England Waiting for Verdict in 2007 Case of Suicide and Bullying
In 2007 a mother and her 18 year old daughter who had a severe learning disability, committed suicide by sitting in their car and setting fire to it. They are survived by a now 19 year old son who is fighting dyslexia.
As I understand the story, the family was often the target of a gang of 16 teens who constantly threw rocks and eggs at their home and in general made life a living hell for this family. Obviously the attacks and abuse were so severe they simply could not live through it anymore.
The problem is that this mother tried to get help from authorities who not only didn’t take it seriously enough, but also wanted the family to take responsibility for the attacks themselves. They know the mom was suicidal yet no one thought to sit down with them and listen to her and maybe even do something about it.
The same thing occurs here time after time. The victims of bullying are ignored till some of them snap and either kill themselves or take revenge out on others. Then we talk about the poor victims, some of whom might have been the bullies or even those who watched and observed the bullying and did or said nothing. It’s a disgrace.
Veterans and Suicide
Veterans are twice as likely to try and commit suicide than other people. One in five comes back suffering from traumatic stress disorder. Over four hundred are homeless, and that number is rising. There are over 600,000 veterans who have to wait six months or more for disability payments. Some are uninsured and have to wait or are refused services. Is it any wonder they are depressed enough to want to kill themselves?
The Department of Veterans Affairs is addressing this problem by implementing a suicide hot-line of sorts, but it’s more than just a friendly voice to talk to. This hot-line has been designed so that when someone in crisis calls, the operator is able to contact other help immediately in that veterans area so that the suicide attempt could be averted and the veteran could receive the help they so desperately need.