汪世界

到賭城拉斯維加斯就想自殺？哈佛提出數字證實原因 一篇剛出爐的研究報告，來自一個包括哈佛大學的跨學校團隊。美國人的印象是，拉斯維加斯賭城是「自殺的天堂」，這下子真的證明了。 學者們是用數字，取得自1979年以來約30年來在拉斯維加斯裡所有的自殺的人的資料，這些人有的是外來客，有的是當地居民，當地居民也有到外地自殺的。這些資料經過研究後，真的理出了令人毛骨悚然的結論，並在昨天公諸於世，我逐條列出如下： 拉斯維加斯的居民，比美國其他地方的居民的自殺率還要多出足足54%~62%。 拉斯維加斯的訪客（遊客），在拉斯維加斯自殺的機率，比他們在家鄉還高（這數字應是比對其他地方居民的自殺率而來）。 來拉斯維加斯玩的旅客，比去其他地方玩的旅客，自殺的機率高了一倍。意思是說，來台北玩的可能一百萬人中只有五個人會自殺，但來拉斯維加斯玩的，一百萬人中就有十個人會自殺。 最恐怖是這點── 當拉斯維加斯的居民到其他城市居住，他們的自殺率會下降了13~40%之多。 他們說，賭城自殺率高，幾個可能原因如下：其中之一是，賭輸了，就想自殺。另一個是許多已有輕生念頭的人，就會自然想到「聽說拉斯維加斯是自殺天堂」，所以就到那邊去。另外，拉斯維加斯的氣氛就是「極度糜樂」，當你只剩一點東西，或許想到那邊去花光後死掉？不過，來看看內華達州，整個州都是「可以賭的」，該州的賭城還包括Reno等地，但，在2005年共有四百多個自殺案件中，拉斯維加斯就包辦了307個。而且，以上解釋也無法解釋，為何拉斯維加斯的居民，離開那個城市以後，自殺率反而下降了？於是，只剩下一個最可怕的結論，那就是，常常有當地新聞，甚至當地的耳語（譬如某飯店的服務生不經意聊起），說到自殺的事。換句話說，自殺真的是會「傳染」的，從這些數字，我們可以看到大眾媒體為何應該謹慎處理任何自殺的訊息，在新聞後面加個「自殺專線」沒用，報導要「適可而止」才有用。 (摘自 Mr.6) Just being in Vegas raises risk of suicide, study finds The risk of suicide is significantly increased by visiting or living in Las Vegas, and leaving town reduces the risk that a person will take his own life, a former UNLV researcher has found. The finding is important because although Las Vegas is notorious for its high suicide rate, few academics have studied the problem. Researcher Matt Wray, assistant professor of sociology at Temple University, and colleagues at Harvard University, have further clarified the extent of the problem with their study, “Leaving Las Vegas: Exposure to Las Vegas and Risk of Suicide.” It does not answer the question of why people commit suicide in the city, but parses mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics in a manner that lays a foundation for future analysis, said Wray, who was a professor at UNLV from 2001 to 2008. According to the study, which examined suicides between 1979 and 2004: • Clark County residents were 54 percent to 62 percent more likely to commit suicide than U.S. residents elsewhere. • Clark County visitors were more than twice as likely to commit suicide than if they stayed home. • Travelers visiting Clark County were twice as likely to commit suicide here compared with travelers going elsewhere. • Residents who traveled away from Clark County decreased their likelihood of committing suicide by 13 percent to 40 percent. “That’s a significant reduction in your risk,” Wray said. “It’s a way of saying that if you’re feeling blue you should take a break from Las Vegas.” Suicide is rare compared with other causes of death. In 2005, the most recent year statistics are available, there were 480 suicides in Nevada and 307 in Clark County. The Nevada suicide rate of 20 per 100,000 residents is almost twice the national rate. The study, which will be published in the December edition of the peer-reviewed journal Social Science & Medicine, challenges one of the common attitudes about suicide in Las Vegas, Wray said. There’s a general resistance by Las Vegas leaders to admit the extent of the problem, he said, and suicide prevention is “not at the top of anyone’s agenda.” “Given the magnitude of the problem, one can argue it should be,” he said. The study does not answer the Las Vegas version of the chicken and egg conundrum: Are suicidal people attracted to Las Vegas, or does something about the city lead people to kill themselves? The scenarios that explain the high rate of suicides in Las Vegas vary and need further research, Wray said. “One would be ‘gambler despair’ — someone visits Las Vegas, bets his house away and decides to end it all,” he said. “Another would be that those predisposed to suicide disproportionately choose Las Vegas to reside or visit. And, finally, there may be a ‘contagion’ effect where people are emulating the suicides of others ... Some people may be going there intent on self-destruction.” Wray said the evidence points to something about Las Vegas that causes more suicides. The finding that suicide risk remains high in Las Vegas while there are declines in other counties suggests there could be something harmful about the city, Wray said. He also noted the finding that the risk of suicide is reduced when people leave Las Vegas. “If suicide was really about the people, it seems they would take their suicide risk with them,” he said. Experts have speculated that problems with addiction to gambling and drugs and alcohol, lack of mental health resources and rapid growth also may contribute to the suicide problem. Las Vegas’ fast growth amplifies “social isolation, fragmentation and low social cohesion, all of which have long been identified as correlates of suicide,” Wray said. (The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program).