Providentia

"Cruel and Unusual Abuse" Alleged in Prison Lawsuit

A former inmate at an Illinois super-maximum prison is alleging "cruel and unusual" punishment in his lawsuit against the prison and his former psychiatrist, Dr Rakesh Chandra.  In the case being heard before a federal jury, 35-year old Anthony Gay is claiming lingering trauma from the psychiatric treatment that he received from Dr. Chandra at Tamms Correctional Center.  The treatment often involved his being strapped naked to a metal bed frame for up to 32 hours at a time.  Gay is claiming that the abuse that he received is causing him to self-mutilate various parts of his body.  He maintains that he should have been treated with medication and therapy instead of the restrictive treatment that Dr. Chandra ordered.  Dr. Chandra and other staff have testified that Gay's clothing was removed to prevent him from hurting himself and that he often engaged in self-harm to manipulate staff members. 

Gay, who was initially sentenced in 1993 to seven years for robbery, later incurred nineteen other charges for various offenses including assaulting officers and possession of a weapon.  He is eligible for parole in 2095. 

Tamms Correctional Center is a 500-bed maximum security facility designed to house extremely violent and/or disruptive inmates. Opened in 1998, the prison was designed to meet constitutional challenges that have been faced in other jurisdictions, including the Federal Bureau of Prisons.   Inmates are locked down twenty-three hours a day, only move when shackled, and kept segregated from other inmates during recreation.  The use of solitary confinement in dealing with mentally ill prisoners has been cited as a human rights abuse by U.S. legislators such as Senator Dick Durbin.  In a recent meeting, Senator Durbin stated that, ""While in prison, many mentally ill prisoners have limited or no access to mental health services and their conditions deteriorate." 

The case is proceeding.  Governor Pat Quinn has ordered a review of the prison and its controversial restraint policy while state lawmakers are contemplating a prison reform bill.

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September 10 is World Suicide Prevention Day

World Suicide Prevention Day is held on September 10th each year as an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), and is co-sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO). The theme in 2009 is "Suicide Prevention in Different Cultures." Begun in 2003, the purpose of World Suicide Prevention Day is to improve education about suicide, disseminate information, decrease stigmatization and, most importantly, raise awareness that suicide is preventable.

World Suicide Prevention Day 2009, "Suicide Prevention in Different Cultures" provides an opportunity to remind people that suicide is influenced by cultural, religious, legal, historical, philosophical and traditional factors and that these contexts need to be taken into account in considering suicide prevention. Suicide needs to be understood in terms of its cultural background, and, to save lives, suicide prevention programs need to be tailored to different cultural contexts

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Politician's Son to Indian People: "Please Stop Killing Yourselves"

Following the death of an estimated 67 people in India's Andhra Pradesh province after learning of the death of a popular politician, the politician's son appeared on television asking viewers not to kill themselves. Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was killed on September 2 when the helicopter in which he was traveling crashed into a cliff 250 kilometers south of Hyderabad. His charred remains, along with the remains of four others traveling with him, were found by an air force helicopter 24 hours later.

Within hours of the popular politician's death, there has been an outsurge of public grief along with reports of suicides and others simply "dying of shock". Reddy's son, Jaganmohan, in a bid for public calm gave a televised message to prevent further suicides. In his message, he stated that: ""I request you not to commit suicide. I appeal to all of you to be patient and be brave in this hour of tragedy. He wanted to see a smile on the faces of all and if you resort to such things, this will hurt him." Jaganmohan is believed by many to be a leading candidate to succeed his father as chief minister.

While suicides following the suicide of a public figure is a well documented phenomenon, suicides following an accidental death is far more unusual. Whether Jaganmohan's message will be successful in preventing further deaths remains to be seen.

TheStar.com | World | India state 'in deep mourning'.

Son Confesses, "I Killed My Mum"

An Auckland-born microbiologist is facing potential charges over giving a lethal dose of morphine to his terminally ill mother. In a manuscript for a book that he wrote describing his mother's harrowing battle with cancer, 47-year old Sean Davison apparently admitted that he gave his mother the morphine to end her suffering. Although the incriminating information had been removed from the final draft, a copy of the original draft was anonymously leaked to the press. Davison, a professor of biotechnology at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, has since verified the information and stated that he does not fear being charged.

