Suicide Tourism in Manhattan,New York City, 1990–2004 |
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Authors: | Charles Gross Tinka Markham Piper Angela Bucciarelli Kenneth Tardiff David Vlahov Sandro Galea |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, 525 E. 68th St., New York, NY 10021, USA;(2) Subprogram in Clinical Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA;(3) Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA;(4) Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA;(5) Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA |
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Abstract: | Suicide accounts for over 30,000 deaths per year in the United States and is associated with psychiatric illness and substance
abuse. Research suggests a strong relationship between method of suicide and the lethal means that are readily available in
one’s community of residence. However, certain individuals may also seek the opportunity for suicide outside their proximal
environment, often in well-known places. Whereas prevention efforts have been aimed at certain repeatedly used sites for suicide
(i.e., Golden Gate Bridge), little research has studied “suicide tourism,” the phenomenon of out of town accompanied by suicide.
We collected data on all suicide deaths in New York City (NYC) between 1990 and 2004 from the Office of the Chief Medical
Examiner of NYC. We examined trends and correlates of out-of-town residents who committed suicide in NYC. Manhattan accounted
for 274 of the 407 nonresident suicides in NYC, which represented over 10% of all suicides committed in Manhattan. The most
common methods of suicide for the Manhattan nonresidents were long fall, hanging, overdose, drowning, and firearms; the most
common locations included hotels and commercial buildings, followed by outside locations such as bridges, parks, and streets.
Nonresident victims tended to be younger, more often white and Asian and less often black and Hispanic than their residential
counterparts. An analysis of nonresident suicides in Manhattan revealed that it is a location where individuals travel and
take their lives, often by similar means and in similar locations. A comparison with residential suicide implied that a different
type of individual is at risk for nonresidential suicide, and further research and prevention efforts should be considered.
Gross and Tardiff are with the Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, New York, NY,
USA; Gross is with the Subprogram in Clinical Psychology, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY,
USA; Markham Piper, Bucciarelli, Vlahov and Galea are with the Center of Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of
Medicine, New York, NY, USA; Galea is with the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Galea is with the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New
York, NY, USA. |
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Keywords: | Suicide Manhattan New York Suicide tourism Access to lethal methods Suicide prevention Long falls Media Psychopathology |
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