Tag: Suicides

Things Are Not As Bad As They Seem

Are things at Freddie Mac that bad?

David Kellermann was recently promoted to the chief finanacial officer of Freddie Mac.  Mr. Kellermann, 41, began working nonstop, sometimes returning home only to change clothes, colleagues say. He was losing weight and telling friends that it seemed impossible to appease everyone — regulators, lawmakers, investors and other executives — given their competing demands. Someone was always angry with him, he told one friend. And no matter how many hours everyone worked, it seemed as if the economy and homeowners were still slipping farther into the abyss.

Early on Wednesday, Mr. Kellermann went to the basement of his brick home and hanged himself, according to people familiar with the situation who were not authorized to speak. His body was removed five hours later, through a throng of neighbors, television crews and others.

The roots and causes of suicide are often unclear. It is not known if Mr. Kellermann succumbed to the pressures of his job. But in the aftermath of his death, it is plain that at Freddie Mac, as at many of the companies in the center of this economic storm, there are forces so strong they can overwhelm almost anyone.

I have the feeling that when this crisis is over, there will most likely be even more such stories.

A Sad Consequence Of War

As many as 13 soldiers are believed to have killed themselves in March, bringing the number of reported soldier suicides this year to 56, officials announced April 10.

None of the March cases under investigation have been confirmed, but about 90 percent of deaths involved in such investigations typically are ruled to be suicides.

As many as 24 suicides were reported in January, but on March 4 officials removed one case because it was determined that the soldier was no longer on active duty when he died. Of the 23 remaining cases, 14 are confirmed suicides; nine are pending a determination.

Eight soldiers killed themselves in February, and the deaths of 10 others were still being investigated. Since the Army initially reported its February numbers, two other deaths also have come under investigation as possible suicides.

In all, 56 confirmed and suspected suicides have been reported across the Army since Jan. 1. Of the 56, 22 are confirmed suicides, 34 are pending.

As many as 143 soldier suicides were reported in 2008, the fourth year in a row the Army has seen an increase in suicides, and leaders have said factors such as the stress of deployments and personal relationships played a role in the deaths.

Of the 143 cases, 128 were enlisted soldiers; 41 were in combat arms military occupational specialties; 85 were married; 134 were men; 110 were white.

Boomers Choose Suicide

The U.S. suicide rate is up for the first time in a decade, and it’s rising most among middle-aged white men and women, a new study finds.

The researchers don’t know why, but say we need to find out more so new prevention plans can be put in place.

Suicide claimed 32,637 lives in 2005, a rate of 11 per 100,000 people. The study, released this week, featured an analysis of data from 1999 to 2005.

The rate increased 0.7 percent per year during that period. But when you break it down, the rate rose 2.7 percent annually among middle-aged white men and 3.9 percent among middle-aged white women. By contrast, suicide in blacks decreased significantly and remained stable among Asians and Native Americans, the researchers said.

Speculation for why the increase is occurring has ranged from increased drug use among Baby Boomers, who are known to be unhappy compared to other generations, to abuse of prescription drugs to changes among women in the use of hormone replacement therapy coincident with a 2002 report that found it potentially harmful. But the researchers say it is not clear if any of these factors are to blame.

Among white men and women, suicide has historically been less common in middle age. But by 2005, the 45-49 age group, for both sexes, had a higher rate than those age 40 and those age 70-74.

“Historically, suicide prevention programs have focused on groups considered to be at highest risk — teens and young adults of both genders as well as elderly white men, Baker said. “This research tells us we need to refocus our resources to develop prevention programs for men and women in their middle years.”

Suicide by hanging or suffocation increased 6.3 percent a year among men and 2.3 percent among women. Hanging/suffocation accounted for 22 percent of all suicides by 2005, surpassing poisoning at 18 percent. Firearms represent the main method — about double the rate of any other — but have been on the decline.

More Results of The Crisis

In a suicide note, Karthik Rajaram wrote that he had considered killing only himself because of his financial troubles, but decided to take his family with him.

Mr. Rajaram, 45, shot his wife, three sons and mother-in-law in their bedrooms over the weekend, the police said, then shot himself. The police found him on Monday on the floor of a bedroom his youngest sons shared, close to their bodies.

On Tuesday, friends and colleagues said they were stunned to learn of the killings and unaware of the family’s financial problems. The police said that in one of his two suicide notes, Mr. Rajaram said he was “broke,” having lost most of his assets in the plummeting stock market. The police said he had been planning the killings for weeks.

Hopefully this will be the last person to choose this way out of the crisis, but I fear that it is only the beginning.

What Are The REAL Costs Of The Crisis?

There are some stories that need to be told and this is just one of many. This is what the greed of bankers and brokers does topeople.

A 90-year-old Ohio woman, facing eviction from the home she has lived in for 38 years, shot and wounded herself this week, becoming a grim symbol of the U.S. home mortgage crisis.

Addie Polk was found lying on the floor of her home with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her shoulder when police came to the home on Wednesday to serve an eviction notice, Akron police spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards said on Friday.

Polk survived the shooting and is being treated in a hospital.

It was the latest attempt by sheriff’s deputies to evict Polk from her modest single-family home because she could not keep up with her mortgage.

Home foreclosure rates are at record highs in the United States, in many cases because buyers with adjustable interest rates could not keep up with sharp increases in monthly payments. The foreclosure crisis has sparked a wider housing market downturn and is at the heart of the U.S. financial crisis.

Teen Suicides Still Rising

Suicides among U.S. children appear to be on the rise after a 15-year decline, and the trend may owe, in part, to fewer teens being prescribed antidepressants, a new study suggests.

Researchers thought a spike in youth suicides in 2004 may have been an anomaly. But the new study found the increase in suicides continued during 2005.

Looking at suicide trends among youngsters over a 15-year period, Jeff Bridge, from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, found the rates of suicide among youths aged 10 to 19 were higher in 2004 and 2005 than would have been expected, based on suicide rate trends from 1996 to 2003.

“This is significant, because pediatric suicide rates in the U.S. had been declining steadily for a decade until 2004, when the suicide rate among U.S. youth younger than 20 years of age increased by 18 percent, the largest single-year increase in the past 15 years,” said Bridge, an investigator in the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice.

“We now need to consider the possibility that this increase is an indicator of an emerging public health crisis. Studies to identify causal factors are important next steps,” he added.