The current discourse in the media regarding Morrissey's view on the topic misses an opportunity to discuss the real need for increased awareness and a resource base which addresses the causal factors of suicide - mainly mental illness.
According to
http://www.suicide.org/suicide-causes.html :
"Over 90 percent of people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death." and "Untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide."
In a bulletin of the World Health Organization, Kohn, et al. explain the treatment gap in mental health care
(
http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/82/11/en/858.pdf) :
"In part, the excess disability due to mental disorders is a result of their early age of onset (1). The magnitude of this bur*den also results from the fact that only a minority of individuals with these disorders ever receive treatment in the specialized mental health care system or in the general health care system (5); initial treatment is frequently delayed for many years (6). Numerous reasons have been imputed. These include: failing to seek help because the problem is not acknowledged, perceiving that treatment is not effective, believing that the problem will go away by itself, and desiring to deal with the problem without outside help (7, 8). In addition a lack of knowledge about mental disorders and stigma remain major barriers to care (9, 10). Factors that are direct barriers to care also preclude treatment, including financial considerations (11), issues of accessibility, as well as limited availability or lack of availability of services in many countries or for some populations (12)."
Though I understand how Morrissey's opinion on suicide is controversial, it seems to me that finding solutions to the barriers to treatment would be a more useful focal point for the media to draw attention to. If they feel he is indeed glamourising suicide, they are only giving him a larger platform to do so through their commentary on his statements regarding the issue.
to die
