Suicides Near 1,000

The Golden Gate Bridge is edging toward a lamentable milestone of 1,000 confirmed suicides.

Since 1937, when the bridge opened, 995 people have been recorded as confirmed fatalities.

As the official count climbs, mental health experts increasingly blame the news media for inciting unstable people to the point of suicide.

They remember with scorn a quarter-century ago, when the toll was approaching 500. A San Francisco tavern kept book on the day and time for the 500th fatal jump.

“If you’re going to die and you want a sense of immortality, what could make you more immortal than being 1,000?” said Dr. Jerome Motto, professor of psychiatry emeritus at the University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine.