WARNING: the strong language & imagery evoked through the visual poetry & information, may not be appropriate for some viewers.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, December 10, 1948

Article 1.

• All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.  They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 5.

• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 12.

• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

 

"individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS have been found to have increased risk for suicide...   in the U.S.A. in 2000, suicide deaths outnumbered homicide deaths by 5 to 3.  Suicide was the third leading cause of death for 10-24 year olds..." (niv.gov)

"Each year, up to 20 million people worldwide attempt to commit suicide, with about a million of these completing the act. That’s a significant minority of deaths—and near deaths—in our species...  In our own species, suicide usually means deliberately trying to end our psychological existence—or at least this particular psychological existence" (Jesse Bering Oct 11, 2010)

"Suicide is analyzed in terms of motivations to escape from aversive self-awareness. The causal chain begins with events that fall severely short of standards and expectations" (Baumeister RF, 1990)

 

humanities' boys are whispering to us :  male sexual abuse rape and HIV/AIDS

Sexual abuse survivors are more likely to participate in activities that increase their risk for unintended pregnancy (self and partner) and infection with HIV and other STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).  Youth who run away or are forced out of the home are especially vulnerable because of their participation in survival sex, prostitution and/or drug use.  Several studies indicate more than half of all sex workers are sexual abuse survivors.

In many countries, the intentional or reckless infection of a person with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is considered to be a crime.  People who do so can be charged with criminal transmission of HIV, murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, or assault.  Some states have enacted laws expressly to criminalize HIV transmission, as in the United States, while others charge under the existing laws, as in the United Kingdom.

 

Male Sexual Abuse and Rape

Source: Abused Empowered Survive Thrive

Rape and sexual assault can happen to anyone, including males. Many thousands of men and boys are sexually assaulted and raped every year, and it has nothing to do with their race, class, age, religion, sexual orientation, size, appearance, or strength. A male can be sexually assaulted by a stranger, a family member, friend, baby-sitter, or someone he knows and trusts such as a teacher etc.

Experts expect that more than 1 in 5 men are sexually violated during their lifetime. Even though male sexual assault remains vastly under reported, the United States Department of Justice, for example, documents over 13,500 cases of male rape every year, and many more cases of childhood sexual abuse. This is thought to be only the tip of the iceberg, the true number been at least 5 to 6 times higher. In the UK there are no government figures that I can locate.

The sexual abuse of males brings with it some different and extra issues for the male victim of abuse. Many of these come from what society has in the past taught males that they should be like, even though many of these assumptions are quite wrong.

For instance :- all males should be strong and able to safeguard themselves. Of course, some males are physically strong, but physical strength is NO guarantee that a male can protect himself. Unfortunately the male victim of abuse has such ideas to deal with on top of the abuse, and in most cases, these ideas will make it vastly harder for a male to deal with the abuse.

Males also tend to mistrust their sexuality because of the abuse more than females do. To some extent this is because we males get an erection at the drop of a hat, usually when we do not need nor want one. For the abuser this gives a weapon that he can use… "You must have liked it because … you got an erection… or you ejaculated… or both". This is quite wrong of course, but does lead to a lot of confusion.

Getting an erection is NOT under the person's control; it is a REFLEX reaction to stimulation, as is ejaculation.

Neither of which means that you found the experience pleasurable and neither of which mean that you must be gay or bisexual, and neither which were your fault if you are gay or bisexual. Whilst it is true that it is possible to think of thoughts that will cause an erection, it is not possible to think of thoughts that will stop you getting an erection when being stimulated. Also, muscles in the anus often relax when a man is raped, but this if also true of any animal on the planet that it very afraid, and NOT a sign that you wanted, nor enjoyed, the experience.

Males who have been abused often have problems with sexuality, masturbation problems, having been brought up to be strong, dealing with anger and other things.

