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Palo Alto, California is home to high-tech companies, Stanford University, and upscale living, but the success-oriented culture has a dark side. Recent “suicide clusters” of teens and young adults are stirring the community and federal agents into action.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines a “suicide cluster” as three or more suicides that occur closer in time and space than what would be considered normal for the community.
Students and teens in the area expressed their shock and discomfort at the prevalence of suicides in their community. Shawna Chen, 18, described the atmosphere of her local high school following a string of suicides.
“It was a huge shock and there was a silent tension on campus on the following days. It was hard for people to wrap their heads around it,” Chen told ABC News.
The CDC is set to start investigations in Palo Alto into the “suicide contagion” that officials say poses a similar risk to an infectious disease. The CDC defines a “cluster suicide” as at least three suicides in close proximity.
“Suicide clusters” are notoriously seen in groups of teens, according to Columbia University psychiatry professor Madelyn Gould.
“Their relationships with other teens really start to play much more of a role than their relationships with their parents, and so they influence each other more. Between both the social influences and biological influences, it makes them much more vulnerable to being influenced by someone else’s suicide,” said Gould.
The Palo Alto community is taking steps to prevent future suicides by its young people. Palo Alto Unified School District in cooperation with the Santa Clara Health Department is launching efforts to prevent suicides like one-on-one counseling and stress management instruction.
Suicides in clusters of young people have been seen around the U.S. The CDC conducted research on youth suicides in Fairfax, Va. in November 2014, and found visible mental health problems in 72 percent of youth suicides, reports The Washington Post.
Gould emphasized the disturbingly widespread nature of youth suicide in the U.S.
“There’s no such thing as a ‘suicide town’. It crosses every socio-economic community from impoverished to wealthy, black to white, Native America. It really crosses all divides in the United States,” said Gould.
Gould said that she is optimistic about the comprehensive, committed efforts that Palo Alto has taken in preventing future suicides.
Agencies/Canadajournal
