171–176; T. L. Cheng and R. A. Lowe, “Taking Aim at Firearm Injuries,” American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 11 (1993): 183–186; J. J. Tepas, “Gun Control Legislation: A Major Public Health Issue for Children,” Journal of Pediatric Surgery, 29 (1994): 369; C. W. Schwab and D. R. Kauder, “Trauma Surgeons on Violence Prevention,” Trauma, 40 (1996): 671–672.
49 A survey of one thousand surgeons: C. K. Cassel, E. A. Nelson, T. W. Smith, C. W. Schwab, B. Barlow, and N. E. Gary, “Internists’ and Surgeons’ Attitudes Toward Guns and Firearm Injury Prevention,” Annals of Internal Medicine, 128 (1998): 224–230.
50 The American public: American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence, “Firearms and Adolescents,” Pediatrics, 89 (1992): 784–787; P. Cummings, D. C. Grossman, F. P. Rivara, and T. D. Koepsell, “State Gun Safe Storage Laws and Child Mortality Due to Firearms,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 278 (1997): 1084–1086; S. P. Teret, D. W. Webster, J. S. Vernick, T. W. Smith, D. Leff, G. J. Wintemute, P. J. Cook, D. F. Hawkins, A. L. Kellerman, S. B. Sorenson, and S. De Francesco, “Support for New Policies to Regulate Firearms,” New England Journal of Medicine, 339 (1998): 813–818.
51 The Swedish National Program: The recommendations for reducing the availability of instruments of suicide are taken directly from Swedish National Council for Suicide Prevention, “Support in Suicidal Crises: The Swedish National Program to Develop Suicide Prevention,” Crisis, 18 (1997): 65–72, p. 71.
52 including Norway, Finland: J. Lönnqvist, “National Suicide Prevention Project in Finland: A Research Phase of the Project,” Psychiatrica Fennica, 19 (1988): 125–132; J. Lönnqvist, H. Aro, M. Heikkinen, H. Heilä, M. Henriksson, E. Isometsä, K. Kuurne, M. Marttunen, A. Ostamo, M. Pelkonen, S. Pirkola, J. Suokas, and K. Suominen, “Project Plan for Studies on Suicide, Attempted Suicide, and Suicide Prevention,” Crisis, 16 (1995): 162–175; J. Hakanen and M. Upanne, “Evaluation Strategy for Finland’s Suicide Prevention Project,” Crisis, 17 (1996): 167–174; S. J. Taylor, D. Kingdom, and R. Jenkins, “How Are Nations Trying to Prevent Suicide?: An Analysis of National Suicide Prevention Strategies,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 95 (1997): 457–463.
53 The World Health Organization: World Health Organization, “Consultation on Strategies for Reducing Suicidal Behaviours in the European Region: Summary Report” (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1990).
54 the United Kingdom: Secretary of State for Health, The Health of the Nation: A Strategy for Health in England (London: HMSO, 1992).
55 The Royal College of Psychiatrists: E. S. Paykel, D. Hart, and R. G. Priest, “Changes in Public Attitudes to Depression During the Defeat Depression Campaign,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 173 (1998): 519–522.
56 There is also in Britain: J. McKerrow, “Community Care for Mentally Ill,” The Times (London), April 24, 1999.
57 “Resolved, That the Senate”: U.S. Senate, “Suicide in America,” Congressional Record, 143(57) (1998): 1–2.
58 These groups were brought together: D. Satcher, “Bringing the Public Health Approach to the Problem of Suicide,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 28 (1998): 325–327.
59 His 1999 Surgeon General’s Report: United States Public Health Service, The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Suicide (Washington, D.C., 1999).
60 Nor is major success: H. G. Morgan, “Suicide Prevention: Hazards in the Fast Lane of Community Care,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 160 (1992): 149–153; M. Goldacre, V. Seagrott, and K. Hawton, “Suicide After Discharge from Psychiatric Inpatient Care,” Lancet, 342 (1993): 283–286; P. B. Mortensen and K. Juel, “Mortality and Causes of Death in First Admitted Schizophrenic Patients,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 163 (1993): 183–189; A. Bass, “DMH Sees Increase in Deaths,” Boston Globe, June 11, 1995; R. McKeon, “The Impact of Managed Care on Suicidal Patients,” paper presented to the American Association of Suicidology Annual Meeting, Bethesda, Md., April 1998; J. Rabinowitz, E. J. Bromet, J. Lavelle, K. J. Severance, S. L. Zariello, and B. Rosen, “Relationship Between Type of Insurance and Care During the Early Course of Psychosis,” American Journal of Psychiatry, 155 (1998): 1392–1397; J. M. Zito, D. J. Safer, S. dos Reis, and M. A. Riddle, “Racial Disparity in Psychotropic Medications Prescribed for Youths with Medicaid Insurance in Maryland,” Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 37 (1998): 179–184.