 

timothée barrus/ The Field They Burned (10/3/10)

i was seven when the fire came racing for the house/ the back field where i played was burning and roaring like a train/ the one that ran along the grand river down at potter's park where they kept the lions/ that fire never had a chance not with my father fighting it with shovels/ we never did discover who set that fire/ you're standing there looking at death coming toward you and for the first time in your stupid existence you understand that everything can end in a second/ all we knew is that my father had a lot of enemies/

i would be one from time to time/ the pain of knowing him and loving him was carried piecemeal through all the old silences/ the fuckin' irish/ chin up/ timothy patrick/ trouble is/ the ink has smeared on the postmarks of the places we no longer lived/ it was painful to know and love him/ i never did tell him i had aids/ he begged me to come to him i refused and he died alone/ the trip to his deathbed could not be made/ i could barely make it down the stairs of the mountain cabin i was living in/ aids is, in fact, a whole laundry list of diagnosis/ this was a bone disease called avascular necrosis/ yes/ it rhymes/ for effect/ more longfellow than whitman/ god i can't stand longfellow/

whitman at least cums from a long line of fellow literate cocksuckers/

i know/ i know/ we are all dying/ jesus fucking christ i could be cursed to live in this body for another hundred years/ avascular necrosis means your bones are dying/ ahhhh, now to the marrow of it/ i'm irish like the headboard and the bed/ the dull fingers from that field on fire spoke to me of smothering/ i could not attend my father's funeral because i couldnafucking walk/ he's running toward the fire with his shovels/ and all the old smoldering silences between us/

here's to liquor and fists, maynard/ we all have to leave our weapons somewhere/ lovers, poets, goats, and children, now/ i never understood the thing with guns -- seriously, it was a mystery to me all my life it was just guns, guns, guns; i thought everyone lived with guns like we did but they didn't and they don't -- until belfast and there it was/ the shadows of something looking so bleakly leaden at myself/ fuukin'gunsdaddy/ i'm dying here in my bones, old man, the paralysis of words/ a fuukin'poet anafailure forason/ pauses in the lovemakin' your cock up my ass i'm the son i can say it/ you wanted it so why not all the other men i sold it to/

ahh the irish in my head and in my bed i am alone/ headboards and footboards/ the red hair flowing like the stars, daddy/ trouble is/ indifference isn't even irish/ they called us blond but we knew better/ we have seen our pubic hair/ i shaved my head tonight and went out and faced the wall, old man/ i do that from time to time/ in fact, i will do just about anything to end the pain from these dying bones that are determined to die before the body does/ it's a strange disease/ what aids/ that, too/ stephen's surname is spelled daedalus the architect in greek myth who was contracted by minos to build the labyrinth in which he would imprison his wife's son, the minotaur i would suggest we simply simply fly and so i do/ errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery/

i shall try to fly by those nets, daddy/ the last one was called dilaudid/ the drugs don't work anymore, you see/ it's just us and the pain, old man/ isn't that how it was supposed to be/ so let us build the fuuckin' labyrinth and they can't come in because if they did they might find out the secret is we're lost/ now, they'll be wantin' to leave their facebook comments nice poem powerful truly a lovely poem you've written here magnificent it's the cliches, ya know/ but here the worst one and it stops me in my tracks/

inspirational/

you want it inspirational, now do ya/ oh, a little leipreachán glitter here and there/ i've shaved me head and i'm facing the friggin' wall, woman, and you're leavin' me a cliche to chew on are ye, oh daddy you nailed'em you really did/ i'm dying on the cliches, daddy/ pauses in the lovemaking/ you may take your cock out now/ i'm not that irish/ you know that field has been burning and comin' at me all this time, daddy/ tortured men in the stockade and mama's not even in this dream/ peeling potatoes written fifty years ago jeanann/ the truth is that we were all violently asleep in that old house even as you burned it down/ i am tired of walking those cliche streets/ o dublin/ o paris/ moving with our shovels blindly towards the door/

do not open it/ inspirational/ i shaved my head/ i swear to you i did i will take a photograph in the morning and i will publish it in facebook/ the wall, the wall/

trouble is/ the thing itself and not the myth/ we all leave our weapons somewhere/

 

"Sexual Abuse: Surviving the Pain" by Barabara E. Bogorad, Psy.D., A.B.P.P.

Founder and Former Director, Sexual Abuse Recovery Program Unit, South Oaks Hospital, New York  

©1998 by The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, Inc.

  Source: American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

Introduction

Reported incidents of child sexual abuse are markedly on the rise. What is especially shocking is the fact that these reports represent only a small portion of actual occurrences of sexual abuse. Incest affects individuals and families regardless of class, income, profession, religion or race. The statistics are truly alarming. It is currently estimated that one-third of all children are sexually abused before the age of 18. This includes 40% of all females and 30% of all males. The vast majority of these reports involve very young children, below age seven.

Every year in this country, two million children are brutally beaten or sexually abused. 340,000 new cases were reported in 1989 (U.S. Advisory Board, April, 1991). Of these abused children, 3,000 to 5,000 die every year. In New York State alone, 200 bodies of sexually and physically abused children are found each year and not even identified. These are the ultimate victims.

