In January of 2013, 26-year-old Aaron Swartz took his own life. His death made headlines because he was a well-known Internet entrepreneur associated with developing the RSS language and with a company that became Reddit. According to CNN, his death is also sparking a combination about the risks of suicide among entrepreneurs.

Our Dallas suicide attorneys know that anyone suffering from a psychiatric illness is potentially at risk of taking their own life, regardless of how famous or successful they seem to be. When a person is depressed or feels out-of-control, they may look to suicide as an answer to their problems. Since business owners often face a lot of stress and pressure, it makes sense that they may be vulnerable to taking their own lives.

Suicide Risks Among Entrepreneurs

Following Swartz’s death, CNN has started a discussion with some other tech experts and business owners. According to their article, the CEO of the Cheezburger websites wrote publicly about being depressed when his first start-up company failed.  In addition, in 2011, a co-founder of a social networking site took his own life, reportedly due to his ongoing struggles with depression coupled with the pressures of building his company.

Swartz himself had admitted publicly that he struggled with depression and had written about it in the past. His suicide may also have been prompted by the fact that he was facing criminal charges for illegally downloading materials using the MIT network. However, even without this catalyst, it is possible he would have lost the battle with his ongoing depression and taken his own life if not properly treated and protected by competent mental health clinicians.

When a person is struggling with depression, he or she needs to get help from qualified professionals to learn how to manage their emotions. In many cases, proper behavioral or talk therapy are viable options for those considering suicide. If the depression is chemical, as it so often is, a counselor may prescribe drug therapy to help fight the bad feelings. Regardless of how treatment is administered, those with severe depression or who are thinking suicidal thoughts will need to get help and the counselors need to respond appropriately to their state of mind.

Mr. Skip Simpson and his professional colleagues, all nationally prominent suicidologists, are striving to train and equip clinicians to improve their competency in assessing suicide. Unfortunately, as CNN discussed in their article on the death of Aaron Swartz, many entrepreneurs and business owners do not feel comfortable admitting they are depressed or opening up about their problems. They may be concerned about the reactions of their employees, customers or investors and may not want to make themselves vulnerable by speaking out.

This feeling that they have to maintain a stoic exterior or that they cannot talk about their depression can make things even worse. This is unfortunate as it can lead to social withdrawal, make one feel like he or she is a burden to coworkers and loved ones, and increase the risk of an attempted suicide.

Tragically, if a person won’t get help, then that individual is more likely to attempt suicide. As the CNN article writes, however, the death of Aaron Swartz is sparking important conversations about the suicide problems among entrepreneurs. These conversations may be a good step in making it possible for all depressed people to get the help they need. A good first step is to obtain “The Suicide Lawyers: Exposing Lethal Secrets” by C.C. Risenhoover. In this book Mr. Risenhoover interviews Skip Simpson on what family members and co-workers can do to protect their loved ones and friends.

If you lost a loved  one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

There has long been a misconception that the holidays are the time of year when people are most likely to commit suicide. According to a recent article on Slate, however, this is a myth that the media needs to stop reporting. Providing data from a number of recent studies and expert sources, Slate tells readers that the winter season, including around the holidays, is actually a time of year when people may be less inclined to commit suicide. The time when people are most likely to kill themselves is, instead, during the spring season.

Our Dallas suicide lawyers believe it is important that people have an accurate understanding of the key risk factors for suicides. By knowing when and why someone may be at risk for suicide, you have a better chance of stepping in to get that person the help they need.

Why the Holidays Aren’t a Key Time for Suicides

Many people believe that the holidays are a time when a lot of people commit suicide because lonely people may become desperate at spending the festive season by themselves. In reality, however, data dating as far back as 1812 indicates that the biggest spike in suicides occurs not over the holiday season but instead during the springtime period.

While there is no single definitive answer on why people kill themselves more in spring than during other times of the year, there are a lot of different theories about why suicides may be higher in the spring season. For example:

• Bad winter weather means that people tend to interact and go out less. With people in the “semi-hybernation” mode of winter, they may encounter fewer conflict since they don’t see or interact with as many people. By springtime, on the other hand, everyone comes outside and interacts more and suicidal thoughts may be triggered by this increased interaction.
• Sunshine may trigger suicidal thoughts, according to some psychiatric researchers. Longer days and warmer temperatures may also be more likely to inspire suicidal thoughts, according to various studies. The data on the impact of climate on suicide, however, is controversial and studies on the correlation between climate and suicide tend to contradict each other.
• Springtime allergens can trigger the body to produce anxiety-inducing chemicals, potentially resulting in an increase in the rate of suicide. Some studies have also identified a link between a high pollen count and suicide.

