Myths about Inmate Suicide Continued

Myth: People who talk about suicide are just attention seekers.

Fact: Inmates who die from suicide often tell someone they don’t want to live anymore, or they make some kind of statement to that effect.

Most people who complete suicide had made direct or indirect statements clearly showing their intentions. One study found that about 4 out of 5 suicide victims gave clear and definite indications about their intention. In suicide prevention training, jailers are told that they should always take suicidal statements very seriously. Rather than ignoring inferences about suicide, kindly and with sensitivity confront inmates with direct questions. “Have you been thinking about suicide?” “Are you thinking about hurting yourself?”

Many times, after a custodial suicide has occurred, family members say that they called the jail to report that their loved one had been suicidal. These statements shouldn’t be ignored, either.

Many disturbing stories have been reported about the way mentally ill and suicidal inmates are sometimes treated in county jails. In a jail outside Texas, jailers allegedly taunted a suicidal man for hours, telling him to go ahead and kill himself. Two hours later, the man hung himself in his cell.

Also learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, and Part 17 of this continuing series.

Providing help to inmates now or formerly detained in a Texas municipal or county jail is one of the purposes of this website. There is never an intention of implying that misdeeds have occurred on the part of individuals or institutions.

–Guest Contributor