Second Parkland shooting survivor kills himself.

[cduggles]

Second Parkland shooting survivor kills himself. Here?s what leaders are doing about it

After a second Parkland shooting survivor died by suicide in a week?s span, Florida?s emergency chief is calling for the state Legislature to dispatch more mental health resources for the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School community.

On Saturday night, a Parkland sophomore took his own life, according to Coral Springs police. A week before, a former student whose best friend died in last year?s massacre took her life.

?Now is the time for the Florida Legislature to help,? said Jared Moskowitz, Florida?s emergency management director and a former state representative from Parkland.

?Mental health is a bipartisan issue,? he posted on Twitter...

Last year, after 17 people were murdered in the Feb. 14 shooting on the Stoneman Douglas campus, the state Legislature passed a gun-control and mental-health bill that restricted some sales of guns and accessories, gave the courts the ability to take guns away from people with mental health issues and set aside money to hire and train school faculty...

Investigators told the Miami Herald that the male student died in ?an apparent suicide? on Saturday night. He was in 10th grade and attended Stoneman Douglas last year at the time of the Feb. 14 shooting.

It isn?t known whether his death can be linked to the school shooting, police said. They did not release his name.

The death follows the suicide of a recent Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School graduate, Sydney Aiello, who took her life after being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Broward County Medical Examiner?s Office said Aiello died from a gunshot wound...

Since the Valentine?s Day shooting traumatized an entire student body, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School regularly report to trauma counselors after breaking down in tears. They panic when fire alarms drag on even moments too long. Reports of widespread absences are common...

Full article at link.
The article covers the response to the aftermath of the shooting in more detail.

Both of the suicides were by gunshot, which is perhaps telling? Idk.

It's obviously difficult to process surviving a mass shooting. The toll is heavy, not just in these suicides-- these and other observations indicate a much deeper set of problems. Psychiatric issues such as post traumatic stress disorder and survivor guilt are likely present in the student body.

It will be difficult to address the situation.

These poor kids.

 

[Xorkoth]

How awful. I can't imagine how traumatizing it would be to know someone was shooting up the room/hallway/whatever you were in, being terrified for your own life while watching friends die around you. Think of how many soldiers get PTSD, and how seriously it effects them. And they had training and were voluntarily in the situation that causes it, rather than being a kid and being utterly surprised by it, and having no prior exposure to anything even remotely like it.

So yeah... poor kids... And not just these kids, but the survivors of every school shooting we've had, which has been so many since Columbine.

 

[alasdairm]

surely we can solve this problem with more guns? survivors of gun violence should be required to own guns. problem solved!



alasdair

 

[mal3volent]

surely we can solve this problem with more guns? survivors of gun violence should be required to own guns. problem solved!



alasdair

or maybe the families of gun violence survivors. So that if the victims try to kill them selves, the family member can shoot them first.

 

[nuttynutskin]

Yay, let's automatically turn this into a 2nd amendment debate.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

surely we can solve this problem with more guns? survivors of gun violence should be required to own guns. problem solved!



alasdair

Guns aren't a prerequisite for suicide, and your post seems a bit insensitive.

Yay, let's automatically turn this into a 2nd amendment debate.

EXACTLY, can we please focus on the mental health crisis? Mentally ill people ALSO deserve their 2nd amendment rights.

It would be like saying addicts shouldn't have drugs. Well, of course they shouldn't, but criminalizing the problem only makes it worse. There are better approaches.

 

[alasdairm]

...your post seems a bit insensitive.

i was - clearly i thought - satirising the response of many in the gun-lobby and many pro-gun commentators whose response to gun violence in this country seems to often be "we need more guns".

if you think it's insensitive i could not agree with you more

i don't think it's possible to discuss this issue by decoupling the subjects of mental health and guns. they're both factors.

alasdair

 

[Captain.Heroin]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/father-o...tim-found-dead-in-apparent-suicide-police-say

Pretty tragic as well. We might want to address the underlying mental health issues. And why people are choosing not to live in a world they find repulsive, full of anger (gunmen) and deniers (Alex Jones).

 

[nuttynutskin]

Whether people like it or not, guns (at least in the U.S.) aren't going anywhere. I think if people focused on the other aspects like mental health and such without endless debates on guns it would be a lot more productive.