Some experts also indicate that spring energizes people more, which may give them the motivation to take action and actually act on their suicidal thoughts. Winter, on the other hand, can cause people to be less motivated and this can include being less inclined to actually follow through with a suicide attempt.

Watching closely for signs of suicide, loved ones, friends, relatives, therapists and mental health professionals can all help to prevent someone they care about or are responsible for from committing suicide this spring. Every blog on the Skip Simpson web site and the book The Suicide Lawyers: Exposing Lethal Secrets are all targeted to prevent suicide.

This December, the 2012 National Bullying Survey was released. The results are based on the survey responses of principals from more than 2,000 K-12 schools nationwide. Unfortunately, the responses demonstrate that anti-bullying efforts must be increased and that those who are bullied are at risk of suicide.

Our Dallas suicide attorneys urge schools, educators and parents to pay close attention to the results of the survey. To protect students and help to prevent the suicide deaths of young adults, schools must do more to curb bullying and to educate kids using integrated anti-bullying programs so they have a better understanding of just how devastating bullying can be.

Bullying Behavior Puts Kids at Risk

Bullying behavior can be hard for anyone, child or adult, to withstand without experiencing emotional problems as a result. Tragically, despite many anti-bullying campaigns and despite many high profile deaths as a result of bullying, the problem of bullying in schools has not gone away.

As the 2012 National Bullying Survey shows:

• More than 50 percent of middle school principals report that bullying is one of their top five problems.
• 32 percent of elementary school principals name bullying as one of their top five problems.
• 36 percent of high school principals count bullying among their top five issues.
• Only one out of every six principals responding to the survey reported that bullying had decreased as a result of anti-bullying programs or initiatives.
• Cyber bullying has become the biggest bullying issue in a high school setting.

Sadly these results show that educational efforts may not be having a very strong impact at curbing bullying behavior. The respondents to the study, however, indicated that anti-bullying lessons that were integrated into the curriculum tended to be more effective than separate anti-bullying programs.

The Link Between Bullying and Suicide

Tragically, bullying can have a serious impact on the lives of those who are victims and can significantly increase the risk that a young adult will commit suicide. This link between bullying and suicide can be seen in the fact that thirteen percent of high school principals responding to the 2012 National Bullying Survey reported that a student had either attempted suicide or committed suicide because of bullying behavior.

Both physical and verbal abuse can cause kids to think about suicide, and cyber bullying has only exacerbated the problem because young adults may no longer be able to escape the bullying behavior at home. Bullying can reduce a child or teen’s self esteem, inspire fear, make him afraid that the bullying will never end, and cause depression. All of these different outcomes of bullying can trigger suicidal behavior.

Schools need to do more to protect their students from being bullied and to reinforce the lesson that bullying is a terrible practice that should never be tolerated. Integrated anti-bullying programs may be one way to help get this message across. Schools also need to continue to step up both education and enforcement efforts as they have an obligation to provide a safe environment for all of their students and to do everything possible to prevent suicides caused by bullies.

If you lost a loved  one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call  214-618-8222.

When we need healing, we look to our doctor.

But what about when it’s the physician that needs the healing? Specifically, what happens when the emotional and physical strain of the work begins to wear a person down?

Our Dallas suicide lawyers understand that medical doctors have extremely high rates of suicide, as compared to the general population – and have for decades. The New York Times rep0rts that for male doctors, the rate is 40 percent higher and for female doctors, it’s 130 percent higher.

The U.S. National Violent Death Reporting System indicates that of 31,000 suicide victims, more than 200 were identified as physicians.

Why is this happening?

Well, we know that students entering medical school enter with the same general mental health profiles as those of their peers. However, many quickly slip into depression, burnout and other mental illnesses at higher rates. Even though they generally have better access to health care, they are more likely to resort to poor methods of coping with these problems, such as excessive drinking, and they are less likely to seek proper care or even realize that they need intervention.

