Pelé, Vivienne Westwood, Pope Benedict XVI, Barbara Walters, Anita Pointer - Is Christmas proving too stressful?

In a study published in 1999, a research group found that there seemed to be consistently more deaths from ischemic heart disease during the winter than there were during the summer. 

About one third more deaths from heart disease were recorded in December and January than from June through September. 

They we were struck by an increase in deaths starting around Thanksgiving, climbing through Christmas, peaking on New Year’s Day, and then falling again. They reckoned that this peak in cardiac deaths during the holidays might result from factors including the emotional stress of the holidays, overindulgence during the holiday season, or both.

They call it the... 

“Merry Christmas Coronary” and “Happy New Year Heart Attack” Phenomenon *

Photo by Rodion Kutsaiev on Unsplash

Christmas time, or the Holiday season, may be hard and stressful for many reasons: the strain it often causes on your personal finances, loneliness, unfulfilled expectations, the seasonal darkness, over-eating and drinking, and so on.

This festive season several famous individuals have passed away - Pelé, Vivienne Westwood, Pope Benedict XVI, Barbara Walters, Anita Pointer (of Pointer Sisters)...

Did the Christmas related stress have a bearing on them passing? We can only speculate.

It is often also asserted that, due factors like loneliness,  more suicides around Christmas time than any other time of the year. Is this true? I myself certainly used to believe it, but...

"Suicides and parasuicides increase at Christmas" -  a myth! It seems...

It is often claimed that "people already suffering from depression are pushed over the edge by the surrounding jollity that they can’t share in, by heightened feelings of loneliness (because “everyone but they” has family and friends to spend the holiday with), and by seasonal affective disorder due to the long nights and short days of mid-to-late December."

But the Christmas suicide peak is only a myth, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, suicides (at more than 40,000 per year in the US) are at a nadir in December, and peak in the spring and fall. 

Whichever way you look at it though, the Holiday Season is a stressful one. More and more people that I talk to are opting, either not to celebrate Christmas at all, or only do so in a a very modest way.

Some off course don't celebrate Christmas at all, like most Muslims, Hindus (at least not officially), Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and others.

It seems that they in many ways benefit from not celebrating Christmas, at least financially.

Sage Stallone - Sylvester's Son Dies Of Overdose

Exclusive

 

UPDATE 10:22 PM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell us ... Sage's death does NOT appear to be a suicide.  We're told there was NO suicide note found at the scene.

Sources tell us officials DID find "numerous empty pill bottles" in the area where Sage's body was discovered. No word on what types of medication the pill bottles were for.
We're told an autopsy is scheduled for some time in the next 48 hours.

UPDATE 5:15 PM PT:  Sylvester Stallone's rep, Michelle Bega, tells TMZ, "Sylvester Stallone is devastated and grief-stricken over the sudden loss of his son Sage Stallone.  His compassion and thoughts are with Sage's mother, Sasha.  Sage was a very talented and wonderful young man.  His loss will be felt forever."

6:04 PM PT: Now here's a crazy picture -- the L.A. County Coroner van, flanked by a celebrity tour filled with snap-happy tourists. Welcome to Hollywood, folks.

 

Sage Stallone -- Sylvester Stallone's son -- has died and sources tell us the cause was an overdose of pills.

The details surrounding the death are still unclear .. but we're told he was found in his L.A. home by either a maid or his girlfriend. Paramedics were called to the home and pronounced him dead at the scene.


Sources tell us authorities are trying to determine if the death was intentional or accidental.

We're told Sylvester is a "wreck."

Sage famously made his film debut alongside his father in the 1990 movie "Rocky 5" -- playing the role of Rocky's son Robert Balboa.


He went on to act and direct in several films ... including the 1996 film "Daylight."

Sage's mother is Sasha Czack.

 

Source: www.tmz.com

David Carradine - Murder Or Suicide?