10 • A HALF-STITCHED SCAR
1 “less sharp”: A. Toynbee, A. K. Mant, N.
Smart, J. Hinton, S. Yudkin, E. Rhode, R. Heywood, and H. H. Price, Man’s Concern with Death (St. Louis: McGraw-Hill, 1968), p. 271.
2 “The question of suicide”: E. R. Ellis and G. N. Allen, Traitor Within: Our Suicide Problem (New York: Doubleday, 1961), p. 176.
3 Although it might seem otherwise: D. Shepherd and B. M. Barraclough, “The Aftermath of Suicide,” British Medical Journal, 2 (1974): 600–603; A. S. Demi, “Social Adjustment of Widows After a Sudden Death: Suicide and Non-Suicide Survivors Compared,” Death Education, 8 (1984): 91–111; L. G. Calhoun, C. B. Abernathy, and J. W. Selby, “The Rules of Bereavement: Are Suicidal Deaths Different?” Journal of Community Psychology, 14 (1986): 213–218; M. P. H. D. Cleiren, Adaptation After Bereavement: A Comparative Study of the Aftermath of Death from Suicide, Traffic Accident and Illness for Next of Kin (Leiden: DSWO Press, 1991); B. B. Cohen, “Holocaust Survivors and the Crisis of Aging,” Families in Society, 72 (1991): 226–231; M. P. H. D. Cleiren, “After the Loss: Bereavement After Suicide and Other Types of Death,” in B. L. Mishara, The Impact of Suicide (New York: Springer, 1995), pp. 7–39.
4 Friends and neighbors may or may not: L. G. Calhoun, J. W. Selby, and M. E. Faulstich, “Reactions to the Parents of the Child Suicide: A Study of Social Impressions,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48 (1980): 535–536; L. G. Calhoun, J. W. Selby, and L. E. Selby, “The Psychological Aftermath of Suicide: An Analysis of Current Evidence,” Clinical Psychology Review, 2 (1982): 409–420.
5 one-third of family members report: M. I. Solomon, “The Bereaved and the Stigma of Suicide,” Omega, 13 (1982–83): 377–387.
6 one in ten family members: S. Wallace, After Suicide (New York: Wiley, 1973); K. E. Rudestam, “Physical and Psychological Responses to Suicide in the Family,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45 (1977): 162–170.
7 “An equal number of parents”: M. Séguin, A. Lesage, and M. C. Kiely, “Parental Bereavement After Suicide and Accident: A Comparative Study,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 25 (1995): 489–498, p. 493.
8 “I’d wake up at night”: C. J. Van Dongen, “Agonizing Questioning: Experiences of Survivors of Suicide Victims,” Nursing Research, 39 (1990): 224–229, pp. 226, 227.
9 Many fathers and mothers: A. Herzog and H. L. Resnick, “A Clinical Study of Parental Response to Adolescent Death by Suicide with Recommendations for Approaching Survivors,” British Journal of Social Psychiatry, 3 (1969): 144–152; K. E. Rudestam, “Physical and Psychological Responses to Suicide in the Family,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 45 (1977): 162–170; S. M. Vallente and C. L. Halton, “Bereavement Group for Parents Who Suffered a Suicidal Loss of an Adolescent or Youth,” Dépression et Suicide, (1981): 509–510; T. A. Rando, “Bereaved Parents: Particular Difficulties, Unique Factors and Treatment Issues,” Social Work (1985): 19–23.
10 Mothers in particular: D. A. Brent, G. Moritz, J. Bridge, J. Perper, and R. Canobbio, “The Impact of Adolescent Suicide on Siblings and Parents: A Longitudinal Follow-up,” Suicidal and Life-Threatening Behavior, 26 (1996): 253–259.
11 “During the past ten years”: I. M. Bolton, “Our Son Mitch,” in E. J. Dunne, J. L. McIntosh, and K. Dunne-Maxim, eds., Suicide and Its Aftermath (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), pp. 85–94, p. 92.
12 “I don’t know why”: I. M. Bolton, My Son … My Son … : A Guide to Healing After Death, Loss, or Suicide (Atlanta: Bolton Press, 1983).
13 relatively few long-term adverse: D. A. Brent, G. Moritz, J. Bridge, J. Perper, and R. Canobbio, “The Impact of Adolescent Suicide on Siblings and Parents.”
14 depression was common: D. A. Brent, J. A. Perper, G. Moritz, L. Liotus, J. Schweers, C. Roth, L. Balach, and C. Allman, “Psychiatric Impact of the Loss of an Adolescent Sibling to Suicide,” Journal of Affective Disorders, 28 (1993): 249–256.