These seems paradoxical, but there may be a number of reasons.

First, medical education, training and practice are rather isolated.

This means that when they do find themselves overwhelmed, burned out or depressed, they are unlikely to seek help. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor found that medical students who were depressed or prone to depression often believed that their peers, faculty, counselors and superiors found them to be inadequate. At the same time, the culture of medical school made these same students feel as if they could not express vulnerability or be any less than perfect.

Secondly, physicians work in a demanding field. They often must put in long and irregular hours. They are often called to do so on little sleep, and may suffer several long-term negative physical and mental health ailments as a result. Not to mention, practicing medicine can be extremely stressful and heartbreaking, especially when you can’t “fix” everyone.

Doctors must often walk a fine line between being compassionate toward their patients, and keeping each case at arm’s length in order to maintain their own mental health.

And thirdly, there is a huge problem with physicians who self-treat, rather than seeking outside help. They may be ashamed to report their internal conflict, or they may feel that to do so could jeopardize their license. They may believe that self-treatment is the only option. However, the risk is that, when their mind is clouded with depression or anxiety, the outcome of these treatments are not likely to be successful.

And finally, physicians have greater knowledge when it comes to dying by suicide and the tools readily available to carry it out. This is a dangerous combination.

Given their increased risk of suicide, hospitals, practices and clinics need to make sure that doctors have easy access to mental health services. Additionally, they need to make sure that these individuals can have a decent quality of life.

Employers have a responsibility to recognize the warning signs of suicide in their physicians and to do everything possible to avoid creating circumstances that contribute to the risk.

Moreover there is an extremely important concept frequently missed by mental health clinicians, the concept of VIP suicides. “When mentally ill professionals and other ‘VIPs’ are treated as ‘special’ at the cost of receiving necessary treatment, the risk for an ‘executive’ suicide is likely increased.  Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk ,  Guidelines for Clinically Based Risk Management  R. Simon, M.D. (2004), p. 184.

Dr. Simon, one of the nation’s leading forensic psychiatrists say “The ED physician  wisely resists the impulse to do a medical colleague a “favor” by discharging him to outpatient care.  He does not fall prey to the “VIP syndrome” by allowing a person in a prominent position to influence medical decision making.”   Clinicians can feel personally threatened by the discovery of mental illness in their colleagues. The examining clinician frequently reacts by denying or by minimizing the patient’s suicide risk, with possible lethal consequences.

Employers have a responsibility to recognize the warning signs of suicide in their physicians and to do everything possible to avoid creating circumstances that contribute to the risk.

If you have lost a loved one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call 214-618-822.

New data released from the Pentagon indicates that in 2012,  there have been more active-duty soldier deaths attributable to suicide than combat.

Texas suicide lawyer Skip Simpson praises Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for putting his finger on one of the main problems of military suicides.

Last month, Panetta said military leaders need to be held accountable for prevention. He said suicide has become an epidemic in the military, with an average of one soldier a day committing suicide – about 33 each month. To raise awareness, he ordered the military to “stand down” for a single day.

These are men and women who put their lives on the line every day for us. We – and specifically the military leadership – have a duty to protect them from harming themselves, as they cope with the tribulations of returning home after living through the horror of war.

Service data indicates that Army soldiers in particular are struggling. The suicide rate among Army soldiers has tripled since 2004, with about 10 for every 100,000 a month in that year to nearly 30 for every 100,000 this year. In July, a record 38 Army soldiers committed suicide.

These figures don’t include the number of retired veterans, who reportedly commit suicide on an average of 18 per day.

Panetta was quoted by various media as saying that leaders must be sensitive to the issue and aware of the warning signs – and they have to be aggressive in addressing it. Seeking help, he said, must be viewed as a sign of courage, not weakness.

Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. Newsweek recently profiled a number of soldiers who had either committed or attempted suicide. One of the latter says that as he sat in the hospital after purposely crashing his motorcycle on the freeway, his father begged him to get help. When he went to his superior, he was told he could be sent to the on-base mental health unit, but that his career might be negatively affected. He was waiting on a promotion to commander, and told that seeking help could put his chances of that position at risk. He declined to get help.

Likely the superior who advised his subordinate not to go to the mental health unit was genuinely trying to help his subordinate by relying on his own experiences with the military. Until recently, going to a mental health clinic spelled the end to a military career. Often, security clearances were pulled, which was the kiss of death.

