What's Next? Plastic Knives?

San Francisco's Suicide Bridge Dilemma

The debate is heating up in San Francisco over how to prevent suicides from the Golden Gate Bridge. Since the Bridge opened in 1937, 1,250 people have ended it all there, 39 of them just last year. This latest round of controversy was sparked by a report from the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway & Transportation District, which offered up ways to tackle the problem. The possibilities? Install a steel net 20 feet below the Bridge's sidewalk. Change out the four-foot pedestrian railings to 12-foot ones. The cost? $50 million.

According to this story from the National Post, a good deal of San Franciscans favor the report's sixth option: do nothing. It may sound callous in some respects, but I happen to agree with this group.

The fact is the $50 million could be put to much better use in funding mental health programs to render suicide unthinkable in the first place. Otherwise, we simply eliminate a method to complete the act. If someone is desperate enough to take the plunge from the Golden Gate Bridge, I can assure you they would find another method if this modern marvel wasn't an option.
If we begin making the means of a suicide plan off limits, where do we stop? Background checks and 10-day waiting periods before purchasing cutlery? Yes, yes, an extreme example, I know. But $50 million is an extreme amount of money to throw at a problem when it's already too late.

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Without Warning: Epilepsy Drugs, Suicide and the FDA

Numbers are convenient stand-ins for flesh-and-blood humans, making cold clean symbols behind which to hide the carnage of wars, car crashes and, apparently, suicidal tendencies.

In January of this year, the FDA came forward with the news that after a review of some 199 studies, people taking any of 11 epilepsy drugs had around twice the rate of suicide as those taking placebos. The culprits included heavy-hitters like Lamictal and Lyrica. This, they said, warranted consideration of the dreaded black label warning.

Yesterday, the FDA said the suicide rate was morbid, but not enough for a death warrant on the drugs. See, slap a black label on those bottles and it's pretty much guaranteed those bottles will sit on pharmacy shelves collecting dust. Meanwhile the profits of ailing pharmaceutical companies will continue plunging southward into a sea of red ink.

I do wonder, out of a disdainful and morbid curiosity: Have any of these FDA decision-makers ever experienced a suicide in their family? Have any come home from work one day to find their teenaged son's brains splattered across their white walls after he cracked the gun safe combo in hopelessness and panic over girlfriend issues? Have any awakened to find their partner's side of the bed untouched all night, only to discover their limp and lifeless body hanging by rope from a rafter in the garage?

Had they experienced such horrors, I doubt they would find a doubled suicide rate an acceptable risk.

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Help for Those Pulling Their Hair Out

Folks who suffer OCD and many other different conditions can often "pass" in society with little or no suspicion. Not so with compulsive hair-pulling (Trichotillomania), which highjacks a person's peace of mind and their looks. It also robs their pocketbooks. I can't tell you how many young women with whom I've worked spent thousands of dollars each year just to cover up the damages of Trich. But thanks to hair health expert Charlene Blacer, whose clientele is over 50% Trich-afflicted, relief is in sight. She has created a nonprofit effort, helpme2stop.org, which provides "Mane for a Year" assistance to disadvantaged folks with Trich to cover the costs of their hairpieces and replacement. Kudos, plaudits, and props to you, Charlene!

Special thanks to Michelle Dennis, a very talented artist in Melbourne, Australia, for the fabulous illustration!

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The Look of a Winner

"Eyes! Hair! Mouth! Figure! Dress! Voice! Style! Movement! Hands! Magic! Rings! Glamour!Face! Diamonds! Excitement! Image!

I came from the people,

they need to adore me,

so Christian Dior me,

from my head to my toes,

I need to be dazzling,

I want to be Rainbow High!

They must have excitement,

and so must I."

"Rainbow High," Evita, lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Okay, so it's impossible to imagine McCain or Obama being as style-conscious as Eva Peron. But they matter in a big way. So every election season brings the obligatory reminder that looks and nonverbal communications really do influence voters' choices in the polling booth. If you need a refresher course on the politics of image, try this article from the Arizona Republic, and the readers' comments on it.Sphere: Related Content
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