Children who are neglected or sexually abused are known to have lower IQs and an increased risk of depression, suicide and drug problems. Abused children are 53% more likely to be arrested as juveniles, and 38% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime. During preschool years, abused children are more likely to get angry, refuse direction from teachers, and lack enthusiasm. By the time they reach grade school, they are more prone to being easily distracted, lacking in self-control, and not well-liked by peers.1

Myths

There are many commonly held beliefs about sexual abuse. One is that abusers are always men. In fact, reports of female perpetrators are on the rise, involving both male and female victims. At least 5% of abusers are known to be women. Another myth is that the abuser is usually a stranger. More than 70% of abusers are immediate family members or someone very close to the family. Remember - bad guys don't always look bad; they're often the people we love. A third myth is that the abuser is always hated. Often the victim loves and protects the perpetrator. Some children feel "special" about the abuse. It may be the only attention or physical contact they're getting. Because of this, some survivors even into adulthood will deal with the abuse by minimizing it. Thus, they make the abuser and the events "OK", to make it feel like they're okay. An additional myth is that only females are sexually abused. In fact, 30% of all male children are molested in some way, compared to 40% of females.

Occurrence of Abuse

If you are one of the survivors, you are acutely aware that these numbers represent much more than statistics. They represent the pain and anguish and shattered dreams of so many individuals. You are also aware, if you are a survivor, that it's often not the mysterious stranger in a trench coat who commits this type of crime. Typically it's a friend, a parent, someone you love and trust - and it often happens at home. The effects of this kind of brutal betrayal are shattering and may last a lifetime.

Specialists in the addiction field (alcohol, drugs and eating disorders) estimate that up to 90 percent of their patients have a known history of some form of abuse. Recent studies (Calam, 1989²; Blume, 1989³) point out that substance abuse, including "food abuse," is a frequent aftermath of early sexual abuse. Current studies (Koopmans, 1990⁴) demonstrate that the vast majority of children and adolescents who attempt suicide have a history of sexual abuse as well. However, many individuals are resistant to seeking treatment for sexual abuse. This is especially true for males and adolescents. Men are often extremely reluctant to admit to any history of abuse and often fail to identify it as such. Many survivors are in denial of the effects of early abuse and may fail to see any connection with later tendencies toward ongoing abusive relationships, feelings of self-loathing, inability to trust, or problems with intimacy. Some patients denigrate themselves further, claiming that their abuse could not have been "as bad" as that of other victims. All abuse is bad.

Defining Sexual Abuse

The diversity of examples and case histories may lead one to ask, "What is sexual abuse?" There are many definitions. One of the most succinct is provided by the Incest Survivors Resource Network.⁵ They state "the erotic use of a child, whether physically or emotionally, is sexual exploitation in the fullest meaning of the term, even if no bodily contact is ever made." This last point - "no bodily contact" - is crucial. A parent who exposes a child to intercourse or deviant sexual behaviors or pornographic materials is abusing that child. New York State law now clarifies that such abuse is a crime. The law defines a sexually abused child as one whose parent or person legally responsible for the child's care, commits, allows to be committed, permits or encourages a sex offense against the child, including prostitution, incest, obscene sexual performance or sexual conduct.

Sexual abuse in the extreme includes ritual and cult abuse. Ritual abuse involves a specific rite or form in which the abuse is encapsulated. Cult abuse embraces a "religious" or spiritual belief system, usually Satanic. Cults may consist of individual "dabblers" or small, isolated groups. They may also include generations within families or whole segments of communities. They operate by destroying all bonding for their victims, and surrounding the child with total unpredictability or powerlessness. Drugs or trickery may be employed...sometimes even murder.

Defining Incest

Incest was traditionally defined as sex between close relatives. But incest is, above all, abuse; abuse by the very person(s) entrusted with the child's care. Incest is "any use of a minor child to meet the sexual or sexual/emotional needs of one or more persons whose authority is derived through ongoing emotional bonding with that child."⁶

Incest is especially common in alcoholic families, where judgment and boundaries are impaired. If the perpetrator always commits the act while under the influence of alcohol or some other substance, (s)he may have no memory of the events. Victims also may or may not remember. The trauma may be so severe that part or all of the abuse is blocked from conscious memory. This may continue for many years until something triggers a "flashback," although the effects of the abuse, emotionally or behaviorally, continue all along. The protective role of such blocking must be explained to patients who may, in fact, experience increasing flashbacks as treatment continues.

