- Professor Peter Jones, Dean of Medicine at Bond University talks about suicide
- The doctor believes suicide, including Dolly Everett’s, is caused by depression
- He said looking at bullying is a start but doctors need to take new approach
A top pediatrician says bullying isn’t to blame for the death of 14-year-old Akubra-girl Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett – who ‘took her own life to escape cruel taunts’ of other teenagers.
Professor Peter Jones, Dean of Medicine at Bond University says suicide is death by depression – and should be seen for what it is.
‘The response (to Dolly’s death) is let’s design an anti-bullying campaign,’ he told The Sunday Telegraph.
A top pediatrician says bullying isn’t to blame for the death of 14-year-old Akubra-girl Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett
Professor Peter Jones, Dean of Medicine at Bond University says suicide is death by depression – and should be seen for what it is
‘The response (to Dolly’s death) is let’s design an anti-bullying campaign,’ he said
‘Those things are important but the actual reality is that this little girl died of depression and she was so troubled by her depression that her thoughts made her think it was all hopeless.
‘And whatever people were doing she reacted in a way that was extreme and not necessarily to be anticipated.’
The professor wants doctors to look at depression and suicide like they would look at other possibly fatal illnesses.
He compared depression to having a heart attack – doctors ask their patients to stop smoking to reduce the risk.
He believes by looking into the causes of depressions and trying to manage it up to 3000 lives could be saved each year.
‘And whatever people were doing she reacted in a way that was extreme and not necessarily to be anticipated,’ he said
The professor wants doctors to look at depression and suicide like they would look at other possibly fatal illnesses