Blog | Grabowski death: Guns more often used in suicides than murders
Horry County Councilman Bob Grabowski killed himself this week.
That’s the conclusion of an autopsy report. There’s no reason to speculate about the why, something which we’ll likely never know, which makes things particularly difficult for his family members and closest friends and associates who will be second-guessing themselves, wondering what else they could have done, to no end, to no avail.
They shouldn’t. I pray they find some semblance of peace.
For the rest of us, the way he died highlights an issue we far too often ignore, making suicide one of the most deadly - yet silent and loneliest- killers of Americans.
According to the latest figures, more than 41,000 people killed themselves in our country in 2013.
-- A person dies from suicide about every 13 minutes on average.
-- The suicide rate fell between 1986 and 2000, but since then has been increasing.
-- It is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S.
-- Between 650,000 to 1 million people every year either commit suicide or engage in self harm.
How do we normally handle suicides? We largely ignore it - even though more people commit suicide than die in car accidents annually.
Almost three times as many people kill themselves than are murdered.
And yet, we often don’t even report suicides, or even suicide attempts - unless they are of public figures or done in public - because of a fear of copy cats.
There is no evidence that doing such a thing helps prevent suicides. All it seems to do is increase the stigma around suicide and further isolates the people suffering with such thoughts, and the family members who have to try to forge ahead after a loved one is taken away from them.
One more thing we don’t much like discussing on this issue: what it says about our gun culture.
People use guns to kill themselves far more often than they use them to purposefully kill others. About 51 percent of people who died by suicide did so with the aid of a firearm - far and away the most common way for someone to kil himself. The second most common is suffocation, or hanging, at 24.5 percent.
Why does that matter? Because research shows that if a person can survive his suicidal thoughts, and attempts, they can overcome the difficulties that pushed them there in the first place. But because guns are such effective killers, those who choose that route rarely survive:
Suicides, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of U.S. gun deaths in 2010, are on the rise throughout the nation, and in Kentucky, where guns are prevalent and easily accessible.
While suicide attempts usually stem from temporary setbacks that, in time, seem less dire, access to guns makes the equation much more lethal — because those who choose a gun over pills, cutting or hanging to end their life almost never survive:
Experts are divided on whether stricter gun controls are the answer to curbing suicides, but they agree that family and friends can best protect loved ones struggling with suicidal thoughts by helping keep guns out of their hands.
"Often when people make suicide attempts, they see no other way out because their thinking is impaired. ... They want the pain to stop. They want peace," said Ramona Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Bridgehaven Mental Health Services in Louisville. "When they use guns, that's a pretty lethal method."
For those wondering, South Carolina’s suicide rate is above the national average and its gun death rate is Top 10 in the nation.
This is a serious, under-reported and under-discussed issue. That needs to change. Now.
This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Blog | Grabowski death: Guns more often used in suicides than murders ."