Suicide risk rises after run-ins with law, study says

Suicide risk rises after run-ins with law, study says

www.rawstory.com

WASHINGTON — People who have had run-ins with the law, even if they were never jailed, show a higher risk of committing suicide, said a study released Monday.

The research, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, a journal of the American Medical Association, examined records in Denmark and found that the risk of suicide was highest among people who did time behind bars.

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I will leave it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions here, whether this has merit or not.

If so, I feel this is pretty sad, especially in light of living in the nation with the highest incarceration rates per populace on the planet.

My personal opinion is that we as a society have an OBSCENE amount of ridiculous laws and over-policing of many of these mickey mouse, nonsensical infractions, which for the most part harm no one.

And if said infractions are instigating this type of end result of "run-ins" with authority, and subsequent depression and rise in suicidal tendencies, then what the heck does that say about us as a supposedly "modern" society?

Sigh...

www.rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


I bet the rates of us Vets, especially us disabled vets are a lot higher....

Trauma to the soul is hard to heal.

Am I the only person who misread that as "Suicide risk rise after run with Inlaws?"

reply to post by Aeons


Haha, no! I actually saw the EXACT same thing when I first saw the caption heading!

Piano---This current bunch of vets have the highest suicide rates of any in known history. I think it has to do with the awakening and evolution of humankind. Even though we are still a warring species, I feel that something is changing within the collective human mechanism in this regard, and many are becoming more empathic and feeling much deeper the consequence of their actions and the suffering created with war.

The best revenge, is to live well.

Don't know where I read that, but it's good advice and recommended.

Never do your enemies work for them: do not destroy yourself.

By the way, if you have the power to hire and fire, give a yardbird a chance. You might make the most loyal friend a man can ever have.

Most people that have run-ins with the law more than likely already have mental issues to begin with. Some have been incarcerated or just placed in local jails. When they get out they feel they have been beaten by the law and have no where else to turn to so they feel lost with nowhere to go. Most people that have been arrested has been due to desperation of their situation albeit financial or addiction. What do you do when you have nowhere to go or nothing to do? How do you even get a job with all these back ground checks and so forth. Or get the money you needed to get yourself out of a financial bind that drove you to something stupid and land yourself in jail anyways?

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


I think the study has merit when viewed in its proper context - which is that of the judicial system of Denmark. The study would not translate into an equivelancy in the US anymore than the high suicide rate in Japan would be equivelant to the suicide rate of people living in the FEderated States of Micronesia.

However the study is there, and I dont see any reason not to use it as a launching point to see if the US has the same issues, and what if anything can be used from the study to improve what we have now.

People do need to keep in mind that not all investigations occur the same from country to country. Here in the States, the Police and the PA's office do their investigations, while our Judges stick to just that. In France the Judges can actually work their own investigations into criminal offenses.

Also some ountries allow their Police to arrest and charge with the PA doing nothing but prosecuting on the info submitted with no choice, while here in the States the Police submit charges for review and the PA decides if the case goes forward or not.

As I said, an intresting study if put into proper context and something we can possibly use to impove the system here.

reply to post by sugarcookie1


Psychiatirc admittance in the US (varies State to State) can only be done by voluntary admit, or forced by a Psychiatric Doctor. A lot of times when mental status is questioned during the comission of a crime, the first thing a court will do is to do a Psyche test. In almost all State a person deemed incompetant / emotionaly distressed / distrubed usually will have reduced charges or none at all, depending on whether the person adequately understood the actions were wrong.

Hitting rock bottom and entering the desperation phases to just exist is a problem, and it gets worse when Law Enforcement get involved. Nothing like hitting rock bottom thinking things cant get worse, when all of a sudden the person starts to blast through bedrock.

The system can only do so much to assist a person with positive changes. If the person does not want help, then anything the Police or Medical / State entities do is wasted. We cant force people to change, the person must want to change.

In the end its a societal problem in terms of established norms. A man does not ask for help, and we do whatever we can to support the family, even if it means commiting a crime. By the time people hit the bottom, asking for help usually falls behind the curve / after the disaster.

I am not surprised. With societies attitude towards any one with a criminal history, where we act like all offenders are violent people out to hurt others, I think it would affect ones perception of themselves. Also I think a lot of people who have run ins with the law really want to better themselves and just don't know how to go about it due to various obstacles, and now they have an even bigger barrier.Our legal system is set up in a way that encourages people to be repeat offenders and makes it almost impossible for people to turn their life around.

I know a woman who has too sons, one is a rotten egg and the other is a good kid at heart but made some bad choices and let his older brother get him in trouble. The trouble maker skates through the system with never anything more than a slap on the wrist. The other son who truly wants to turn his life around and be able to provide for his daughter. I have heard the poor mother say a million times, " I don't understand why they won't do anything about my one son who is putting peoples lives at risk, yet they try to make an example of my other son who has shown repeatedly that he is trying to turn his life around."

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective

If so, I feel this is pretty sad, especially in light of living in the nation with the highest incarceration rates per populace on the planet.

My personal opinion is that we as a society have an OBSCENE amount of ridiculous laws and over-policing of many of these mickey mouse, nonsensical infractions, which for the most part harm no one.
Sigh...

www.rawstory.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

They have to have those stupid laws to keep the slavefarms and factorys running, paying them little or nothing which helps more folks out of work which translates to more slaves

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by Aeons


Star! Gotta laugh because I misread it as run-in with in-laws and I was going to reply:

"Forget suicide, murder is more likely."

Edit:

Nevermind.

I very much feel this is relevent to anyone who is used to living a free lifestyle, and is then confined, or otherwise forced to change. When control of your life is taken over by a foreign entity, the thought of just stepping aside and giving up is plausable.

A good tip would be to not commit crimes and you then won't be incarcerated and hence your suicide chances go down. Pretty simple stuff.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


I have never had anything to do with police, they have just planned to destroy my life now for 19 years. Imagine what they do to people that actually do something.