Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-18
rs oMAHANS
TRY SUICIDE
IN LAST s. DAYS
Continued From Page One.)

1t would make him stand by the lot
IN which he has been placed by the
Maker"
Dean Stevenson feels that the
lurid details of suicide attempts
printed in newspapers are bound to
suggest to some Respondent person
plan for ending care.
1T is an axiom of modern
psychiatry that the most important
thing in present day medicine is the
influence of suggestion" says he.
The seed corn so broadcast is
bound to find fertile ground. There
are always a number of persons
whose minds are for the moment in
such a state that only the sugges-
ton of suicide is needed to cause
them to act"
There is a morbid curiosity in
most men," Father Myers agrees,
(which interests them in the cir
cumstances of suicide. They
eagerly devour all the published de-
tails. Then, when a reader suffers
some depressing circumstance, the
thoughts suggested by the article
recur. If his belief in eternity is
meager he may resort to self
destruction as the greatest pleasure
he knows. Faith would deter him."
War Partly Responsible.
The war, too, is partly responsible
for the enormous increase in the
number of suicides, Father Myers
and Dean Stevenson agree.
"The high tension to which peo-
pie were keyed during the war"
says Dean Stevenson, Suddenly re-
Taxed at the coming of peace. It
left people more ready to be swayed
by their emotions and their moods.
Every man, woman and child is
subject to moods. Detection is
deepeHed by weather such as Oma-
ha has experienced during the last
month. Rainy, cold weather tends
to weigh down some spirits 50 that
petty reverses seem to be insur-
mountable difficulties. Detection is
the forerunner of melancholia, and
melancholia is the greatest general
cause of suicide"
Investigators have found that
only one suicide victim in every
four in the United States is wo-
man.
From the ages of II to q years,
women are more prone to take their
lives than at any other time, and
during this period the number OF
suicides among women is greater
than among men of the same age.
Religious Effect on Minds.
Racial characteristics and reli-
gious customs have much to do with
suicide, writer's on the subject say.
In Japan and India religious fanati-
cism glorifes suicide Whereas in
Germany the inordinate number of
suicides is accounted for by the
worldly Teutonic philosophy.
DR.. S. T. Armstrong, general med
ical superintendent of Bellevue hos
pital in New York, says that power
ty plays little direct part as cause
of suicide.
Another writer offers these ques-
tons as having speculative interest:
why does the rate of suicide
lessen during war?
what is the mental state Of hun
dreds who kill themselves every
year?
"In racial aspects, why is suicide
in Japan eight times that of Portu-
gal, and why is suicide among Amer
lean whites eight times that among
ull-blooded American negroes? \
why do the Slavs Of Bohemia
kill themselves at the rate of 158
per million, while the Slavs of Rus
sia kill themselves at the rate OF only
81 per million?"
The penal code of New York
makes it felony to attempt suicide
and fail. In that state attempted
suicide is punishable by imprison-
ment in a state prison for not es-
ceeding two years or fine not ex-
ceeding $1,000, or both.
In Nebraska no such law exists,
according to County Attorney Shot
we'll, though one who attempts sui
eide and fails, he says, might be
charged with disorderly conduct, a
lnisdemeanor, and punishable by a !
small fine or short Jail sentence.