My own growing awareness of this led to the start of the Survivors' Group Program at South Oaks Hospital in July, 1988. I began with five women patients. Within a year and a half, I was easily able to expand the groups and the program to include six times that many patients from the hospital - men and women, adolescents and adults. This grew into a full-scale Sexual Abuse Recovery Program with inpatient, outpatient, and aftercare components. It was the first unit of its kind on the East Coast, and was unique for Long Island, despite the pervasiveness of individuals with life problems stemming from a background of abuse. Survivors are everywhere.

Reporting Sexual Abuse

Health professionals are legally obligated by New York State to report suspected child abuse when there exists reasonable cause to suspect. Absolute certainty is not required. The professional may be civilly or criminally liable if no report is made and is provided legal immunity for making the report. The call is made to the New York State Central Register of Child Abuse (1-800-342-3720). Anyone may call this number to report suspected abuse.

Identifying Abused Children

No child is psychologically prepared to deal with ongoing or intensive sexual stimulation. Even very young children, two or three years old, may sense that the sexual activity is "wrong," but they are unable to stop it. Children are frequently threatened that if they tell anyone, they will be killed or sent away, or their puppy will be killed; or their whole family will breakup.

Children subjected to sexual over-stimulation, with or without threats, will develop problems. Those older than five years of age become caught between loyalty to or dependence on the perpetrator, and shame at doing something "wrong." Over time, the child develops low self-esteem, feelings of being worthless or "dirty," and an abnormal view of sexuality.

How do you recognize such children? There are many signs:

Withdrawal and mistrust of adults

Suicidality

Difficulty relating to others except in sexual or seductive ways

Unusual interest in or avoidance of all things sexual or physical

Sleep problems, nightmares, fears of going to bed

Frequent accidents or self-injurious behaviors

Refusal to go to school, or to the doctor, or home

Secretiveness or unusual aggressiveness

Sexual components to drawings and games

Neurotic reactions (obsessions, compulsiveness, phobias)

Habit disorders (biting, rocking)

Wears long sleeves in hot weather (to hide bruises?)

Unusual sexual knowledge or behavior

Prostitution

Forcing sexual acts on other children

Extreme fear of being touched

Unwillingness to submit to physical examination

Specific physical indicators of recent sexual abuse include:

Difficulty in walking or sitting

Torn, stained or bloody clothing

Pain or itching in genital area

Bruises or bleeding in genital area or mouth

Pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases, especially in preteens

Repeated urinary infections or genital blockages

Identifying Adults Abused As Children

The effects of early sexual abuse last well into adulthood, affecting relationships, work, family, and life in general. Individual symptomatology tends to fall into four areas: ⁷

1. Damaged goods: Low self-esteem, depression, self-destructiveness (suicide and self-mutilation), guilt, shame, self-blame, constant search for approval and nurturance.

2. Betrayal: Impaired ability to trust, blurred boundaries and role confusion, rage and grief, difficulty forming relationships.

3. Helplessness: Anxiety, fear, tendency towards re-victimization, panic attacks.

4. Isolation: Sense of being different, stigmatized, lack of supports, poor peer relations.

Adult incest survivors may demonstrate some of the following symptoms:

Fear of the dark, fear of sleeping alone, nightmares, night terrors

Difficulty with swallowing, gagging

Poor body image, poor self-image in general

Wearing excessive clothing

Addictions, compulsive behaviors, obsessions

Self-abuse, skin-carving (also addictive),

Suicidality

Phobias, panic attacks, anxiety disorders, startle response

Difficulties with anger/rage

Splitting/ de-personalization, shutdown under stress

Issues with trust, intimacy, relationships

Issues with boundaries, control, abandonment

Pattern of re-victimization, not able to say "no"

Blocking of memories, especially between age one and 12

Feeling crazy, different, marked

Denial, flashbacks

Sexual issues and extremes

Multiple personalities

Signs of posttraumatic stress disorder

Certain issues appear repeatedly

For example, victims typically blame themselves for the abuse, even if they were two or three years old at the time of the event. Guilt and shame are expressed, along with intense feelings of rage⁸

If the rape or molestation was committed by an individual of the same sex (i.e., a man abusing a boy), questions regarding sexual orientation tend to arise in the patient ("I must be gay; after all, a man raped me!"). Female victims will frequently develop sexually promiscuous lifestyles in an effort to "conquer" the situation and bring it under their control. In other instances individuals will largely withdraw from any social or sexual interactions in order to avoid the feared stimuli, and turn toward extremely isolated lives.

