Event Seeks To Fight Myths About Suicide

JOHNS CREEK, GA — The Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office and Emory University are studying beliefs about suicide in our community.

Next week, Chief Medical Examiner Jan Gorniak and Associate Medical Examiner Rachel Geller hope to eliminate some misconceptions about suicide during an event scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 30 in Johns Creek. Fact or Fiction? Dispelling Suicide Myths will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church at 2850 Old Alabama Road.

Suicide is a tragic act and a taboo topic of conversation. In a relative vacuum of open discussion, misconceptions and myths surrounding suicide have evolved, Fulton County said. To learn more about suicide perceptions in the greater Atlanta metro area, the Medical Examiner's Office has helped create a survey of 17 open-ended and multiple choice questions based on myths about suicide that employees have heard at the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.

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Answers to the survey are anonymous, and information will be used towards breaking down stereotypes in the community. This data will also be shared with physicians, social workers and county officials. The answers from the survey will be compared to 10 years of data about suicide collected at the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office. The results of the study will be shared before the end of 2018.

You can click here to take the survey.

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