Readers React: Death of the psychologist who helped us understand and prevent suicide

To the editor: Psychologist Norman Farberow was one of my supervisors at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ clinical psychology training program when I was a graduate student at UCLA. I remember him as knowledgeable and kind. He was truly the “quiet man” in his research partnership on suicide with Edwin Shneidman, who thrived on public speaking and recognition. (“Norman Farberow dies at 97; psychologist was pioneer in suicide prevention,” Sept. 14)

Farberow told me how stunned he and Shneidman were when they discovered that the Los Angeles County coroner had thousands of suicide notes that had been filed away over the decades. They recognized the unique research opportunity that these notes provided to learn about the causes of suicide.

Their research led to the term “psychological autopsy,” which included studying the content of suicide notes and interviewing family members and close friends.

It is a fortunate fact that many more people threaten suicide than actually commit suicide. A continuing challenge in the field of suicidology is to predict who is at risk and to provide effective and timely help. Suicide involves not only the loss of one life, but a wide circle of emotional damage to family members and friends.

Farberow truly deserves credit as a pioneer in the field of suicide prevention.

Marvin S. Beitner, Long Beach

The writer is a licensed psychologist.

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