The Trap of Meaning
A Public Health Tragedy
- Constantine G. Lyketsos, MD, MHS;
- Margaret S. Chisolm, MD
- Author Affiliations: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- DEPRESSION
- DIAGNOSIS
- MENTAL DISORDERS
- SUICIDE
Adolf Merckle, the German billionaire whose speculation in volatile Volkswagen stock had pushed his sprawling business empire to the edge of ruin, has committed suicide. . . . “No longer being able to handle the situation . . . he ended his life,” the family said.1
John Updike, the kaleidoscopically gifted writer . . . died. . . . The cause was cancer.2
Two deaths: one by suicide and one by lung cancer. In the photograph accompanying Updike's obituary, a lighted cigarette dangles from his fingertips. Despite the clear causal link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, the obituary did not suggest that Updike's death was due to smoking. How different is the reporting of Merckle's death. Despite the lack of a direct causal link between stressful life circumstances and suicide, Merckle's death was attributed to stressful life events. Neither Merckle nor Updike was our patient, so their medical histories, life stories, and causes of death are not known to either author. However, these …
