Though I’ve never lost a friend or family member to suicide, I have lost a patient (who I wrote about in a previous post, The True Cause Of Depression). I have known a number of people left behind by the suicide of someone close to them, however. Given how much losing my patient affected me, I’ve only been able to guess at the devastation these people have experienced. Pain mixed with guilt, anger, and regret makes for a bitter drink, the taste of which I’ve seen take many months or even years to wash out of some mouths. Continue reading…
 THE UNDEFEATED MIND Fall 2012 |
About two years ago a patient of mine, Mr. Burndt (not his real name), committed suicide. When his wife, who was also my patient, told me the news at one of her visits, I was shocked. Fully aware that 40% of older patients who are suicidal visit their primary care doctors within one week of killing themselves, I found myself wondering over and over how I’d missed recognizing the severity of his distress. I’d known he’d been suffering from depression but had thought it mild. But even more shocking than the news of his suicide was the reason his wife gave for it: six months earlier, he’d been involved in a car accident and had inadvertently killed a pedestrian. In the end, he simply couldn’t live with the guilt. Continue reading… |
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