With the recent death of Sylvia Plath’s son, the question of inherited suicide has been once again raised in the news. A recent article at CNN says that a “first-degree relative — a parent, sibling or child — of a person who has committed suicide is four to six times more likely to attempt or complete a suicide” themselves.
One reason for this could have to do with thinning of the right cortex of the brain. This thinning could be one reason why certain people are able to adapt more easily to emotional events than others. It’s also …read more

There isn’t a poet around who doesn’t know the story of Sylvia Plath. Known for deeply moving poetry that provides a woman’s perspective, Plath had an emotional life and marriage with fellow poet Ted Hughes. In 1963, she put her head in a gas oven and took her own life. Her small children slept in the next room.

Now her son Nicholas Hughes, just 47-years old, has also taken his own life. Hughes was single and had no children of his own. He had recently left his job as a marine biologist to open a pottery …read more