 

[w01fg4ng]

I wonder how many victims have/had access to healthcare.

 

[JessFR]

Whether people like it or not, guns (at least in the U.S.) aren't going anywhere. I think if people focused on the other aspects like mental health and such without endless debates on guns it would be a lot more productive.

I agree. Gun politics in America is at a stalemate. It has been for quite some time now. And there's no reason to believe there will be change any time soon.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I wonder how many victims have/had access to healthcare.

Paddock had an old diazepam prescription; appeared from an outward angle that he didn't like self-medicating.

I know you asked about the victims, but it made me think what if people who felt this insane degree of aggression happened to self-medicate instead of acting out, etc. in such instances, how many lives would be saved. Obviously not in Las Vegas, but other shooting incidents, and so on.

I tend to think the drug laws hurt us here.

Whether people like it or not, guns (at least in the U.S.) aren't going anywhere. I think if people focused on the other aspects like mental health and such without endless debates on guns it would be a lot more productive.

This! Why don't we care about the mental health of people dying? Suicide happens a lot of different ways.

Only half of people in the United States are ending their lives with a gun.

On the same page I found this image it lists how only 31% of women end their lives with a gun; 56.4% men do as well (and many more men commit suicide, hence the 50% statistic for both genders). More women poison themselves (I believe this mostly translates to drug overdose in the states, CO poisoning, etc.) than use a gun. Specifically

*Of the poisoning deaths, 81% were ingestion of drugs and 15% were gas inhalation. A full breakdown of these deaths can be found in Drug poisoning in the US.

 

[w01fg4ng]

I know you asked about the victims, but it made me think what if people who felt this insane degree of aggression happened to self-medicate instead of acting out, etc. in such instances, how many lives would be saved.

The mental health of the people who end up becoming killers is just as important as the victims, obviously. However, proper treatment for mental health issues (both for potential killers and victims alike) never completely relies on drugs. WHEN drugs are prescribed to a mental health patient it is only in conjunction with other non-drug treatments such as therapy. Healthcare is the only way to properly treat these people, thus my concern for who is actually covered and who isn't.

It's slightly disingenuous for the few people in this thread to jump down Ali's throat on a moral high ground without actually supplying any real solutions or content that they claim is the most important issue here: mental health.

 

[alasdairm]

Only half...

alasdair

 

[Captain.Heroin]

The mental health of the people who end up becoming killers is just as important as the victims, obviously. However, proper treatment for mental health issues (both for potential killers and victims alike) never completely relies on drugs. WHEN drugs are prescribed to a mental health patient it is only in conjunction with other non-drug treatments such as therapy. Healthcare is the only way to properly treat these people, thus my concern for who is actually covered and who isn't.

It's slightly disingenuous for the few people in this thread to jump down Ali's throat on a moral high ground without actually supplying any real solutions or content that they claim is the most important issue here: mental health.

Some people just need medication. I tend to disagree everyone needs therapy. More importantly most people can’t afford it if they aren’t covered under insurance.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

Furthermore, there’s evidence that gun control can reduce suicide rates. A buyback program that wound up taking a fifth of Australia’s guns off the street wound up reducing firearm suicides by 74 percent without affecting non-firearm suicides. When the Israeli Defense Forces stopped letting soldiers bring their guns home over the weekend, suicides fell 40 percent, primarily due to a drop in firearm suicides committed on weekends.

https://www.vox.com/2015/10/1/18000516/suicide-guns

Only ignorant people are going to see “GUNS” as an evil. We need to ask ourselves why people want to die in these parts of the world. What is going on in suicide trends? South Korea saw a terrible trend a few years ago.

If guns were the problem, then why didn’t suicide rates become virtually eliminated? What more can we be doing?

Clearly there is an impulse factor as a gun suicide will be the quickest way to die, but it’s not like inert gas takes forever. It’s not like you need more than a few hours with the right drugs. I can’t understand why we aren’t addressing what’s going on in people’s minds and prioritizing that over gun legislation.

Do buy backs. I’m ok with that. Who isn’t?

The Buyback program did not effect non-gun suicide rates: people aren’t being triggered by a gun and then off themselves by hanging. Why do people still want out? What more can we do?