Until Panetta’s directives to the military leadership become operational and are religiously followed, military suicides will continue at the same alarming rates, Skip Simpson says. VA hospitals and clinics have received Panetta’s message loud and clear and are clearly superior in suicide prevention compared to civilian hospitals and clinics.

As a Texas suicide lawyer, Skip Simpson knows this is not how it should be, and it’s a positive step that the military is beginning to recognize this. But there is still a long way to go.

Part of prevention is recognizing the warning signs. Some of those include:

Sudden behavior or mood changes;

Writing or talking about death or ways to die;

Displaying risky or reckless behaviors;

Expressing hopelessness about the future;

Giving away valuables;

Making arrangements for pets or children;

Spending money erratically;

Withdrawing from others;

Preparing a will;

Sleeping or eating disturbances;

Increased drug or alcohol use;

Displaying rage, anger or a desire for revenge.

If you lost a loved one to suicide, contact the Dallas Law Offices of Skip Simpson, dedicated to holding mental health counselors accountable. Call 214-618-8222.

For families of people who are in psychological pain, or who are suffering from what is called “psychache”—the hurt, anguish or overwhelming pain that can take hold in the mind— knowing when to contact a professional on a loved one’s behalf can be daunting. You may be unsure if it’s suicidal behavior, but you are constantly worried. A person, however, will usually show suicide warning signs long before seeing a psychologist, being admitted into a mental health facility or becoming an inpatient in a psychiatric hospital.

Experienced, compassionate Texas suicide lawyer Skip Simpson urges anyone who thinks they may have noticed even the slightest sign that a loved one may be suicidal to take action. Often, it doesn’t take much action to save a life—and to begin the process of ensuring that the person in danger gets help before deciding to take his or her own life. People who have jumped off a bridge in desperation but survived the fall have said they would not have leapt if they had received one smile from one person as they approached the railing. If a smile from a stranger can be that powerful in helping to keep a man who is in anguish over losing his job from choosing to end his life, or to prevent a woman overwhelmed by grief at the loss of her husband from deciding to kill herself, think what a loved one could do to help prevent a suicide.

Sometimes even close relatives will think their loved is not the type of person who could be suicidal. According to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline there are certain suicidal thoughts and actions that men, women or adolescents with psychache may display, especially if they suffer from depression or other disorders linked to a risk of suicide:

• He reasons that he is a burden to others, feels trapped, has nothing to live for or wants to die.
• She says she has no reason to live, feels hopeless, is in unbearable pain or should just end it all.
• He is looking for ways to end his life, such as searching for poisons online or buying a gun.
• She is drinking more, using drugs excessively or engaging in risky activities.
• He is full of rage, acting recklessly or focused on seeking revenge.
• She seems agitated, anxious, and feeling there is no way out.
• He isolates himself from others and is withdrawn.
• She is not sleeping much or sleeping all the time.

• He has increasingly extreme mood swings.
• She has stopped going to work.
• He has stopped eating.

If you have a loved one who is showing signs of psychache and suicidal thoughts, act now. Here are several approaches the NSPL recommends that could help save someone’s life:

• Be direct. Talk openly and matter-of-factly about suicide.
• Be willing to listen. Allow them to express their feelings and accept those feelings.
• Don’t be judgmental or debate whether suicide is right or wrong. Don’t lecture on the value of life.
• Get involved. Become available. Show interest and support.
• Don’t dare him or her to do it.
• Don’t act shocked. This will put distance between you.
• Don’t be sworn to secrecy. Seek support.
• Offer hope that alternatives are available but do not offer glib reassurance.
• Take action. Remove means, such as guns or stockpiled pills.
• Get help from persons or agencies specializing in crisis intervention and suicide prevention.

Families of loved ones who attempted to commit suicide, who killed himself or took her own life in a mental health care facility or psychiatric hospital should also know that clinicians and hospital staff are often underpaid and stretched thin with their workload. Consequently patients are often watched only every 15 minutes, instead of at a higher level of observation, such as one-to-one or in line of sight of a hospital employee.