The connection that is made for victims between sex and pain (love and humiliation, closeness and betrayal) is a particularly disastrous one. Frequently patients will express and/or demonstrate the belief that the only way to be loved or cared for is if they are also being abused ("I knew if I didn't let him keep beating me, I'd always be alone"). Often, in the extreme, physical and sexual abuse are even viewed as a normal part of everyday life. Healthy boundaries do not exist for these individuals, and therefore, healthy relationships are impossible. Victims will actually respond to feelings of loneliness or sadness by abusing themselves (e.g., self-mutilation) if the "significant other" is not available to do so.

One of the more difficult issues that arise is the recollection, by some individuals, of experiencing a certain amount of physical pleasure during a molestation or incest. This adds enormously to the sense of being at fault and "dirty." Thus, one of the aims of treatment is to educate survivors as to normal physiological responsiveness. The realization that their feelings are/were normal helps tremendously toward alleviating the sense of shame.

Even when individuals have spoken of their abuse prior to group treatment, any pleasurable aspects have typically been denied. The opportunity to relate to others who have shared these feelings, as well as the experience, is part of the healing power of this form of therapy. The sense of isolation, of being "different from the whole world," quickly begins to subside. It is only in revealing the secrets and dealing with the pain that survivors of sexual abuse can and do go on with their lives.

References

1. Incest Survivors' Resource Network, International. (1990). Manual. N.Y. Yearly Meeting, Hicksville, NY.

2. Calam, R.M., (1989) Sexual experience and eating problems in female undergraduates. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 8, 391-399.

3. Blume, E. Sue, (1989). Secret Survivors: Uncovering incest and its aftereffects. John Wiley & Sons, NJ.

4. Koopmans, M., (1990). Yeshiva University/Einstein College. Personal Communication.

5. Op. Cit., Incest Survivors Resource Network.

6. Heiman, M., (1988). Untangling incestuous bonds: The treatment of sibling incest. In M. Kahn & K. Lewis (Eds.), Siblings in Therapy, Norton & Co., N.Y.

7. Ibid.

8. Hartman, M., Finn, S.E., & Leon, G.R., (1987). Sexual abuse experiences in a clinical population: Comparisons of familial and non-familial abuse. Psychotherapy, 24, 154-159.

 

Tim Barrus:  visual poet and writer, founder of The Studio; an international safe house for battered boys with HIV and AIDS. The boys are given a home, life-saving medications and nutrition, and express their voices through art and poetry and dance.  The boys at The Studio are all accomplished visual & performance artists. 

(**This message was posted on Facebook by Tim Barrus - 11/3/10)

For the record: I receive suicide notes from adolescents on Facebook.  This is my latest response.  It's word-for-word (I have eliminated names).  I want this on my wall because these young people are serious.  This will ALWAYS be my typical response.  I want that to be public and perfectly clear:
Dear ***

Someone, anyone, on Facebook cannot be anything like the kind of help you need.  It's too easy to write to me on Facebook.  Because it means you don't really have to confront or work on getting well.  You have a disease: it's called clinical depression.   What's amazing about clinical depression is that there are now very effective medications and you need to be on one. 

Suicidal ideation is very serious; not a joke.  You need to go to your counselor at school (it doesn't matter if they ARE judging you) and you need to tell them that you are suicidal and that you need help THAT IS NOT SCHOOL-BASED BUT IS HOOKED UP TO PSYCHIATRIC COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH.  I don't care where you live in the U.S. -- there's help.  You have to stop writing to me and you have to get HELP. 

My liability as a person who works with adolescents is at stake here.  I have NOTHING else to say but GO GET HELP. 

You need to convince yourself you are WORTH the help because you are.  I do not CARE what a school counselor thinks.   They have an OBLIGATION to make a referral and do it TODAY.  I mean it...  Stop selling yourself short.  If there is help why NOT access it.  Do this immediately.  I am very, very serious.

 

‘Suicide as escape from self’ by Baumeister RF.

Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106.  Psychol Rev. 1990 Jan;97(1):90-113.

