Alaska has a high rate of suicides and I understand that Sweden does also. Could lack of heat and sunshine be a contributing factor, do you suppose? (Mind you, one reason that I am in Alaska is that I like the chill air.)

In Juneau, over the last several years we have had a number of teen suicides that absolutely stunned family and friends. I was at a memorial service for one of them where the reiterating phrase to the roomful of youthful attendees was: We are here. Look around you- every one of us signifies by our presence that you can approach any one of us and we will find a way to help.

It would/will not only be a comfort to family to realize that their youngster possibly had a malfunction of the brain that led to the inability to resist the act but it is also a concrete starting point in combatting it.