The method used in suicide attempts significantly affects the likelihood of completion. Having easy access to firearms, particularly loaded and unlocked, increases the risk of completing suicide to around 90%, higher than other methods. While some argue that reducing access to guns won't reduce suicides, statistics show that the means do matter. Suicide can often be a quick decision, especially for young people, and many individuals who die by suicide do not have a prior mental health diagnosis.
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy isn’t afraid to go after powerful interests. In mid-June, he published an op-ed in The New York Times calling for a warning label on social media platforms that says they’re associated with mental health problems for teens. The following week, he declared that gun violence is a public health crisis. However, the surgeon general's powers are limited. It'll take an act of Congress to put a warning label on social media platforms, and thanks to the Roberts court, even legislators are limited in their ability to regulate firearms.
Kara and Dr. Murthy discuss this country's seemingly intractable gun problem and the debate around the research into the harms caused by social media, along with his work on loneliness, and how Covid has eroded trust in the public health sector.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find Kara on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher
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