Sucide is going up during economy downturn

Foxrac

Foxrac

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Messages
44,481
Reaction score
448
With no job and 5 kids, 'better to end our lives,' man wrote

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- It was described as one of the most grisly scenes Los Angeles police had ever encountered: the bodies of five young children and their parents, all shot to death, in two upstairs rooms of the family's home.

A photo on Ervin Lupoe's Facebook page shows his wife and five children.

"The reaction on their faces was not a pretty sight," neighbor Jasmine Gomez told CNN. "There was an officer who came out of the house throwing up."

But even more incomprehensible to some was the story that emerged after the bodies were found Tuesday: A father who, in a last desperate act after he and his wife were fired from their jobs, killed all six family members before turning the gun on himself.

In a letter faxed to Los Angeles television station KABC before his suicide, Ervin Antonio Lupoe blamed his former employer for the deaths, detailing his grievance against Kaiser Permanente's West Los Angeles Medical Center, where he and his wife, Ana, had worked as technicians.

Lupoe, 40, claimed the couple was being investigated for "misrepresentation of our employment to an outside agency for the benefit to ourselves's (sic), childcare." He said the initial interview was held on December 19, and when he reported for work on December 23, "I was told by my administrator ... that 'You should not even have bothered to come to work today. You should have blown your brains out.'"

"Oh lord, my God," the letter concludes. "Is there no hope for a widow's son?"

Kaiser Permanente said in a statement Tuesday night that although the company is "saddened by the despair in Mr. Lupoe's letter faxed to the media ... we are confident that no one told him to take his own life or the lives of his family." Video Watch how the note brought police to the home »

The company followed its initial statement with another, saying the couple was fired for forging the signatures of supervisors and misrepresenting their income on documents they gave to agencies that provide help with child care.

"They were terminated for good cause ... ," the statement said. "Throughout that process, the Lupoes were treated with dignity and respect."

Lupoe wrote in the fax, "after a horrendous ordeal my wife felt it better to end our lives and why leave our children in someone else's hands ... we have no job and 5 children under 8 years with no place to go. So here we are."

Ana Elizabeth Lupoe was 38, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office. The children were identified as 8-year-old Brittney Nicole; 5-year-old twins Jaszmin Lissette and Jassely Lisbeth; and 2-year-old twins Christian De Shawn and Benjamin Ryan.

Lupoe and the girls were found in what appeared to be an upstairs bonus room, police said Wednesday. Ana Lupoe and the boys were found in the master bedroom.

Police think Lupoe also called KABC and threatened suicide, prompting the station to notify police. About the same time that KABC contacted police, Lupoe called 911 and reported returning home and finding his family dead.

Among those struggling to comprehend the news were Lupoe's relatives. His 83-year-old grandmother, Josephine Lupoe of Atlanta, Georgia, sobbed as she told CNN, "I just can't believe it."

She said Lupoe was born in Atlanta but moved to Detroit, Michigan, with his parents as a child before moving to California. She recalled visiting the family when they lived in San Jose, California, "but that was years ago," she said. "I hadn't been to visit them since he got married and moved."

She said she last heard from him when he called her to say they were having a second set of twins.

"Every time I called, he was at work," she said. "He worked a lot, and even when I talked with him, he would be at work." But she said she had no indication of problems within the family.

She said she had spoken with Lupoe's mother a couple of days ago, and they discussed his sending pictures of the boys. "And then I hear this," she said tearfully.

Lupoe's mother was on the way to California on Wednesday, she said, but Josephine Lupoe said she is unable to travel.

Lupoe's co-workers told the Times they remembered the Lupoes as cheerful, good workers and caring parents.

Ana Lupoe was "always talking about the kids," said co-worker Hamlet Narvaez.

On Ervin Lupoe's Facebook page, which displayed pictures of the family, he described himself as a graduate of the University of Southern California.

The page could not be found Wednesday. In a written statement, Facebook spokeswoman Rebecca Hahn told CNN, "When it comes to our attention that a user has passed away, we put the profile in a memorial state. In the memorial state, certain profile sections and features are hidden from view to protect the privacy of the departed. We encourage users to utilize groups and group discussions to mourn and remember the deceased."

Cherise Pounders-Caver, principal of the children's school, Crescent Heights Elementary, said Lupoe showed up to check the three older children out of school about two weeks ago and told her the family was moving to Kansas, the Times reported.

Police said Wednesday that school administrators were notified several weeks before the deaths that the children would no longer be attending.

The deaths sent shock waves across the city and beyond. Video Watch how the tragedy unfolded »

"No matter how desperate you are, no matter how frustrated you are, to think this was the only answer -- to take your whole family with you in death -- is just too much to understand," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the city's Wilmington neighborhood, where the slayings took place. She and other city officials urged those who may be despondent to seek help from available resources.
advertisement

"It's sad that this happens anywhere, you know?" neighbor Jose Rodriguez told KABC. "You see it on the news, but you never really become accustomed to it.

"I have kids, too, and grandkids," he said. "It hits home."

