Study: More Guns Lead To More Suicides

[Blackjackdavey]

46. Accounting for guns is a necessary component of mental health care

Accounting for guns is a necessary component of mental health care. The reason that an increase of household gun ownership increases suicide rates is that more suicidal people have access to a nearly certain means of success. Obviously the presence of guns does not cause one to feel suicidal. However, when one attempts suicide a choice must be made around the means. Each of the typical methods come with a success rate. Firearms are the most successful (along with poisoning by cyanide.) Therefore, when any other method on the list is chosen the rate of success, or in other words, the possibility of resuscitation, rescue, etc. increases. More attempts are made by overdose, many more, because pills are more available. However, guns are much more successful -- you don't come back from that. Suicide is obviously influenced by the mental state folks are in during the time leading up to the event. However, the catalyst for suicide is stress. Stressors are nearly one hundred percent problems that can be solved with solutions that a depressed or otherwise impaired individual needs help identifying. The time period between one's consideration of committing suicide and the identification of solutions is the point at which easy access to means must be eliminated. Therefore, access to firearms must be controlled for that individual during that period of time. It would be nice if informal support systems such as friends and family could reliably maintain that control. As a practitioner, I always explore that route first. You'd be surprised at the number of times one's philosophy regarding gun ownership trumps their ability to take reasonable actions around protecting a family member from suicide.