 

[Xorkoth]

I can see where not having access to a gun could prevent someone from going through with it because knowing you can pull a trigger and have it be over instantly seems like it would make it a lot easier to be brave enough to do it than if you have to hang yourself which is going to be really painful and full of panic, or jump off a high place which is also terrifying. HOWEVER, obviously guns are not the reason for suicides at all and what we need to be doing is addressing why so many people feel hopeless and suicidal (ie, why severe depression/anxiety/etc are such huge problems today).

I'm pretty sure it's because we evolved to be part of strong, intimate communities of a small number of people who are codependent for survival, and we also evolved to feel a sense of magic and mystery and connection with something greater (this can be seen in pretty much any past culture, most strongly in indigenous cultures which is, of course, how our species existed for the vast majority of our history as modern humans and likely even before that in our species' ancestors). In the world today, many people feel isolated despite living among many others. Your fellow man becomes a potential enemy rather than a friend and ally. I believe this contributes hugely to depression and anxiety. And when you combine this with a very nihilistic culture disconnected from any concept of spirituality, it causes people to have nothing to fall back on, nothing to make them feel like any of this means anything, which further compounds the problem. And then when you add a gradual but seemingly inexorable lowering of quality of life (mainly financial security and opportunity) and increasing sense of hopelessness about the future, it makes it even worse. And I think we have so many mass murder-suicides because the media/etc is purposely fostering a sense of anger to play on the feelings of nihilism and helplessness. Sort of like "Fuck the world, fuck other people, fuck my life, I want to die and if I'm gonna go I'm gonna take out as many of these fuckers as I can with me".

 

[cduggles]

The father of a Sandy Hook victim dies from an apparent suicide

A father dedicated to helping prevent mass shootings after his daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre has died of an apparent suicide.

The body of Jeremy Richman, 49, was found in his Connecticut office building Monday morning, Newtown police said.

The neuroscientist was the father of 6-year-old Avielle Richman, who was among 20 children and six adults killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

Avielle Richman, 6, was killed in the Sandy Hook shooting.

His death is the third suicide in the past week related to school massacres.
Police said they "will not disclose the method or any other details" of Richman's death, other than it does not appear to be suspicious.

Father was a force for change

After the Sandy Hook massacre, Richman co-founded The Avielle Foundation, a nonprofit named for Richman's daughter that focuses on violence prevention through research and community engagement.

"Our hearts are shattered, and our heads are struggling to comprehend" the foundation said.

The foundation described Richman as "a champion father," husband and neuroscientist who was on a mission to help "uncover the neurological underpinnings of violence" through the Avielle Foundation, which he started with his wife, Jennifer Hensel.

"Jeremy was deeply devoted to supporting research into brain abnormalities that are linked to abnormal behavior and to promoting brain health. Tragically, his death speaks to how insidious and formidable a challenge brain health can be and how critical it is for all of us to seek help for ourselves, our loved ones and anyone who we suspect may be in need," the foundation said.

"Jeremy's mission will be carried on by the many who love him, including many who share the heartache and trauma that he has suffered since December 14, 2012. We are crushed to pieces, but this important work will continue, because, as Jeremy would say, we have to."

Parkland grieves 2 suicides a year after massacre

In Florida, mourners are grieving the death of Sydney Aiello, a 2018 graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who died by suicide last week. She survived the attack on Valentine's Day 2018 that killed 17 people at the school in Parkland.

Aiello, a Florida Atlantic University student, suffered from survivor's guilt and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, her mom told CNN affiliate WFOR.

Then on Saturday, a second Marjory Stoneman Douglas student died in what police describe as "an apparent suicide."

The student has not been publicly identified. It's not clear under what circumstances the student died, or whether the apparent suicide was related to last year's massacre.

 

[w01fg4ng]

^ That's terrible.

most people can’t afford it if they aren’t covered under insurance.

This is the reason America was never great to begin with.

 

[mal3volent]

^ That's terrible.


This is the reason America was never great to begin with.

i think it started with slaughtering all the natives. But you're right of course

bottom line is, basically no one wants to take all the guns away.

maybe just the most extremely destructive ones.

like the school/church shooting kind, not the deer shooting kind.

if you have a problem with that, why not just allow everyone to buy fully automatic weapons? Why not allow them in government buildings? I'd actually kinda like to have a rocket launcher. You aren't gonna infringe my second amendment rights are you?