You have most likely come to this blog because someone you care about, or who is in your professional care, is in danger of committing suicide. Take action before anything happens.  If your loved one committed suicide or attempted suicide—whether as an inpatient, before being admitted to a hospital or emergency room, or after being released—you need a reliable, diligent suicide attorney. Call  Skip Simpson Attorneys and Counselors at 214-618-8222 or complete our online contact form. We understand what you are going through and can fight hard to pursue the compensation you and your family deserve.

A final note: Mr. Simpson rejects many more cases than he accepts. Not all attempted suicides are the result of incompetent care.  Mr. Simpson and the experts he retains distinguish the cases in which law suits are needed from those in which no law suit should be filed.

The Law Offices of Skip Simpson, 2591 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300 Frisco, Texas 75034

Psychiatric patients who have attempted suicide and are mostly likely to try again to end their lives are some of the least likely to follow up with mental health treatment after being released from a hospital, according to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

The resource center and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recommend that a discharged psychiatry patient should be sent home with “linkage to certain and effective treatment,” according to the 2011 publication, “Suicide Attempts and Suicide Deaths Subsequent to Discharge from an Emergency Department or an Inpatient Psychiatry Unit: Continuity of Care for Suicide Prevention and Research.”

Unfortunately, even discharged patients with  suicide risk may not receive the follow-up psychological treatment they need.

Nationally recognized  Texas suicide lawyer Skip Simpson considers  standard of care (patient safety rules) for suicide patients to be of utmost priority at all times, including the days and weeks after an Emergency Department or inpatient  mental health facility discharges a patient.

Unfortunately, however, frequently suicidal patients do not always get the mental health care they need. “Many patients never make it to their first follow-up appointment,” says the report, “and many that do, do not remain in treatment long enough for continuing care to be successful. For both EDs (emergency departments) and inpatient discharges, the risk for suicide attempts and death among all age groups is highest immediately after discharge and over the next 12 months to four years. “

Simpson concurs. “The standard of care requires that all suicide risk assessments be documented in the record,” he explains. “If a clinician fails to perform, or improperly performs, an assessment, or if the clinician unreasonably underestimates the patient’s risk, she may well be liable if the patient dies by suicide, or makes a suicide attempt. Failure to take certain actions is unacceptable.”

With over 36,000 people taking their own lives every year in this country, it is vital for anyone who was recently released from a psychiatric unit or ED to follow up with proper mental health treatment. Those first few hours, days, and weeks after discharge are when a suicidal person is most vulnerable and may try to take his or her own life. Skip Simpson stresses this research perfectly matches what he sees in his practice over and over again.  He reviews about 50-60 suicide cases every year and hears suicide survivors say “if I had only known.”  This blog is an attempt to give loved ones the knowledge they need before a tragic attempt occurs.  It is also at attempt to give clinicians an opportunity to avoid the pain of having their patient seriously harm or kill themselves.

If you are a clinician who is reading this blog please get the training you need. Demand the training from your place of employment. If your employer will not provide the training because of budget concerns take the time to train yourself.  There is plenty of information on the internet to enable you to become more competent in suicide prevention.  Families are handing their loved ones over to you so you can keep them safe until they are properly treated.

If your loved one committed suicide or attempted suicide, whether as an inpatient or after coming home from the hospital or emergency room, you need an experienced suicide attorney. Call  Skip Simpson Attorneys and Counselors at 214-618-8222 or complete our online contact form. We understand what you are going through and can fight hard to pursue the compensation you and your family deserve.  Moreover, sadly it seems the only way clinicians, hospitals and emergency rooms will change their dangerous care is by paying the consequences for their poor care.

A final note.  Mr. Simpson rejects many more cases than he accepts. Not all attempted suicides are the result of incompetent care.  Mr. Simpson and the experts he retains distinguishes the cases where law suits are needed from those where no law suit should be filed.

The Law Offices of Skip Simpson

2591 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300

Frisco, Texas 75034

Depression and anxiety typically hit people hardest when they are going through difficulties of one kind or another, such as the loss of a loved one, divorce or illness, which are a common cause of despondency. If that person’s sadness becomes severe most loved ones and physicians will encourage him or her to seek psychological care and perhaps medical support such as a suicide psychiatrist, long before any risk of suicide became evident. One cause of an increase in suicidal thinking, or suicidal tendencies, that many families and physicians don’t consider, however, is economic hardship and it is an issue that is all-too germane to many Americans now struggling with personal financial crisis.

