Ha, this is really funny. I'm a nutter debating your existence and why you told me to kill myself and you want thanks for killing sardines.
EDIT
Hi Prof. I think that about sums up what I was thinking, why bother to prove anything to people who don't want to believe any evidence they didn't make up themselves.
Now how exactly did I tell you to kill yourself? I don't remember it like that at all. Listen, you want to be a vegetarian, I gave you that option. No one told you to kill sardines or yourself. Show me where I said or did that. Or don't believe you have to "prove" anything? How convenient is that?
I thought you preferred tuna?
Is this "evidence"?
"In 1989, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued its "Report on the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide," which found that "A majority of suicide attempts by homosexuals occur during their youth, and gay youth are 2 to 3 times more likely to attempt suicide than other young people. They may comprise up to 30 percent of (the estimated 5,000) completed youth suicides annually. (5) The report recommended that "mental health and youth service agencies can provide acceptance and support for young homosexuals, train their personnel on gay issues, and provide appropriate gay adult role models; schools can protect gay youth from abuse from their peers and provide accurate information about homosexuality in health curricula; families should accept their child and work toward educating themselves about the development and nature of homosexuality.
Other studies confirm these findings. Gary Remafedi, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, and author of Death by Denial: Studies of Attempted and Completed Suicide in Gay and Lesbian and Bisexual Youth, found in a 1991 study of 150 gay and lesbian youths in Minneapolis, more than 30% said they had attempted suicide at least once as a teenager.
The youths who are at the greatest risk for suicide are the ones who are least likely to reveal their sexual orientation to anyone. Suicide may be a way of making sure that no one ever knows. It's homophobia that's killing these kids. (7)
Remafedi confirmed a 30% suicide rate among gay and bisexual youth, and also found that young men with more "feminine gender role characteristics" and those who recognized their same-sex orientation at an early age and acted on those sexual feelings seem to face the highest risk of self-destructive behavior. This study also documents an unusually high relationship between homosexuality and sexual abuse, drug abuse, homelessness, prostitution, feelings of isolation, family problems, and school difficulties. Thirty percent of these subjects reported at least one suicide attempt, and almost half of the attempters reported more than one attempt. The mean age in this sample at the time of the suicide attempts was 15 1/2 years. Ingestion of prescription and/or nonprescription drugs and self-laceration accounted for 80% of the attempts. Twenty-one percent of the suicide attempts resulted in medical or psychiatric hospitalization, but almost 3 out of 4 attempts did not receive any medical attention. One-third of the first attempts occurred in the same year that subjects identified their bisexuality or homosexuality, and most other attempts happened soon thereafter. Family problems were the most frequently cited reason for attempts. Eighty-five percent of the attempters reported illicit drug use and 22% had undergone chemical dependency treatment. (8)
The earlier a young person is aware of a gay or lesbian orientation, the greater the problems they may face and may be more likely at risk of suicidal feelings and behavior.
Younger gay adolescents may be at the highest risk for dysfunction because of emotional and physical immaturity, unfulfilled developmental needs for identification with a peer group, lack of experience, and dependence on parents unwilling or unable to provide emotional support. Younger gay adolescents are also more likely to abuse substances, drop out of school, be in conflict with the law, undergo psychiatric hospitalization, run away from home, be involved in prostitution, and attempt suicide. (9)
Pollak found that nearly all gay and lesbian suicides occur between the ages of 16 and 21. (10)
REFERENCES
- Wong, Doris Sue, and Hart, Jordana, "Answers Leave A Confounding Picture in Poll of Mass. High School Students," Boston Globe, May 20, 1994, p. 1.
- Fisher, P., Shaffer, D, "Facts about Suicide: A Review of National Mortality Statistics and Records," in Planning to Live: Suicidal Youth in Community Settings, ed. Rotheram-Borus, M.J., Bradley, J., Obolensky, N., Tulsa, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 1990, pp. 1-33.
