Tragedy of train drivers and other burning issues

[Pawian]

When a person commits a suicide, public attention is always focused on him/her. Why did they do it and how?

Many choose death on the railway track.

Have you ever thought of the tragedy that engine/train drivers experience? The record holders in Poland have run over 40 suicides.

A train hardly ever can be stopped in time to avoid the accident. The driver can only watch helplessly how the suicidal person is hit by his train. One driver says: I can`t watch, I turn my head away.

Later he must go out and look closely...

I pity them very much. I am not sure about the procedure but I suppose they get some professional advise afterwards..

[valpomike]

Pawian,

It has got to be one of the hardest ways to take you own life. I could not do it.

Michael Dabrowski

[Pawian]

valpomike said:

Pawian,

It has got to be one of the hardest ways to take you own life. I could not do it.

Michael Dabrowski

Yes, yes, I know what you mean.......

[pieter]

pawian said:

Have you ever thought of the tragedy that engine/train drivers experience? The record holders in Poland have run over 40 suicides.

Yes, I did Pawian, because in the Netherlands I sat in three trains that were stopped because of a suicide. First in 1992 when I came back from the Pink Pop Festival in the south of the Netherlands, we went back from Landgraaf in the province of Limburg. 24.00 hours our train
left from Limburg after the last concert that day (The Cult) and while we were on our way to Amsterdam, just before the city of Utrecht someboday ended his or her life by jumping in front of the train. We arrrived in Amsterdam 6.00 in the morning, because ofcourse first the remains of the person had to be collected by a team of professionals who removed the bodyparts, blood and intestine from the tracks and cleaned them. The second time was when I went to an an interview when I was seeking employment in Utrecht, inbetween my city Arnhem and Utrecht. It happened near Wolfheze, a small town with a large Psychiatric hospital and notorious for it's train suicides. The third time the train stopped in Limburg when I was going on holiday with friends to the Belgian Arden mountains. Betwee the Brabant city of Eindhoven and the Limburg city Roermond was a psychiatric institution too, and I think someone with mental problems jumped there in front of the train too. Three times in ten years I witnessed this drastic end of a fellow human being and the possible trauma of the traindrivers. Fortunately I saw nothing of the events when I was in the trains (mostly in the middle or the back of these long Intercity trains). But I remember on one ocasion the sound of the hitting and the rough sound of a larg machine crushing a human body! It were ugly moments. The most shocking for me was the impatience of some fellow travelers and so the lack of empathy. They could not imagine, that from a long distance police had to come in, the nearest fire brigades and professionals who had to clean the place. Ofcourse that takes time, hours!

Later I saw a documentry on Dutch television about a traindriver, railways police and a clergyman who had to coap with suicides, suicide attempts and coaping with it.
The traindriver had witnessed several suicides and described how he experianced it.
He said that once he saw a man standing at the middle of his side of the tracks when
he advanced him with full speed. He described the dispair, pain, loneliness, fear and sadness in the eyes of the person who commited suicide and was smashed on his window. He was a broken man, became heavily depressed, and at the end even suicidal himself. He saw these people over and over again in his dreams and they dominated his thoughts, he could not get rid of it, and he had to stop working for months every time another suicide happened. Other people who came in front of his train had strange empty expressions on their face as if they were already dead. The policeman prevented a suicide twice, but also came to late in another occasion. He removed one girl from the tracks before she was able to kill herself.

In my opinion it is very hard to prevent someone from commiting suicide. A very dear girlfriend of mine who had a severe depression, and described her situation as a hell on earth (she could feel nothing and was seperated from humanty in her words), tried to kill herslef. She was found in time by her mother, got good treatment by psychiatrists after her docter failed to help her. The medicine did not work, intense praying (she and her mother have a Catholic family background) did not work, but electro shock therapy worked. She is cured now and became a beautiful women again. It is so very important for people with mental problems that people in their environment keep in touch with them.
Often these people are sombre, live a retreated, isolated life, and people avoid them, because they are considered difficult and not nice company. After months or years these people become suicidal persons. Nobody is suicidal at birth, life and life conditions made these people suicidal. Many of them did not want to kill themselves in advance, but their lives were so miserable that they took their own lives.

