Writer Suicides and More

This past week we have read about the suicides of celebrities Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade.

Anthony Bourdain

Bourdain was a noted chef, best-selling author, and TV personality, known most recently for his award-winning program on CNN, "Parts Unknown. " It was always fun going along on the ride with him because he seemed willing to try most anything. He knew how to really travel and experience other cultures. He was 61. 

Kate Spade

I wasn't familiar with Spade, who gained fame and fortune from designing handbags and other fashion items. That's probably the reason her name didn't register with me (I don't buy purses). My wife knew of her and her high-end products. Spade used her considerable creative talents to build an impressive and influential company that inspired other entrepreneurs. She was 55. 


I was reading an interview with Bourdain in The Paris Review this morning and he mentioned the late Hunter S. Thompson as one of his literary heroes. I found it interesting when Bourdain noted: 

"I always sort of feel mixed emotions when I hear that people went and hung out with Hunter and how great it was to get high with Hunter. The fact is the guy was having difficulty doing any sustained writing at all for years probably because so many quote, unquote, “friends” wanted to get high with him …"

I wondered if Bourdain was suffering from similar difficulties of trying to live up to expectations of others as well as the curse of fame?

There have been other notable suicides among writers including Ernest Hemingway, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf,  David Foster Wallace, Michael Dorris, Harry M. Caudill, and Richard Brautigan.  The list is quite extensive.

Others who attempted suicide include luminaries such as Raymond Chandler, Robert Penn Warren, and Kurt Vonnegut. 

 The Atlantic reported a Swedish study in 2012 that revealed authors are twice as likely to commit suicide as they are "overrepresented among people with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety syndrome, and substance abuse problems."

In the United States, the overall suicide rate of the general population increased about 24 percent from 1999-2014—from 10.5 to 13.0 per 100,000 people. There were 44,965 in 2016, an astounding average 0f 121 a day. Veterans have been susceptible to suicide, accounting for 18 percent of the adult deaths. And baby boomers, too.

Read about the eight signs for those at risk for suicide that include talking about suicide, feelings of guilt, drug use or excessive alcohol use, buying a firearm, and health issues. And here's another article about how to recognize a person at risk for suicide. 


The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Until the next time . . . 

Sad Statistics for Vets

I read a newspaper opinion piece I found to be disturbing and disheartening. The headline read: "Stop the suicides among our wounded warriors."

The article was written by John Roberts, executive vice president of the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization whose mission is to "honor and empower wounded warriors."

Roberts, who noted that he's also a wounded warrior, referred to a recent report from the Department of Veterans Affairs that found vets "are taking their own lives at a rate of 22 each day, or one suicide every 65 minutes." 

He also noted that there were more suicides among soldiers than combat deaths in 2012 -- 349 to 295.

As a citizen and a veteran, I find those figures to be totally unacceptable. These men and women are sent into harm's way for a variety of reasons, and then we leave many of them without the safety nets they need in their readjustment to normal life.

I recall stories about suicide rates in the National Football League, especially after the death of Junior Seau in 2012.  The NFL recently teamed with GE to look into developing a safer helmet to prevent and improved diagnosis of  traumatic brain injuries. They're spending $40 million on the project.

According to the Twilight Language blog, there have been 12 reported suicides in the past 25 years. 

That's not a misprint. Twelve in 25 years involving NFL players. And we're losing 22 vets EVERY DAY to suicide.

I'm not trying to diminish the deaths of those pro athletes. They left behind family, friends, and teammates.  And I'm glad that measures are being taken by the league to address the problem of head injuries.

What I'm saying is that vets also need our compassion and support. The mental battles for some don't end when they return home. And these vets --who are not high-profile athletes -- also have family, friends, and loved ones who care deeply about them.

As Roberts pointed out, post-traumatic stress syndrome and other "war-related mental health conditions can be successfully treated. It is my hope that we as a nation start to take this seriously."

Roberts closed by writing: "This is a problem for all of us and together we can help those who served our nation."

Amen.

Until the next time...