This morning we woke up with the news that the suicide fact of well known Hollywood movie actor David Carradine is disputed. People close to him say David never called a suicide hotline, did not appear to suffer from depression and never mentioned receiving treatment from depression. Thai police says Carradine was not murdered and most likely died from asphyxiation, reports WashPost.

Below we found a very good coverage from "Write Where You Are", where the author discusses David Carradine's death, calling it a sad end for a talented actor.

David Carradine was a very talented actor. He had a long career in television, on stage and in the movies. He made an impression on many by the types of roles that he took. There was always a little mystery surrounding him as a person. He came across as a person who kept much of his life private; he was a shy person, according to some of his own statements. David came from a talented family of actors, so, it is no surprise that he was skilled at what he did.

If you grew up during the 70’s like I did, you remember him from his television days. He was on "Gunsmoke". Most noteworthy to a kid growing up during that time - he was a wise man on the show. He used his martial art skills in life to teach and inspire a young trainee on the television show "Kung Fu". Kids all around the nation wanted to be like “young grasshopper” with an adult who took the time to mentor him in life lessons.

"Kung Fu" made a huge impression on a whole generation of young Americans. It opened the door to learning martial arts for many. David, and his show, made it cool to study the various forms of martial arts. The show put David in a bit of a leadership position with his fans. Today, we sadly, learned that David Carradine was found dead of a suspected suicide in Bankok, Thailand. His body was discovered nude, hanging with a hotel curtain cord around his neck.

Some people who know him say, he would not have taken his life, at this time, even though he struggled with suicidal thoughts in his past years. Those who do not believe he committed suicide say that his career was in an upswing and so was his personal life. A few years ago, his career took on a new life with the movie "Kill Bill". He had pretty much been out of the entertainment industry, until then. David had made statements to others about his suspicion that not many industry leaders were willing to give him roles as he aged. After appearing in "Kill Bill", he began working again; in fact, he was in Bankok, Thailand to film a new movie. He had only been at the hotel for a few days when he was found dead.

At this point, suicide is only suspected but David’s death appears suspicious, at least to his personal co-manager, Tiffany Smith. David was found in a sitting position in the closet with the cord wrapped around his neck and the closet rod. The authorities have said there doesn’t appear to be any assault, no forced entrance to his room, no obvious crime, so I guess that means the authorities don’t suspect that he was murdered. No news has been released about whether there was a suicide note or not. In fact, some say it had to be an accident; those who know him say he would never commit suicide.

If it’s true that he didn’t commit suicide and he wasn’t murdered, then what? an accident? That seems a bit difficult to understand. I mean, how does a curtain cord accidently get taken down and wrapped around the throat of a nude person, unless it is something called the ”choking game”. The choking game is an accident waiting to happen. It is a serious and dangerous activity, one that has become a threat around the world. It is dangerous because there is always the danger that the person could lose consciousness and die without meaning to.

In that kind of situation, I guess it could be considered an accident when someone waits too long to loosen the cord or binding around their neck. That is not to say that this is what happened to David Carradine, but there are definately a lot of questions surrounding David’s death. His family is asking for privacy at this time. They respected him, loved him and were apparently close to him. They are shocked and grieving the loss of a loved one. It is hard enough to lose a loved one, let alone to have to do it in the eye of the public and in mysterious circumstances to boot.

There is an autopsy being performed. Hopefully it will help to put some of the questions surrounding his death to rest. Whether it was suicide or if David Carradine was murdered, there is still pain and grief for his family, friends, co-stars, and fans. It is a sad end for a talented man who appeared to try to live his life with dignity. We wish to extend sympathy to all who knew him and to those who felt like they did because of the roles he performed and the impact on their lives from watching him over the years. Rest in peace David Carradine.

If you know someone who struggles with suicidal thoughts please call the suicide prevention hotline or http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ .

‘Sexting’ lead teen to committing suicide

Jesse Logan was taunted about photo she sent to her boyfriend

More and more teenagers are getting caught "sexting," or sending racy, revealing or nude pictures of themselves on their cell phones. But when that picture gets in the wrong hands, it can be devastating.




