Suicidal Thoughts

The gun Rick Warren's son used to kill himself was unregistered and purchased on the Internet, the pastor tweeted Thursday afternoon. Warren's tweet read: Someone on the internet sold Matthew an unregistered gun.I pray he seeks God's forgiveness. I forgive him. #MATTHEW 6:15 - Rick Warren (@RickWarren) April 11, 2013 Sheriff's Department records show no one in the Warren family is registered to carry a concealed weapon in Orange County, and authorities have said they were struggling to determine where 27-year-old Matthew Warren obtained the weapon.

Last month, a Palo Alto high school saw its fourth student suicide since May. Questions loom large: Why did this cluster of suicides happen, and how can the cycle be stopped? Public health officials and scientists use the term "suicide contagion" to describe the spread of suicidal thoughts among a group of people that results in such copycat acts. Researchers have studied suicide clusters to identify how the contagion might spread -- whether close friends of the victim are at more risk; whether more media coverage is associated with more deaths; and what telltale signs might point to the most vulnerable community members so that interventions can be targeted appropriately.

The Bucks County coroner, ignoring calls from citizens groups, said Thursday that he has no intention of reopening the investigation into the suicide of political activist Abbie Hoffman. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights and the Prozac Survivors Support Group--both offshoots of the Church of Scientology--had asked the coroner to reopen the case after it was learned that Hoffman took the controversial anti-depressant Prozac six weeks before his death. Dr.

It will be “nearly impossible” to trace where pastor Rick Warren's son bought the shotgun he used to take his own life last week, an Orange County Sheriff's Department official said. The gun that 27-year-old Matthew Warren used to shoot himself in his Mission Viejo home on April 5 was unregistered, had its serial numbers scratched off and was purchased online, said department spokesman Jim Amormino. A source close to the investigation confirmed it was a shotgun. “It's going to be nearly impossible to trace where he bought the weapon or who owned it previously,” Amormino told The Times.

A psychiatric patient who hanged himself at UCI Medical Center in December was treated with an unapproved drug known to increase suicidal thoughts and was not monitored properly, state health regulators said Thursday. The report from the Department of Health Services criticized the patient's UCI doctor, nurses and pharmacists.

Los Angeles Police Officer Nadine Arango, who died last week after intentionally ramming her car into a freeway support column as police and witnesses looked on, was buried Wednesday after a funeral attended by about 150 uniformed officers, authorities said. Funeral services for the 25-year-old Arango were held at San Fernando Mission chapel. She was buried at nearby San Fernando Mission Cemetery, said LAPD Capt. Ron Bergman.

Nancy Emsley says she once lectured Junior Seau about the dangers of taking a powerful sleep-aid drug without getting a full night's sleep afterward. "He just rolled his eyes," the friend and workout partner of the late football star said. Emsley's account, part of a USA Today article on the days leading up to Seau's suicide last month, is quite telling. It paints a picture of a seemingly carefree guy who also took powerful drugs, sometimes not as directed, to combat a sleep disorder.

Facebook is connecting with military-support and service organizations to offer customized suicide-prevention services for veterans, active service members and their families. For many members of military families, social media serve as a lifeline, connecting them to various supportive communities to help them cope with their specific strains and stresses. So, in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the nonprofit organization Blue Star Families, Facebook has unveiled a literal lifeline within the site, with informational and response tools customized for service members and their families.

A 22% drop in prescriptions for antidepressants for teens and children following government warnings about hazards of the drugs led to a sharp increase in suicides the following year, according to Chicago researchers. The change in labeling in 2003 warned that use of the drugs could increase suicidal thoughts and behavior among youths, but the labeling seems to have backfired, according to a report in the September issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Rick Warren said on Twitter Thursday that he forgives the person who sold his son the gun he used to kill himself. Warren revealed Thursday that the gun was purchased  on the Internet and was not registered. "Someone on the internet sold Matthew an unregistered gun.I pray he seeks God's forgiveness. I forgive him. #MATTHEW 6:15" Warren later wrote on Twitter: "God never allows more on you than he puts in you to bear it. " Sheriff's Department records show no one in the Warren family is registered to carry a concealed weapon in Orange County, and authorities have said they were struggling to determine where 27-year-old Matthew Warren obtained the weapon.