Abstract

Suicide is analyzed in terms of motivations to escape from aversive self-awareness. The causal chain begins with events that fall severely short of standards and expectations. These failures are attributed internally, which makes self-awareness painful. Awareness of the self's inadequacies generates negative affect, and the individual therefore desires to escape from self-awareness and the associated affect. The person tries to achieve a state of cognitive deconstruction (constricted temporal focus, concrete thinking, immediate or proximal goals, cognitive rigidity, and rejection of meaning), which helps prevent meaningful self-awareness and emotion. The deconstructed state brings irrationality and disinhibition, making drastic measures seem acceptable. Suicide can be seen as an ultimate step in the effort to escape from self and world.

 

"Is killing yourself adaptive? That depends: An evolutionary theory about suicide" By Jesse Bering Oct 11, 2010 12:25 PM

Source: Scientific American

Each year, up to 20 million people worldwide attempt to commit suicide, with about a million of these completing the act. That’s a significant minority of deaths—and near deaths—in our species. And there is reason to be suspicious that nonhuman animal models (such as parasitized bumblebees, beached whales, leaping lemmings and grieving chimpanzees) are good analogues to human suicide. In our own species, suicide usually means deliberately trying to end our psychological existence—or at least this particular psychological existence. And whereas most other accounts of “self-destruction” in the natural world seem to involve some type of interspecies predation or parasitical manipulation, human suicides are more often driven by negative interpersonal appraisals made by other members of our own species.

 

Research on the reduction and prevention of suicidality in the U.S.A.

Source: Research on The Reduction And Prevention Of Suicidality

In 2000, 29,350 persons died by suicide in the United States.  Suicide deaths outnumbered homicide deaths by 5 to 3.  Suicide was the third leading cause of death for 10-24 year olds, and the eighth leading cause of death for males.  Vital statistics indicate that suicide rates vary dramatically by demographic characteristics.  Males die by suicide more frequently than females by a ratio of 4 to 1. 

Suicide attempts and serious suicide ideation (e.g., thoughts that include suicide plans), each more frequent than suicide deaths, also carry a substantial health burden.  For the year 2000, estimates of the number of persons treated annually for self-inflicted injuries, most of which are suicide attempts, range from 264,000 to 864,000.  Another estimated 50 percent of persons who attempt suicide do not seek treatment.  In addition to the burden from physical harm consequent to the behavior, suicide attempts are associated with an increase in the risk of later suicide death by 40-fold...  Serious suicide ideation is more frequent among youth than adults, and is associated with other high-risk behaviors.  Annual surveys indicate that 1 in 5 high school students report suicide ideation in the past year.

Because few males access traditional sites of care prior to suicide death, tests of acceptable outreach and referral practices through non-health care settings (e.g., unemployment offices, workplace, DWI court, agricultural loan offices) are needed.

Most medical illnesses are not associated with an increased risk for suicide.  However, individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, brain cancers have been found to have increased risk for suicide.  Patients with cancers who also have depression, unrelieved pain, and deteriorating functional ability, have been reported to have higher rates of suicide ideation.

School-based suicide preventive interventions have included awareness training, screening, skills-building, and social support-building for students, and gatekeeper and post-intervention training for school staff, but few have been well specified or evaluated for efficacy or safety.  Although a number of popular programs are assumed to be useful, the costs and benefits of such existing programs need more systematic evaluations.  Refinement of existing programs, as well as tests of new theory-driven interventions, are also needed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), focuses on addressing the need for effective, population-based prevention and intervention strategies regarding self-directed violence.  NCIPC's activities fall into four categories: disseminating information about suicidal behavior and its prevention and supporting the implementation of proven programs and policies; applying scientific methods to evaluate the effectiveness of intervention and prevention programs; enhancing the knowledge base about risk and protective factors and the consequences of suicidal behavior; and continuing to improve methods for data collection in order to describe and track suicidal behaviors.  You can find the NCIPC website is here.

Public health approaches have used mass-media campaigns to varying success to reduce smoking, alcohol and other substance use, but few evaluation efforts have been implemented to test campaigns to reduce suicide.  Evidence of suicide contagion from media coverage of youth suicide deaths has been one reason for concern in mounting broad campaigns.  If the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention is to be adequately implemented, safe approaches to building awareness in the public about suicide and its risk factors must be developed.

 

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**NOTE:  "Suicide Boy" by Tim Barrus, 2010

"Cinematheque Films: Arts Education: Students are allowed access to fair use art materials and mixed media in the teaching of iconic manipulation in photographic, video and film production. Representations and facsimiles posted here are presented as teaching tools and instruments employed to instruct students in the techniques and application of mixed media art and collage. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows art-teaching entities the fair use of such materials in classroom and teaching-research applications."