Pamela Kulbarsh's The Epidemiology Of Suicide

Suicide. Just the mentioning of such a word sends shivers down many people’s spines. While it may be not be spoken about, suicide rates seem to be on the rise, and many are doing everything they can to help. According to Pamela Kulbarsh, a psychiatric nurse for over twenty-five and writer of the article “The Epidemiology of Suicide: Who is most likely to take their life own life?” suicide has been coined “the most preventable death” (7). Suicide prevention and treatment, however, is by no means a new concept. The field of suicidology, the study of suicide and suicide prevention, is created in the late 1800s. According to Barbara Mantel, it was first adopted by French sociologist Emile Durkheim. The first suicide prevention center in the
With so many ways to do so, it is nearly impossible to eliminate every possibility. Many believe suicide is only committed through the use of a gun. However, Pamela Kulbarsh, a psychiatric nurse with the San Diego County’s Psychiatric Emergency Response Team, says that firearms are not the only way one could end their life. According to Kulbarsh, “In 2012, firearms were the most common method of death by suicide, accounting for about 50.9% of suicides. The next most common sources were hangings and overdosing which accounted for 24.8% and 16.6%, respectively” (6). While these are just three of the most common methods of suicide, there are still many others. All of which can be pulled off through the use of everyday objects. For example, most mental care centers require patients to wear shoes without laces. This is because of the convenience that someone with the intentions of killing themselves could easily use their shoelaces as rope to hang or suffocate themselves. The number of suicides by overdosing has risen over recent years. This is due to the availability of substances which can be used. Some common household drugs which are used in overdose suicides include opioids (which are painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone), benzodiazepines (which are used to treat anxiety such as Xanax and Librium), sleeping pills (such as Nyquil and Benadryl), and antidepressants (Norqvist 2). Many believe the use of Tylenol and Aspirin for overdosing will result in a quick, painless death. However, according to Christian Norqvist, chief editor and writer of Medical News Today, wrote that suicidals that attempt to overdose by using these drugs will instead “get nausea and diarrhea, break out in sweats and feel irritable. Then it’s on to a slow and agonizing death as the brain swells, the liver suffers damage and organs begin to shut