Doctor: Suicides Not Linked To Holiday Season
ROYAL OAK (WWJ) - Since Christmas there has been a rash of suicides making the headlines in the Metro Detroit area.
Beaumont Psychiatrist Dr. William Miles said it's a myth that more suicides occur during the holidays. Instead, he says, suicide is a frighteningly common problem.
"Most lay people, most physicians, don't realize that suicide is twice as common as homicide in this country," said Miles. "In 2010 there were approximately about 15,000 homicides in the United States, which is a nauseatingly high number. But there were over 32,000 suicides."
Miles said suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death in the country.
He said resent suicided stories in the news are unsettling, but not surprising.
"The four recent suicides, as spectacular as they were -- and we don't have all the information about what has happened yet -- I think it's a statistical fluke," he said. "The man reason people kill themselves is hopelessness. Whatever situation they're in -- whether it's financial ruin, a bad marriage, whatever it is, they don't see any escape."
Dr. Miles urges anyone who is feeling or knows someone who's feeling suicidal to call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room for treatment.