15 Adolescents, when asked: D. Balk, “Adolescents’ Grief Reactions and Self-Concept Perceptions Following Sibling Death,” Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 12 (1983): 137–161.
16 “He never missed a year”: K. Dunne-Maxim, “Survivors and the Media: Pitfalls and Potential,” in E. J. Dunne, J. L. McIntosh, and K. Dunne-Maxim, eds., Suicide and Its Aftermath (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), pp. 45–56, p. 47.
17 “I had the strange feeling”: T. Organ, “Grief and the Art of Consolation: A Personal Testimony,” The Christian Century, 96 (1979): 759–762; quoted in J. L. McIntosh, “Survivor Family Relationships: Literature Review,” in E. J. Dunne, J. L. McIntosh, and K. Dunne-Maxim, eds., Suicide and Its Aftermath (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), pp. 83–84.
18 long-term psychological outcome: A. C. Cain and I. Fast, “The Legacy of Suicide: Observations on the Pathogenic Impact of Suicide upon Marital Partners,” Psychiatry, 29 (1966): 406–411; D. Shepherd and B. M. Barraclough, “The Aftermath of Suicide,” British Medical Journal, 15 June 1974: 600–603; A. S. Demi, “Social Adjustment of Widows After a Sudden Death: Suicide and Non-Suicide Survivors Compared,” Death Education, 8 (Suppl.) (1984): 91–111; D. E. McNiel, C. Hatcher, and R. Reubin, “Family Survivors of Suicide and Accidental Death: Consequences for Widows,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 18 (1988): 137–148; T. W. Barrett and T. B. Scott, “Suicide Bereavement and Recovery Patterns Compared with Nonsuicide Bereavement Patterns,” Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 20 (1990): 1–15; M. P. H. D. Cleiren, O. Grad, A. Zavasnik, and R. F. W. Diekstra, “Psychosocial Impact of Bereavement After Suicide and Fatal Traffic Accident: A Comparative Two Country Study,” Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 94 (1996): 37–44.
19 “From the first moment”: J. Pesaresi, “When One of Us Is Gone,” in E. J. Dunne, J. L. McIntosh, and K. Dunne-Maxim, eds., Suicide and Its Aftermath (New York: W. W. Norton, 1987), pp. 104–108, pp. 105, 106.
20 “This thin, wan, passive boy”: A. C. Cain and I. Fast, “Children’s Disturbed Reactions to Parent Suicide: Distortions of Guilt, Communication, and Identification,” in A. C. Cain, ed., Survivors of Suicide (Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1972), pp. 93–111, p. 97.
21 “Mummy was very depressed”: D. M. Shepherd and B. M. Barraclough, “The Aftermath of Parental Suicide for Children,” British Journal of Psychiatry, 129 (1976): 267–276, p. 269.
22 “He had a sickness”: Pesaresi, “When One of Us Is Gone,” p. 104.
23 “On a hot August afternoon”: C. Lukas and H. M. Seiden, Silent Grief: Living in the Wake of Suicide (Northvale, N.J.: Jason Aronson, 1997), pp. 3–4.
24 “In discussing my childhood”: J. Logan, Josh: My Up and Down, In and Out Life (New York: Delacorte, 1976), pp. 386–387.
25 “Reflexions on suicide”: J. Berryman, “Of Suicide,” in C. Thornbury, ed., John Berryman: Collected Poems 1937–1971, (New York, Noonday Press, 1989, 1999), p. 206, ll. 1, 27.
26 “Save us from shotguns”: J. Berryman, “235,” in The Dream Songs (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969), p. 254, ll. 7, 16–18.
27 “The marker slants, flowerless”: J. Berryman, “384,” in The Dream Songs p. 406, ll. 1–8.
28 “Just as the last time”: Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (Edinburgh: Canongate, 1988; first published 1932), pp. 63, 64.
EPILOGUE
1 “Look to the living”: Douglas Dunn, “Disenchantments,” in D. Dunn, Dante’s Drum-kit (London: Faber and Faber, 1993), p. 46.
Acknowledgments
I AM INDEBTED to many people for their help during the writing of this book. Drew Sopirak’s parents, Andrew and Allyn, allowed me access to his medical records; talked with me and wrote to me at length about his life and death; shared his writings, drawings, photographs, and books; and encouraged me to talk with his high school friends and teachers, as well as his instructors and fellow cadets from the U.S. Air Force Academy. To the following people I owe my appreciation for their time, interviews, letters, and memories: Lt. Colonel Philip Bossert, Jr., Tom Buckley, Tam Bui, Ellen Fitzgerald, Dr. Joseph Galema, Judy Landis, Janna Mattey, Major Stephen Pluntze, Lt. David Shoemaker
, Paul and Kay Spangler, Kerri Whittaker, and Stephen Wood.
Night Falls Fast Page 46