- Shaffer, d., Garland, A., Gould, M., Fisher, P., Trautman, P., "Preventing Teenage Suicide: A Critical Review," Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 1988; 27 (6), pp. 675-687.
- Spoonhour, A., "The First Few Days are the Hardest," in People, Feb. 18, 1985, pp. 76-78.
- U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Gay Male and Lesbian Youth Suicide," by Paul Gibson, in Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Youth Suicide, ed. Marcia R. Feinleib, Washington, DC, January 1989.
- Quoted in Bull, Chris, "Suicidal Tendencies," The Advocate, April 5, 1994, p. 37.
- Gary Remafedi, quoted in Bull, Chris, "Suicidal Tendencies," The Advocate, April 5, 1994, p. 38.
- Remafedi, G., Farrow, J., and Deisher, R. (1991), "Risk Factors for Attempted Suicide in Gay and Bisexual Youth," Pediatrics, 87(6), pp. 869-76.
- Remafedi, G., "Male Homosexuality: The Adolescent's Perspective," Adolescent Health Program, University of Minnesota: Unpublished, 1985.
- Pollak, Michael, "Male Homosexuality" in Western Sexuality, eds. Phillippe Aries and Andre Bejin, NY: Blackwell, 1985.
- Joyce Hunter, quoted in Bull, Chris, "Suicidal Tendencies, The Advocate, April 5, 1994, p. 42.
- Bell, A., and Weinberg, M., Homosexualities: A Study of Diversity among Men and Women, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1978.
- Harry, J., "Adolescent Suicide and Sexual Identity Issues," submitted to the National Institute of Mental Health for the Secretary's Conference on Adolescent Suicide, Washington, DC, May 8-9, 1986.
- Huxdly, J., and Brandon, S., "Partnership in Transsexualism, Part 1: Paired and Non-paired Groups," Archives of Sexual Behavior, 10, pp. 133-141, 1981.
- Gerald Newberry, quoted in "Jack and Jack and Jill and Jill," by Richard Lacayo, Time, Dec. 14, 1992, pp. 52-53.
- Charlotte Patterson, quoted in "Debate Heated Over Teaching Children about Homosexuals," by Anthony Flint, Boston Globe, Dec. 13, 1992, p. 53.
- Benjamin Ladner, quoted in "Debate Heated Over Teaching Children about Homosexuals," by Anthony Flint, Boston Globe, Dec. 13, 1992, p. 53.
- Beth Winship, quoted in Blumenfeld, Warren J (ed.)., Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, Boston: Beacon Press, 1992, back cover.
- Sharon Bergman, Testimony, Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, Boston.
- Bobby Griffith, quoted in Miller, B. Jaye, "From Silence to Suicide: Measuring a Mother's Loss," in Blumenfeld, Warren J. (ed.). Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price, Boston: Beacon Press, 1992, pp. 88-89.
- Mary Griffith, Testimony, Los Angeles School Committee, Public Hearings, June 23, 1988.
- JoAnne Cardell, Testimony, Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, Boston.
- Testimony, Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, Massachusetts State House, Boston, November 1992. "
http://www.outproud.org/article_suicide.html
The effect of suicide on others
"Bereavement following suicide has certain features that may prolong the grieving process. Survivors (the friends and family who have been affected by suicide) may get stuck in an endless and fruitless search for a definitive answer as to why the suicide occurred, or they may believe that they were somehow responsible for the death and may punish themselves by continuing to grieve. Anger and guilt are common reactions to bereavement, but are often more intense and long-lasting among survivors of suicide.
Alison Wertheimer writes of the experiences of people bereaved by suicide in A special scar, and explains that all survivors – but particularly those who either witness the suicide or, more commonly, find the body – are likely to be affected by the experience for many years; especially if the victim died in a violent way. Survivors may struggle to understand why someone has taken their own life."
BYW: I have never seen a sardine commit suicide.
