Georgia: The Sorrows of Cobb County

A twelve-year-old boy hangs himself after being punished at school. A 16-year- old shoots himself while visiting a friend. Another boy takes his own life with a borrowed .357 Magnum.

The series of deaths in the booming suburbs of Cobb County, just north of Atlanta, are part of a “suicide cluster,” an affliction that has inexplicably visited half a dozen U.S. communities in this decade. The Centers for Disease Control began a detailed study of the county last summer after the suicide rate there was found to be 33% higher than the national average. The county (pop. 400,000) has already suffered 51 suicides this year, including six teen deaths, and expects to hit a record 70 suicides by December. Authorities speculate that the root cause may be explosive growth. “Fifteen years ago Cobb County was rural pastureland,” says Dirk Huttenbach, a psychiatrist for adolescents. “Anytime you have greater instability and less tradition, you’re going to have this sort of turmoil.”