Forward-thinking suicide prevention expert Norman Farberow died on Sept. 10 of this year at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, reported Thomas Curwen of the L.A. Times. Farberow was 97. BYU–Hawaii students expressed gratitude for his work to help prevent suicide and increase awareness.
Farberow had reportedly fallen in his West Los Angeles home a few days prior to his passing. The article says his daughter, Hilary Farberow-Stuart, made special note of her father’s death having taken place on World Suicide Prevention Day.
Freshman psychology major Ali Rhodes from California said she believes this was more than coincidence. She said, “He dedicated most of his life to research to help depressed and suicidal people and their families. It’s amazing he would pass away on a day so significant in his work.”
While suicide in the 1940s was laden with stigma and taboo, Curwen states, “Farberow helped develop crisis intervention strategies that often began with a conversation.”
McKayla Williams, a sophomore elementary education major from Washington, said, “I’m happy there’s a lot more awareness now about suicide and suicide prevention. I think the best way to prevent it from happening is to be aware. I hope it continues to grow until we’re able to prevent all suicides.”
The psychologist established the first suicide prevention center in the country according to Curwen, with co-founders Robert E. Litman and Edwin Shneidman. Kita Curry, psychologist and director of Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services in Culver City, Calif., stated, “Farberow was a pioneer in helping erase the stigma of suicide.”
According to the New York Times, Farberow dedicated his efforts early in his career to the study and prevention of suicide through suicide notes; as Margalit Fox writes, “Dr. Farberow was working as a clinical psychologist at a Veteran’s Administration hospital in Los Angeles when Dr. Shneidman recruited him for his study of suicide notes. ... They found the simulated notes used more dramatic language, while the genuine notes were, counterintuitively, more pedantic.”
Jade Bennett, a freshman from New York studying psychology, said, “The differences this psychologist found in suicide notes were really incredible. I think his research has been revolutionary.” In 1962, when Marilyn Monroe was found dead with barbiturate poison in her system, Farberow examined her and announced her probable suicide to the media.