It’s seemingly no coincidence that Ben Sanderson, the character portrayed by Nicholas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas, chose Las Vegas as the place in which to deliberately end his life: For many years, Nevada held the dubious distinction of having America’s highest suicide rate, only recently slipping to the number-four spot behind Wyoming, Alaska, and Montana. And just like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, you can hardly pick a more dramatic or iconic location in Las Vegas than the Stratosphere Tower, tallest building west of the Mississippi.
While it’s virtually impossible to know how many unsuccessful attempts there have been to jump from the top of the 1,149-foot Stratosphere Tower, it might come as something of a surprise to learn that, to the best of our knowledge, there have been only three successful suicides since it opened in 1996. The first of these was in January 2000, when a 24-year-old man from Utah managed to scale the two separate fences that surround the outside observation deck in approximately six seconds, giving security no chance to stop him. As a spokesman for the property commented at the time, "This gentleman was unwavering in his resolve to end his life quickly. And in those cases, no matter where you are, it is very difficult to prevent somebody from taking their life." At that time, three people had previously been successfully talked out of jumping, while five others had jumped wearing parachutes.
In addition to the double barrier of fences (one is five feet high and the other, located at a lower level, measures 10 feet), our understanding is that numerous surveillance cameras and alarms alert security should anyone attempt to scale these barriers. A call to the Stratosphere for more details proved to be somewhat unforthcoming, not only because suicide is not something the casinos like to be associated with, but also for the practical reason that they don’t want anyone to know what preventive systems are in place, since the more information people have, the easier it becomes to circumvent these security measures.
Considering that around 20 people a year manage to jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, which also monitors people’s behavior closely to try to prevent these occurrences, the low Stratosphere figure indicates that its systems must be pretty effective. And it’s certainly not the only casino to have a record of successful suicides – approximately 100 people, both tourists and locals, have taken their lives inside a casino in Clark County since 1998, while about 20 more have jumped from exteriors and parking garages.
The reason for Nevada’s high suicide rate, among both residents and visitors (a total of 309 were recorded by the Clark County Coroner’s office in 2004, compared to 171 homicides), is open to conjecture. Although most cases feature medical, financial, and/or domestic problems, the victims come from widely differing backgrounds and walks of life. The population here continues to grow rapidly through an influx of new arrivals, many of whom have no support system of family or friends when they arrive, leading to a danger of social isolation. Expectations can be high among new arrivals, but a good job might not be forthcoming. In addition, there are plenty of potential ways to get into trouble in this town.
Why people from out of town choose to come here specifically to end their life is also open to debate. For some, it might be a dramatic statement that finally gets them noticed; for others it’s a location chosen to distance them from family and friends, and ensure that their body won’t be found by a loved one. As David P. Phillips, a sociologist at the University of California at San Diego, commented in an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in February 2005, "You’re in a place where nobody cares. It’s not famous for being warm and fuzzy. It’s a place you can be anonymous and die."
Considering the number of suicides that take place in Las Vegas each year, there are nothing like the kinds of resources to help available that there are for other social problems like gambling addiction, for example. However, Nevada was recently selected as one of the states to receive a new Federal grant to help tackle this issue and the recently formed Nevada Coalition for Suicide Prevention is coordinating the efforts of the various groups working to help bring down the suicide rate here. There is also a local suicide survivors Web site run by Linda Flatt, a resident of Henderson, Nevada and the Southern Nevada Community Organizer for SPAN (Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network), who lost her son to suicide in 1993. The site offers support and advice to others who have suffered a bereavement via suicide.
If you - or someone you know - are having thoughts about suicide, these two crisis helplines are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week:
Suicide Prevention Hotline of Nevada: 877-885-HOPE National Hopeline Network: 800-SUICIDE The phone number for the Nevada SPRC is 702/731 2990 Linda L Flatt SPAN Tel: 702/451-4338 Email: [email protected]