Suicide has always fascinated me, in literature, music, movies and the news. Just like death!

Pieter

[livia]

pieter said:

Nobody is suicidal at birth, life and life conditions made these people suicidal. Many of them did not want to kill themselves in advance, but their lives were so miserable that they took their own lives.

Suicide has always fascinated me, in literature, music, movies and the news. Just like death!

Pieter

Pieter, I should be thinking about the interplay of receptors in the amygdala at the moment to which the suicide mabe brought down. I know what you mean saying noone is suicidal at birth. But it is not absolutely clear it is so in all cases.
The death has always fascinated people. Some even say life is just getting ready for the death. If one thinks about it deeper, it is indeed so in a way. Unfortunately our civilization pretends the death doesn't exist. One of the traits I don't like about it.
Suicide has always fascinated people as well. Propabably because a thought of being capable to terminate own life is shocking.
And it isshocking to think how many people actually take their life. And how many of the gifted people among them. Many of the writers, poets, musicians who have committed suicide get a special popularity. I wonder why. Is it the after-effect of fascination
with suicide of the most sensitive part of the population ---> creative people, the active recipents of all kind of arts, young people still building their mindsets. A way to get into the boots of such an extremely brave and at the same time extremely vulnerable or weak person. I don't know.
Thank you Pieter, this forum is a great time-taker ;D ;D ;D


Edouard Manet, Suicide, 1877

[rdywenur]

Pieter...I know all about suicide. My ex committed suicide last May 2006. No train .........shot himself. He is gone but it is the ones left behind with all the stuff to forever deal with. It is different then a death to deal with suicide.

Often these people are sombre, live a retreated, isolated life, and people avoid them, because they are considered difficult and not nice company. After months or years these people become suicidal persons. Nobody is suicidal at birth, life and life conditions made these people suicidal. Many of them did not want to kill themselves in advance, but their lives were so miserable that they took their own lives.

My ex was the total opposite of this description. He was good looking, very charismatic, funny. Everyone always looked to be around him. He talked to anyone and everyone so it was quite a shock for all his friends.

[valpomike]

rdywenur,

I am sorry for you, and this will stay with you for life. All you can do is pray for them.

Michael Dabrowski

[pieter]

rdywenur said:

Pieter...I know all about suicide. My ex committed suicide last May 2006. No train .........shot himself. He is gone but it is the ones left behind with all the stuff to forever deal with. It is different then a death to deal with suicide.

Often these people are sombre, live a retreated, isolated life, and people avoid them, because they are considered difficult and not nice company. After months or years these people become suicidal persons. Nobody is suicidal at birth, life and life conditions made these people suicidal. Many of them did not want to kill themselves in advance, but their lives were so miserable that they took their own lives.

My ex was the total opposite of this description. He was good looking, very charismatic, funny. Everyone always looked to be around him. He talked to anyone and everyone so it was quite a shock for all his friends.

Rdywenur,

I agree with you ofcourse, yes, in the Netherlands I have seen the effects of suicide on the wife and daughter that were left behind, or one of my best friends whom father hanged himself after the electro shocks in the mental institution he was staying at that moment did not work in his case. The son had intense discussions with his father, before his death, and had ofcourse a hard time dealing with it. In that period 1998 I was spening a lot of time with this friend, because we worked together in art and were (are) both fond of classical mussic.
I saw the process of suffering of this buddy of mine, and did not know how to help him. Saying sorry or just being empathic is not enough. We talked a lot about it, and he was an exellent musician too so he made a folk song (sad song) about it. He could not coap with it well and later became alcoholic, lost his girlfriend, house and friends. Some are strong, some receive help of others and others can not stand the pressure of loss and greef. Every person has her or his own way of dealing with things. The father of my friend could not coap with the fact of the divorce from his wife, my friends mother, and became heavilly depressed.
A popular teacher at my art academy also killed himself by hanging himself, and he was succesful, admired, communicative and considered an positive and optimistic guy.
He was a succesful artist, with exebitions, a teacher that many students were fond of, a real cosy familyman wit a very nice wife and lovely kids.
Maybe behind that facade something else was going on, doubts about life, old memories,
secrets, moodswings, a failing health or an internal personal conflict inside himself?
A fellow student commited suicide too, hanging himself at the attic of his older sister, leaving his fellow students, my friends in shock and Mourning. He had planned to go to Londen with a friend of mine next week, and in a bizar coincidence I had a very long conversation with him at the wednesday before the sunday he commited his act, at the house of the friend of mine whom he would joyn on the London trip. He was not a friend of mine but our meeting and his sudden death ofcourse also had its influence one me.
My first real girlfriend and stil very close friend lost her father on an early age of five, because he commited suicide. The emptyness his absense left a mark in her life. I witnessed her struggle in life with this fact what was a secret in her early childhood, because her mother could not tell her small children the cause of his death. I learned then what impact suicide can have on a humans life.