With no job and 5 kids, 'better to end our lives,' man wrote - CNN.com

No multi-link about this same story, thanks
 
Do suicides go up when the economy heads south?

(CNN) -- As Steven L. Good's family tries to make sense of his death, notes of condolence come pouring in.

"He was always smiling, and very proud of his family and his accomplishments," says one acquaintance.

"Steve's 'larger than life' personality left a lasting impression on me," says another. "I will miss him, as will the entire real estate industry."

Last week, Good's body was found in his car at a wildlife preserve in Kane County, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Police believe he shot himself.

Good was the chairman and chief executive officer of Sheldon Good & Co., a major real estate auction company in the United States. His death stunned the real estate community.

"The guy was just very positive, always smiling, always telling you a story," says Barbara Matthopoulos, the Chicago Association of Realtors spokeswoman. "Everyone is really very shocked."

Good's death is the latest apparent high-profile suicide in the international business community in recent months. On the same day that Good's body was discovered, German billionaire Adolf Merckle, 74, killed himself by walking in front of a train. In 2008, he was ranked the 94th richest person in the world by Forbes magazine, but in recent months his empire had been near collapse.

In December, French businessman Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, 65, killed himself in his New York City office. He had lost more than $1.4 billion investing with Bernard Madoff, who has admitted losing $50 billion while running a Ponzi scheme.

And in September, English financier Kirk Stephenson, the chief operating officer of Olivant Ltd., committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. He was 47.

In light of these recent deaths, many people are wondering: Do suicide rates spike when the economy is in trouble? See more on the relationship between the economy and suicide rates »

Yes, say experts. "We ordinarily experience much, much higher rates of suicide during times of recession," says M. Harvey Brenner, professor of public health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 32,000 people kill themselves each year. The government doesn't keep statistics in "real time," so it's hard to tell whether the suicide rate is spiking right now. However, Brenner has crunched the numbers and thinks as many as 1,200 more suicides could happen as a result of the current recession.

There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that more people are suicidal. Calls to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline went from 412,768 in 2007 up to 540,041 in 2008. But Lanny Berman, executive director of the American Association of Suicidology, says it's important to keep things in perspective.

"No doubt, there's one here and one there, but lots of people have been impacted seriously by economic loss -- 99.9 percent are going to cope," he says. Still, Berman acknowledges unemployed people are two to four times more likely to kill themselves than those who are employed.

According to the American Psychological Association's 2008 "Stress in America" survey, 80 percent of Americans reported in September that the economy is a significant cause of stress, up from 66 percent in April.

Psychologist Nancy Molitor practices outside Chicago. In the last few months, she's seen many of her patients go from being anxious to being downright despondent.

"It's kind of like a rat in a maze," says Molitor. "If they feel that they can't change the situation, then they start to get depressed."

Molitor says hard economic times are particularly difficult for people with Type A personalities, especially those who have never experienced failure. High-achieving men whose whole identity is wrapped up in work are particularly vulnerable.

"I am seeing it, in particular, in people who are prone to shame. They build their whole identity around being successful. If they don't have someone watching them, they are at risk," she says.

So what about these wealthy and powerful men who have recently killed themselves? Mental health experts say it's impossible to say why they did it, but they say that people who kill themselves have an underlying psychological issue, such as depression or bipolar disorder, so it's not only about the money.

But as Brenner points out, what makes this recession different is that the very wealthy -- who are generally insulated from financial worries -- have taken a huge hit, and they have further to fall.

"You would think these people have such wonderful lives," says Brenner, full of private jets, luxury homes and the best of anything that money can buy. "Yet they are capable of losing much more, because they have so much more."

Do suicides go up when the economy heads south? - CNN.com
 
So it did in the last Great Depression with so many suicides. Way too many job layoffs and business shutdowns nowadays therefore it's so ripe for it to rise and rise without question. So sorry for those innocent victims!
 
It is sad and I think it will happen more if people worry how they will feed themselves and children and how to have shelter.
 
It's one thing to off yourself if you're despondent and think there's no way out, but don't take the lives of anyone else, too. Those kids deserved a chance. And I wonder if that guy's wife changed her mind, but he killed her anyway.

Sad fact-debts don't go away just because you're dead. Someone else has to pay them-such as your next of kin. Not everyone inherits money-some inherit debt.
 
I have a type "A" personality and when I am stressed about my financial situation or dont have a job, I tend to have trouble sleeping and feel panicky. Right now, I am ok but I can relate to the comment about people with type "A" personalities having more stress than usual during hard times.
 
I feel sad for the family. :(
I know it is very hard when the economic is not at its best. I prefer to stay poor because, I am usin' to it -- not like rich or well-to-do people fall into poverty and not know what to do since they never had an experience to be poor or anythin' like this. It's best to live in a decent and affordable home rather than livin' or own a fancy home and such. It will make things more harder. It is a good thing that I am not materialistic person.
 
Personally, I wouldn't call this kind of thing depression. It's despair. When people lose hope, they often become desperate in their actions. And sometimes, that leads them to losing their grip on reality among many other things.

I think the really sad thing is when a society creates a system to induce that very thing repeatedly rather than prevent it...
 
Back
Top