The Whys of Suicide

At a doctors' meeting in Louisville last week, Dr. Richard A. Kern of Philadelphia's Temple University reported the latest findings on suicide. Key facts:

P: About 85% of the basic causes of suicide lie in mental disturbances and nothing else, less than 15% in organic disease. "And even here the mental factor tips the balance--it is not so often because of cancer, but because of indigestion that makes a man afraid he has cancer."

P: The suicide rate for men rises steadily throughout life, but for women it levels off at age 50. More men than women kill themselves, and proportionately more whites than Negroes. But more women and Negroes make unsuccessful attempts. Suicide is commoner among the rich than among the poor, among leaders than the led.

P:Suicide rates are highest in big cities in May and June, on Monday and Tuesday, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., with the sun shining and the barometer rising--"The weather outside may be clear and sunny, but their world looks so hopelessly dark."

P: Among potential suicidal types are: every depressive person; all who have tried it once; those who talk of it, and especially if they do so with fascination; those who have lost interest in things they once highly prized. "Troubles, and even illness, actually help to prevent suicide. There's nothing like a few fleas to keep a yellow dog from brooding over the fact that he is a yellow dog."

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