The results of an in-depth, decades-long study recently came out which showed direct correlations between economic downturns and sharp spikes in suicide rates. Conducted by the Centers For Disease Control from 1928 to 2007, the 79-year survey revealed that more people committed suicide during financial crises—such as when the stock market fell in 1929, during the aptly named Great Depression, and the Oil Crisis of the 1970’s—than during periods of expansion. The saddest aspect of these figures is that better suicide prevention strategies were very likely not considered necessary, despite the increase in suicidal victims of economic hardship.

Texas suicide lawyer Skip Simpson believes this study is germane to what is happening in this country today and that it serves as a wake up call to all doctors, nurses, counselors and working with mental health patients, particularly psychiatric doctors. “It is vital,” he insists, “that all healthcare professionals—intake nurses, general practitioners and mental health practitioners alike—take into account a patient’s financial situation when discussing his or her mental health problems.”

Experts at the CDC agree. “Knowing suicides increased during economic recessions and fell during expansions underscores the need for additional suicide prevention measures when the economy weakens,” said James Mercy, Ph.D., acting director of CDC’s Injury Center’s Division of Violence Prevention. “It is an important finding for policy makers and those working to prevent suicide.”

The study, entitled “Impact of Business Cycles on the U.S. Suicide Rates, 1928–2007”, is the first to investigate the relationships between suicide rates and the economy. In 1932, the last full year in the Great Depression, suicides increased by 22.8%, a record in any four-year period in history. It is noteworthy that the study found the greatest link between business cycles and people who commit suicide who were of typical working ages: 25-64 years old.

When people are dealing with being laid off from work, a subsequent home foreclosure or having to make drastic lifestyle changes such as ending up homeless, being dependent on relatives or going on welfare, depression and anxiety can set in. We’ve all read those stories about they guy who killed himself the day after he lost his job or the woman who took her own life after ending up on the street due to bankruptcy. It is vital that psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists examine every aspect of a patient’s life situation, so that they administer proper mental health care, including anti-anxiety and anti-depressants if indicated. If a patient attempts suicide while in the care of a doctor or there was as an in-patient suicide at a mental health facility, an improper diagnosis or poor decisions to properly protect the patient is a basis for a medical suicide malpractice case.

If you lost a loved one due to a medical practitioner’s failure to properly recognize suicide risk and implement suicide prevention measures, you need an experienced suicide attorney who can help you seek the justice you deserve. Contact Skip Simpson Attorneys and Counselors by calling 214-618-8222 or completing our online contact form. We know what you’re going through and can fight for your rights.

The Law Offices of Skip Simpson
2591 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300
Frisco, Texas 75034

Over the last ten years, several studies have shown a link between weather and suicide risk and that, as the thermometer reading goes up, so does the likelihood that people with depression will take their own lives.

A team from London’s Institute of Psychiatry, which analyzed over 50,000 suicides in England and Wales from 1993 to 2003 found that suicidal tendencies rose when average daily temperatures went over 64° F, or 18° C.  The study, which appeared in the British Journal of Psychiatry, also showed that each further temperature increase of just one degree centigrade, or a few in Fahrenheit, was associated with an almost 4% increase in suicides.

Renowned Texas suicide lawyer Skip Simpson cautions loved ones with family members who are in a mental health facility to be particularly watchful. Because psychiatric facility inpatient suicides can occur due to failed 15-minute monitoring level suicide watch, incorrect diagnosis or improper medical decisions to protect, hospitalized suicidal patients can be particularly vulnerable to seasonal depression, anxiety and suicide.

Dr. Gavin Lambert, Ph.D., author of a study conducted at the Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia also discovered a season-suicide connection. That study, which was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, examined suicide rates over a 10-year period and found a link between the length of the day and the number of suicides, and that more people do themselves in during warm weather months.

Dr. Lambert speculated that the seasonal changes in serotonin levels, which decrease during summer months, could put a suicidal person in danger of killing himself or herself until the brain has adjusted to the new chemical balance.

British researcher Dr. Lisa Page said the L.I.P. findings lead her to believe there are several possible reasons for the link between hot weather and suicide, including mood swings that sometimes come with high temperatures outside. “We felt overall that the most likely explanation was probably a psychological one,” she said, “where for some people you have an unusually high degree of irritability, aggression and impulsivity.”

