Suicide and Mass Shootings.

Dear Psychodrama Listeners: We hope that this Spring 2021 is treating you all well. As we emerge from the pandemic and aspects of normal life return, unfortunately, in the USA, this means a return to elevated number of mass shootings which had decreased in 2020 as the US went into lockdown. Indeed, on the weekend we recorded this episode, there was a mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado that left 7 people dead including the shooter who killed himself during the incident. That shooting marked the 13th mass killing in the US and the second one in Colorado for 2021. 

Noting the relationship between suicidal behavior among many mass shooters, in this episode we decided to delve into the the relationship between suicide and mass shootings as we capitalize in our respective expertise areas. Katie discusses her blog post from Psychology Today noting a decrease in reported suicides in 2020, despite increased gun sales and suicidal ideation in the past year. We contextualize these paradoxical data within Thomas Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Then, we talk about a review that Leo conducted of the very interesting book “The Myth of Martyrdom” by Adam Lankford which discusses the role of psychological disorders on suicidal terrorism and we draw parallels to mass murder-suicide in the US. Then, Katie discusses Joiner’s book, “The Perversion of Virtue” which further explores the topic of murder-suicide, and we highlight the need to better understand what separates individual suicide, murder-suicide of people the perpetrator knows (e.g., family members), and mass-murder suicide of people unknown to the perpetrator. We then talk about the suicide contagion effect and how its opposite, the Papageno effect may also be harnessed to reduce mass-suicide shootings in the US as summarized in this proposal by Leo.

This is an especially complex, multifaceted phenomenon that, understandably, elicits strong, emotional and intellectual responses.  We could have talked about it for much longer and tried to do our best to give it the nuanced treatment it deserves in the limited time for the podcast.  We will likely revisit parts of it, especially as Katie’s book: The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook: CBT Skills to Reduce Emotional Pain, Increase Hope, and Prevent Suicide comes out in July 1st and we’ll have our live Psychodrama-o-Rama talking about it. We hope you find it interesting and look forward to your comments.

If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, there is hope and help available. Please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741

Links

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

Mass Shootings in Public Spaces Had Become Less Frequent During the Pandemic

Why Did U.S. Suicides Decrease in 2020?

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

The Perversion of Virtue: Understanding Murder-Suicide by Thomas Joiner

The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers by Adam Lankford

Changing Media Reporting Practices to Mass Shootings in the U.S. by Leonardo Bobadilla

The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook by Katie Gordon

Dangerous Words? An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Detailed Reporting about Suicide Risk

American Association of Suicidology Media Reporting Recommendations

Treating Mental Illness Won’t Prevent Mass Shootings

Newspaper Adherence to Media Reporting Guidelines for the Suicide Deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain

Association between Suicide Reporting in the Media and Suicide: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Was There a Suicide Epidemic After Goethe’s Werther?