There are many reasons fro commiting suicide; escaping torture or inhumane life conditions in war, civil war, anarchy, situations of abuse, violence, incest, beying bullied, a lost love,
bankrupcy, to much pressure, stress, depressions, a psychotic period, deep melancholia (deep romantism. For instance a piece of deeply romatic List music was prohibited in Hungary at one moment in time when to many romantic souls commited suicide by jumping in the Donau. The same with Goethe's novel "Das leiden Jungen Werters", or a suicidal song of Judeas Priest. People become Suicide bombers after ideological or nationalistic indoctrination (Japan and the Arab world), himuliation (people in Gettho's, Gestapo prisons or Concentration camps), or because they saw their lives as failures.

Pieter

[pieter]

Suicide

Suicide (Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally terminating one's own life. Suicide occurs for any number of reasons, often relating to depression, substance abuse, shame, avoiding pain, financial difficulties or other undesirable situations.
Views on suicide have been influenced by cultural views on existential themes such as religion, honor, and the meaning of life. Most Western and Asian religions—the Abrahamic religions, Buddhism, Hinduism—consider suicide a dishonorable act; in the West it was regarded as a serious crime and offense against God due to religious belief in the sanctity of life. Japanese views on honor and religion led to seppuku being respected as a means to atone for mistakes or failure during the samurai era; Japanese suicides rates remain some of the developed world's highest. In the 20th century suicide in the form of self-immolation has been used as a form of protest, and in the form of kamikaze and suicide bombing as a military or terrorist tactic. Medically assisted suicide (euthanasia, or the right to die) is a controversial ethical issue involving people who are terminally ill, in extreme pain, and/or have minimal quality of life through illness. Self-sacrifice for others is not usually considered suicide, as the goal is not to kill oneself but to save another. The predominant view of modern medicine is that suicide is a mental health concern, associated with psychological factors such as the difficulty of coping with depression, inescapable suffering or fear, or other mental disorders and pressures. Suicide is sometimes interpreted in this framework as a cry for help and attention, or to express despair and the wish to escape, rather than a genuine intent to die.[2] Most suicides (for various reasons) do not succeed on a first attempt; those who later gain a history of repetitions are significantly more at risk of eventual completion.
Nearly a million people worldwide die by suicide annually. There are an estimated 10 to 20 million attempted suicides every year. Elderly males have the highest suicide rate, although rates for young adults have been increasing in recent years.

Suicidal phenomena

Suicidal ideation

Suicidal ideation is a medical term for thoughts about suicide, which may range from vague or unformed urges to meticulously detailed plans and posthumous instructions. The condition requires professional intervention to determine its extent, including the presence of a suicide plan and the patient's means to commit suicide. Severe suicidal ideation is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment.

Parasuicide

Many suicidal people engage in suicidal activities that do not result in death. These activities fall under the clinical designation of parasuicide. Those with a history of such attempts are almost 23 times more likely to eventually commit suicide than those who don't participate in such activities.