Davison's book, Before We Say Goodbye, has just been published and describes Patricia Davison's long battle with cancer and his mother's repeated requests to allowed to die.  Patricia Davison, a retired psychiatrist, was suffering from terminal colon cancer which left her in agony. She conducted a 33-day hunger strike which, while unsuccessful, apparently motivated her son to give her the fatal dose (while passive euthanasia is legal in New Zealand, assisted suicide is not). In October 2006, he reportedly offered her a "lethal drink of crushed morphine tablets" mixed in water. After calling him a "wonderful son", she took the drink without hesitation and died several hours later. At her request, there were no resuscitation attempts.

Although Sean Davison has since left New Zealand for his home in South Africa, a police investigation is underway. Following his mother's death, he has become an advocate for euthanasia. A recent survey has indicated that 71% of New Zealanders favour medically-assisted death.

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Eiffel Tower Suicide Under Investigation

A 25 year old Brazilian tourist is in hospital with extreme shock after failing to stop his sister from throwing herself off of Paris' Eiffel Tower. The still unnamed 18-year old woman apparently broke through a security barrier and threw herself over a railing from the landmark's second tier. She fell onto the plastic roof of the tower's first floor restaurant where patrons were still eating. A waiter in the restaurant said that the sound of her falling on the roof was "like a bomb going off as the roof cracked, then everyone there very quickly realised what had happened. But the most bizarre thing was, most of the customers just carried on eating. I have no idea why they did that."

The Eiffel Tower attracts over six million tourists a year with an estimated four or five suicides annually. Security barriers and netting have been erected on the Tower's upper levels to prevent attempts. An investigation is continuing and the name of the victim will not be released until her family is informed.

Lawyer Reports Guantanamo Prisoner Suicidal

A lawyer for a Yemeni being held at Guantanamo Bay reported that his client hurled blood at him after slashing his wrist during one of their meetings at the prison.; David Rames, of the Washington-based human-rights law firm Appeal for Justice, stated that his client, Adnan Latif, is one of sixteen Yemenis currently being held.Although Rames maintains that his client's actions were an obvious suicide attempt, prison officials are mininimizing Latif's injuries and dismiss his self-harm attempt as being a minor injury.

Latif, aged 33, has been held at Guantanamo without charge since 2002. He was arrested by Pakistani forces after leaving Afghanistan but denies being a member of al-Qaida. His lawyer insists that he Latif is a victim of mistaken identity and has deteriorated mentally and physically after being kept in isolation in the prison's psychiatric ward. He is reportedly experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations and has attempted suicide on several occasions although prison officials refuse to verify any details concerning his incarceration. While his lawyer is seeking to have Latif returned to Yemen for treatment, there is little progress to date.

There are presently 240 prisoners at Guantanamo although they are currently being relocated following President Barack Obama's January pledge to close the prison. While only four suicides have occurred at the base, unofficial sources report numerous suicide attempts that are often dismissed as "self-harm" attempts to seek attention. Thirty-five prisoners are engaged in a hunger strike as part of protest that has been continuing since 2005.

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How Effective Are Psychological Autopsies?

A paper published in a recent issue of Crisis looks into the therapeutic impact of psychological autopsies on family members following a suicide.; Data was collected on 35 psychological autopsy interviews that were conducted to better understand adolescent and young adult suicide. The subjects who were interviewed included mothers and fathers (biological and adoptive), step-parents, siblings, or friends. Most interviews were conducted in the interviewee's home and each interview lasted approximately 6 to 8 h each. The procedure for each interview consisted of both a battery of questionnaires and open-ended questions. On average, the time elapsed since the suicide ranged from 6 to 18 months. The results indicated that psychological autopsies were helpful to interviewees in allowing them to find meaning in the suicide, to find purpose through their participation, to obtain psychological support,to share their experiences  with others, to accept the loss as real, and to gain insight into their functioning. Negative reactions to the interviews were uncommon but suggested the need for additional clinical followup. The authors concluded that psychological autopsies are useful in helping grieving family members deal with suicide but recommend that interviewers receive preparatory training and ongoing supervision while conducting interviews, to ensure optimum benefit for interviewees and to prevent vicarious trauma for the interviews.

