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American Morning
Signs of Suicide
Aired August 26, 2002 - 08:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: College students heading back to class this week, and for some of them it will be proving to be a little too much. There is a suicide warning from our medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. You can read about it in this week's edition of "Time" magazine. Sanjay is with us at the CNN Center this morning.
Good to see you, doc. Good morning to you.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: This -- I first want to address -- we'll talk about the suicide article in a moment. Let's talk about another important medical issue, the skyrocketing cost of malpractice insurance, so out of control we're told that some hospital in certain parts of the country forcing to shutdown some units. In your experience, what can you add to that?
GUPTA: You know, not surprising. And the article talked about some obstetrics ward, even trauma centers being shutdown in some major cities, including cities like Las Vegas. Mississippi even has this thing called the "golden hour," so medical professionals sort of know that if a bad head injury was to occur in certain parts of the state during that time, that person probably just wouldn't get care. A lot of this being attributed to increasing malpractice premiums, $200,000 per doctor in some states, such as Florida, for example, for obstetrics.
Not surprising, Bill, the fact that a lot of the hospitals are starting to take some of the drastic steps; they just can't keep up with the cost. Add to that an aging population, increasing overall hospital costs, and a sicker population, and the problem may get a little bit worse before it gets better.
HEMMER: You wrote about suicide in "Time" magazine. Why did you pick the topic now?
GUPTA: Well, you know, suicide is something -- one of the toughest decisions for doctors, one of the toughest things we should face, I should say. I took care of a 22-year-old woman not too long ago who had shot herself in the head. Being a neurosurgeon, I was called in to address that and actually operate on that patient. But it really did get me thinking about young kids and why they do turn to suicide, and I did a little bit of research and tried to give something they could use in the article, and some of the warning signs, some of the early warning signs, for example, that we have listed, some of the things such as withdrawing from activities, dramatic changes in personalities, significant changes in eating habits or sleeping habits.
Those are some things we have heard about for quite some time. People sort of know those as warning signs, people who are thinking about suicide.
But there are also more immediate signs. People who are going to do it now -- and I should add, Bill, that people oftentimes types going from the decision to completing a suicide. That time period may be five minutes, oftentimes facilitated by alcohol, saying they don't want to live. They have a plan, but also having access to a lethal means, such as having a gun upstairs, or having grandma's pills, that would be a lethal dose if taken. And giving away personal cherished possessions, Bill. Those are all signs that somebody is getting ready to possibly do something like this.
HEMMER: After an attempt is made, doctor, how do you find in general suicide patients do after that event?
GUPTA: Well, you know, there's been a lot of studies to see just how well the intervention programs, to make sure these patients don't do this again, how well they work. And as I wrote in the article, I was sort of disquieted about the chances of somebody like that, because some articles quote up to a 47 percent chance that somebody would try it again, despite the fact that they got operated, despite the fact their life was saved, despite the fact that they have psychological intervention. Despite all those things, we're still not doing a very good job. These children, these young adults really have a hard time picking up the pieces, as they say.
HEMMER: How that is woman doing, the 22-year-old woman you treated?
GUPTA: She's doing well, from a physical standpoint. She's actually talking and communicating and doing very well. And so we're very encouraged by that , no question. We got the psychologist, we got the family, we got everybody involved to try and give her a chance, not only physically, but also emotionally. We're going to give it the best shot that we can.
HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay. Good to talk to you.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta in our House Call.
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