Weekly News Roundup Mar. 15-22, 2024
‘Simon’s family says ex-enforcer died by suicide, ‘strongly believes’ CTE played role – CTV News
March 20, 2024
Chris Simon, 52, a former NHL enforcer, died by suicide last week. Simon’s family believes that chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) contributed to his death. CTE is associated with repeated traumatic brain injuries including concussions. Suicide and drug overdose deaths are linked to CTE. Authors in a study about life expectancy in former NHL players say, “…Being an enforcer was associated with dying approximately 10 years earlier and more frequently of suicide and drug overdose than matched controls. Re-emphasis on player safety and improving quality of life after a hockey career should renew discussion to make fighting a game misconduct penalty in the NHL.”
About 1 in 5 Suicide Attempts Occur in Otherwise Psychiatrically Healthy Adults – Psychiatry Advisory
March 19, 2024
New research has found that approximately 20% of adults who have attempted suicide did not meet the criteria for a psychiatric disorder diagnosis before their first attempt. Study authors say, “This finding challenges clinical notions of who is at risk for suicidal behavior and raises questions about the safety of limiting suicide risk screening to psychiatric populations.”
Trying to stay alive in a town tormented by drugs, alcohol and suicide – BBC News
March 15, 2024
This article talks about the recovery journeys and struggles faced by some residents of the city of Blackpool in England. Blackpool has the highest rates of deaths linked to drugs, alcohol, and suicide in the country. A new report mapped these “deaths of despair” to local council areas and proposed factors for the increased risk. Factors in Blackpool include: Being from Northern England, being white, male, and working-class, working a manual job, and having a lower level of education. Report author Christine Camacho says, “The UK is a wealthy country, but it’s also quite an unfair country – our resources are not equally distributed. And deaths of despair are one avoidable consequence of that unequal distribution.” A spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said, “Spending on mental health has increased, and our suicide prevention strategy includes early intervention and crisis support. We’ve published a 10-year plan for tackling drug and alcohol-related harms.”
The hostility Black women face in higher education carries dire consequences – The Conversation
March 15, 2024
This article, written by Ebony Aya, PhD, who focused the work of her dissertation on the experiences of Black women completing their PhDs. Aya interviewed nine Black women who spoke of being silenced, feeling like they didn’t belong, and of being isolated by their peers and potential mentors. They also said that they were struggling with depression, had thought about suicide, and felt physically ill when going to campus. One interviewee said, “It’s not just the beating me down that is hard. It is the fact that it feels like I’m villainized and made out to be the problem for trying to advocate for myself.”