Suicide can be prevented when consistent, competent care is provided. But the harsh truth is that each year, 36,035 people die by their own hand. On average one person every 14.6 minutes kills himself or herself in the United States. Every 35 seconds someone in the United States will attempt suicide. Every day about 6 inpatients will kill themselves in a hospital, usually by hanging. When natural occurrences such as summer weather increase the risk of suicide, it is yet more reason to choose mental health facilities and practitioners carefully, and to make sure they are well-versed in all suicide research findings.

If your loved one committed suicide or attempted suicide, particularly if it was a case of an inpatient who took her or his own life, seek the guidance of a reliable suicide attorney. Call Skip Simpson Attorneys and Counselors at 214-618-8222 or complete our online contact form. We are compassionate and can help you pursue the justice you deserve.

The Law Offices of Skip Simpson
2591 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300
Frisco, Texas 75034

Every day in this country, more than 100 people end their lives—an average of one person every 14 minutes—and the numbers are going up each year. Between 1999 and 2009, suicides in this country increased by 12%—a shocking statistic. Second only to the tragedy of those numbers is the sad truth that many members of the mental health profession whose constituency includes those who may be at risk of suicide do not possess the needed skills to competently treat such individuals. Psychiatrists, psychologists, marriage and family therapists and social workers alike should be able to recognize every suicide warning sign in a patient struggling with suicidal tendencies or suicidal ideation. The harsh reality, however, is that due to glaringly limited training of mental health professionals in the assessment and management of suicidal patients, many lives are cut short.

The problem of insufficient tutelage is complex and widespread. Several studies have shown that, while most psychiatrists receive some form of training in suicide risk assessment and intervention, it is often in passive formats such as seminars and observation, rather than via skill development workshops. For other mental health professionals, suicide assessment and care training is even more woefully lacking. Though surveys have shown that 97% of psychologists-in-training and 87% of social workers had provided care to at least one patient with some form of suicidal behavior, these practitioners typically spend a fraction of their education learning how to help patients with suicidal urges. The dearth of professional training in this specific field has become a dire situation in this country, and many experts are calling for an overhaul of the entire mental health services educational system.

Texas suicide lawyer Skip Simpson recently co-authored an extremely informative report on this topic for the American Association of Suicidology entitled “Preventing Suicide through Improved Training in Suicide Risk Assessment and Care: An American Association of Suicidology Task Force Report Addressing Serious Gaps in U.S. Mental Health Training.” According to the article, the problem is not only a case of insufficient training, it also pertains to the competence and ethics of each individual mental health worker.

“In fact,” the report attests, “over the years, numerous authors have specifically called into question the ethics of mental health professionals who, without adequate training, provide service to suicidal patients. Each of the mental health disciplines has ethical codes which stipulate, in slightly different verbiage, that mental health professionals should not provide services that are beyond their area of competence. Yet, a majority of mental health professionals will provide services to potentially suicidal patients for whom they are ill-equipped, and, most importantly, potentially incompetent to treat.”

Any family that has suffered a loss due to suicide—whether it was a young person who was bullied, a hospital inpatient or a mental health facility resident—needs to establish what level of expertise their loved one’s mental health service providers possessed at the time treatment was administered. If a psychiatrist, psychologist, family therapist or clinical social worker did not have proper mental health training in assessment, care and intervention for potentially suicidal patients, he or she may not have been qualified to offer advice. Should a suicide have subsequently taken place, the family may have legal recourse, including the right to seek compensation, and should consult with a top suicide personal injury attorney. Without corrective action in the courts, it is less likely the mental health industry will fix the problem of poor training.

For a thorough examination of the issue of training, read the full report. And for diligent, knowledgeable legal advocacy, the experts at the Law Offices of Skip Simpson have the wisdom and compassion their clients need in times of distress and crisis. Skip Simpson can fight for the rights of anyone who has suffered from the pain of loss due to a suicide, inpatient suicide or mental health malpractice. Seek the guidance and experience of Skip Simpson. Call us at 214-618-8222 or complete our online contact form to schedule a free consultation.

The Law Offices of Skip Simpson
2591 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300
Frisco, Texas 75034