I take no credit for this post
From Joe:
Sometimes I wonder - Where society too often fails to address the despair, the real life challenges and unmet needs of persons who later commit suicide, is it fair or reasonable to even consider that the answer is going to be found in a pill? Haven't we gone down this road so many times before? Promises made, promise broken that a new medication or a medication just around the corner will provide all the answers. Can there ever be a pill that warms us when we are cold, fosters meaningful relationships, promotes hope, substitutes for basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter or in itself makes life worth living?Medications are tools but not all tools. It is the height of hubris when pills alone are considered the answer to all human needs. Those of us who cope daily with a mental illness know better. How many of us have ever thought, "My life would be worth living if I was taking .......?"
And to those who believe the answer is always a pill, I ask what life affirming aspect of your being could be measured in equivalent milligrams of medication?
U of U scientists seek genetic key in state with seventh highest suicide rate
"If you know a gene, then you have a very good hint about a biochemical pathway," he said, "and there may be medicines on the market to address that biochemical pathway."
Comments
I hate to sound like the cynic that I am, but this looks like another way of denying insurance coverage. Identify the people at risk so you can avoid coverage. Now, *that'll* help my mood a lot!
I find it puzzling that suicide researchers never seem to bother with the many of us who have come close to dying at our own hands. I search in vain for anyone who might be even remotely interested in listening to what I've learned about why a person might commit suicide, what thought processes bring us to that point. I know I'm not the only person who's in this situation. There are legions of us, but no one seems interested in listening to what we have to say that might shed some light on the subject.
No, better to take the blood of dead people in order to chase the holy grail of a nice, clean technical solution. We don't need to talk to actual suicidal living people to see what helps them get through the day... nope. That might get messy and require some real *changes* in our approach. Can't have that.
Posted by: Sherry | December 27, 2007 09:43 AM
Dammit, enough already. I'm all for materialistic explanations of humanity if we can find them, but reducing everything to genetics is absurd. How many people in the medical world ever wonder what percentage of illnesses are passed down in families via dysfunctional upbringing? There are certainly genetic causes for different illnesses (schizophrenia and bipolar are likely inherited) but this idea that "depression physiologically runs in the family" is utter bullshit, at least to me.
As for the quote about the Hemingways...look, Ernest decided that after ECT robbed him of his ability to write and think that he had no more purpose, and Margaux went through things that would just as easily throw others into suicide. These aren't problems easily reducible to a couple genetic articles.
Posted by: Andrew | December 28, 2007 06:05 AM