The image was blurred and the voice distorted, but the words spoken by a young Ohio woman are haunting. She had sent nude pictures of herself to a boyfriend. When they broke up, he sent them to other high school girls. The girls were harassing her, calling her a slut and a whore. She was miserable and depressed, afraid even to go to school.

And now Jesse Logan was going on a Cincinnati television station to tell her story. Her purpose was simple: “I just want to make sure no one else will have to go through this again.”

The interview was in May 2008. Two months later, Jessica Logan hanged herself in her bedroom. She was 18.

Last May, Jessie talked to News 5’s Sheree Paolello about how embarrassed and humiliated she was. She said she was being harassed and teased by other students, at home, at school and when she went out.

As she tried to explain what it was like, Jessie broke down crying. "I still get harassed and stuff,” she said. “I just want to make sure no one else will have to go through this same thing."

Jessie was trying to be strong. She wanted to warn other parents and kids. But Jessie's mom, Cynthia Logan, says the teasing turned to torture."She was called filthy names, things thrown at her,” said Cynthia. “Every single place she went they knew about that picture, they saw the picture. They knew about the picture! It's abuse. She was abused."

Cynthia says the moment her daughter’s private picture was sent out for everyone to see, things spiraled out of control. Jessie's grades plummeted, she started skipping school and Cynthia says when Jessie would go to school, she would hide in the bathroom to avoid being teased.

Jessie's family and friends knew how much she was struggling to move on but they had no idea how low Jessie had fallen. Two months after Jessie spoke with News 5, she went to the funeral of a boy who had committed suicide. After the funeral, she came home and killed herself.Eight months later, that horrifying moment was almost unbearable for Cynthia to recall. “And I walked over into her room and saw her hanging. Her cell phone was in the middle of the floor."Cynthia found her daughter hanging in the closet.

What seemed like high school bullying changed this family forever. The last memory Cynthia has of her petite, blond-haired, blue-eyed, only child is a phone conversation that happened hours before Jessie took her own life. Cynthia could hardly utter the words. “And she said ‘I love you madre.’ And I said ‘I love you baby and I'll see you soon.’"

Cynthia and her husband, Albert, say they are heartbroken and angry. They feel like something should have been done. They question why the five teenagers who continued to spread Jessie's picture and harass her were never charged."Almost eight months later, my daughter is buried in the ground. Are you kidding me? Where were you?" asked Cynthia as if the authorities were right in front of her.

Since Jessie’s death, authorities have started taking action against “sexting.” Montgomery police have charged one teenage boy who sent a racy video to other students. And Wednesday, the Warren County prosecutor filed misdemeanor charges against two 15-year-old students at Mason High School, for sending out nude pictures over their cell phones.

The school resource officer at Sycamore said he tried to do something about Jessie’s case. He said he confronted the kids who were harassing Jessie and even took Jessie's case to the prosecutor to see if he could press charges. But he said that because Jessie was 18, there were no laws to protect her. He said he'd like to work with the Logans to have the laws changed.

Cynthia says the fault doesn't only lie with the police, but also with the school."To have a nude photo being disseminated throughout the school of your child, how would you feel as a parent?” she asked. “Wouldn't you want other parents to know?"

Adrienne James, the superintendent for Sycamore Schools said letters were not sent out to parents, but that the district did address the cell phone problem at a parent’s night school forum.James also said no action was taken against the students because some attended school in a different district. She also explained that because Jessie took the picture at home and not on school property, there was little the school could do. #

No explanation can comfort Cynthia or her family. She believes Jessie took her life to escape the relentless teasing and feels like the people who were supposed to protect Jessie, failed her."The police department didn't protect her. The school didn't protect her. She had no one,” said Cynthia.Because Cynthia knows she can’t turn back the clock, she wants to change the laws. She says she wants “sexting” to stop and for the people involved to be held accountable.

Cynthia also wants every parent to know how dangerous this teenage trend is, so that no parent has to find their child the way she did or go on without them the way she must do now.

Sources: www.msnbc.msn.com www.wlwt.com