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Investigation Continuing Following Bizarre Airplane Suicide

Nunavut RCMP are still searching for the body of a 20-year old Nunavut man who managed to open an aircraft door while the twin-engine plane was in flight and leap to his death on Wednesday night. The man was a passenger on an Adlair Aviation flight from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut when he became unruly and aircraft personnel attempted to restrain him. He opened the aircraft door while the plane was at 23,000 feet and jumped out while the plane was still 180 kilometers from the Cambridge Bay airport. The two pilots managed to make an emergency landing and their remaining passenger was unhurt. He was later identified as Julian Tologanak of Cambridge Bay. The airline has provided RCMP with GPS coordinates for the approximate location of the remains but bad weather has impeded the investigation. A careful air and ground search is still being made.

Reports indicate that the plane was making a medical flight and that Tologanak was being returned to Nunavut after the RCMP detained him under the Mental Health Act. He had been sent to a Yellowknife hospital by police due to his appearing distress. The airline had agreed to return him to Cambridge Bay at the request of Tologanak's family. Further information has not been released as the pilots were said to be too distraught to talk to the media.

It is unclear how the deceased was able to open the door while the cabin was pressurized. Despite speculation that one of the safety features of the Beechcraft King Air 200 twin-turboprop plane failed, the Transportation Safety Board has announced that it will not be conducting its own investigation. While police have not confirmed that the death was a suicide, the high rate of suicides among young Inuit males accounts for 40 per cent of deaths investigated by the coroner's office since Nunavut was created in 1999.

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Hydrogen Sulfide Suicide Epidemic Continues

Hydrogen sulfide (chemical formula H₂S) is a colourless, flammable gas characterized by a foul odour similar to rotten eggs. Often found in swamps and sewers due to the breakdown of organic matter, it can be prepared in laboratories through several commonly used chemical procedures. Unfortunately, the toxic gas can also be extracted by combining various household chemicals which has made H₂S easily available for more sinister uses

In recent months, a suicide fad has been sweeping Japan with hundreds of deaths resulting from H₂S exposure. While many of these deaths were intentional suicides, the deadly nature of H₂S has led to forced evacuations of entire buildings due to the gas clouds resulting from its use. While the 517 known H₂S suicides represent only a fraction of the thousands of suicides that have occurred in Japan last year alone, the easy availability of H₂S ingredients as well as instructions on the Internet for committing suicide using H₂S have made it an increasingly popular choice. While Japanese authorities have asked Internet service providers to ban sites promoting suicide, success has been limited.

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Nationwide Workshops Help Therapists Combat Self-Mutilation in Adolescents

Therapists across Canada have been reporting a rising trend of children and adolescents who injure themselves. Children as young as eleven have been engaging in self-mutilation including repeated cutting, scratching, branding (burning themselves with hot objects), excessive body piercings, and hair pulling. While an estimated one per cent of adults have reportedly engaged in self-harm at some point in their lives, the incidence among adolescents is as high as sixteen percent. This estimate probably doesn't reflect the true incidence of self-harm behaviour since many mutilation cases go unreported. Despite being linked to suicide attempts in adolescents, most self-mutilating adolescents do not try to kill themselves. Potential reasons for self-mutilation include psychological acting-out, depression, childhood trauma, a need for self-punishment, and even peer pressure. While therapists have reported a greater incidence of self-mutilation in girls over boys, there is still limited data available despite a growing awareness of the problem.

To assist therapists in recognizing and treating self-mutilation, the Winnipeg-based Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute offers a series of nationwide workshops on adolescent self-injury. The workshop focuses on teaching therapists to provide their adolescent patients with more constructive acting-out strategies to deal with the emotional issues that lead them to mutilate themselves. As front-line workers become better informed, adolescents seeking help are provided with the treatment that they need.

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