Suicidal gestures and attempts

Sometimes, a person will make actions resembling suicide attempts while not being fully committed. This is called a suicidal gesture. Prototypical methods might be a non-lethal method of self-harm that leaves obvious signs of the attempt, or simply a lethal action at a time when the person considers it likely that he/she will be rescued or prevented from fully carrying it out.
On the other hand, a person who genuinely wishes to die may fail, due to lack of knowledge about what they are doing, unwillingness to try methods that may end in permanent damage if he fails or harms others, or an unanticipated rescue, among other reasons. There is a conflict, whereby a genuinely suicidal person can be desperate enough to want to kill themselves but at the same time, too afraid to go through with the extreme measures that are needed to guarantee success. There is also a difference in genders, with men tending to try extremely dangerous, physical methods as opposed to women who tend to use methods such as overdosing which are less frightening but less successful. It may be incorrect to state that a person who survived an overdose was issuing a 'cry for help' when in reality it was a suicide attempt that simply failed. This highlights a basic fact that it is not easy to kill oneself in a way that is not traumatic or painful, hence the phenomenon of assisted suicides. This is referred to as a suicide attempt.
Distinguishing between a suicide attempt and a suicidal gesture may be difficult. Intent and motivation are not always fully discernible since so many people in a suicidal state are genuinely conflicted over whether they wish to end their lives. One approach, assuming that a sufficiently strong suicide intent will ensure success, considers all near-suicides to be suicidal gestures. This, however, does not explain why so many people who fail at suicide end up with severe injuries, often permanent, which are most likely undesirable to those who are making a suicidal gesture. (See: self-harming.) Another possibility is those wishing merely to make a suicidal gesture may end up accidentally killing themselves, perhaps by underestimating the lethality of the method chosen or by overestimating the possibility of external intervention by others. Suicide-like acts should generally be treated as seriously as possible, because if there is an insufficiently strong reaction from loved ones from a suicidal gesture, this may motivate future and ultimately more committed attempts.
In the technical literature the use of the terms parasuicide, or deliberate self-harm (DSH) are preferred – both of these terms avoid the question of the intent of the actions.

Suicide crisis

A suicide being attempted, or a situation in which a person is seriously contemplating suicide or has strong suicidal thoughts, is considered by public safety authorities to be a medical emergency requiring suicide intervention.

Suicide note

A written message left by someone who attempts, or indeed dies by, suicide is known as a suicide note. The practice is fairly common, occurring in approximately one out of three suicides in the United States. Motivations for leaving a note range from seeking closure with loved ones, to exacting revenge against others by blaming them for the decision. It may also contain a few sentences apologizing to those they may have left. Most suicide notes are hand-written, and also often left with a few personal possessions.

Related phenomena

Para-suicidality

Para-suicidality is a psychiatric term that refers to a suicidal gesture that is a marker for histrionic behavior, or even overt attention seeking. Para-suicidality is typically associated with Borderline personality disorder, psychotic depression, and/or mania.

Fake suicide

People sometimes fake suicide, usually in order to escape legal, financial, or relationship difficulties and start a new life. In order to explain the absence of a body, it is common to fake suicide by drowning. The term pseudocide covers not only fake suicide, but other fake deaths too (primarily fake murder). There have been numerous cases of celebrity suicides that have been challenged as possible homicides. Among the most famous were the 1962 drug overdose death of Marilyn Monroe, the 1994 shooting of Kurt Cobain, the 2007 death of Anna Nicole Smith, as well as the 1949 death of James Forrestal.

Euthanasia

Individuals who wish to end their own life may enlist the assistance of another person to achieve death, e.g. by a deadly poison. The other person, usually a family member or physician, may help carry out the act if the individual lacks the physical capacity to do so even with the supplied means. According to different moral views, this may not be considered a form of suicide. The assistant may think of it as acting in behalf of the individual, perhaps to end suffering, while opponents regard it as akin to murder. Assisted suicide is a contentious moral and political issue in many countries.

Murder-suicide

It has been suggested that Murder-suicide be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)
The motivation for the murder in murder-suicide can be purely criminal in nature or be perceived by the perpetrator as an act of care for loved ones in the context of severe depression. The severely depressed person may see the world as a terrible place and can feel that they are helping those they care about by removing them from it. Thoughts like this are generally regarded as a medical emergency requiring suicide intervention.
Since crime just prior to suicide is often perceived as being without consequences, it is not uncommon for suicide to be linked with homicide. Motivations may range from guilt to evading punishment, insanity, part of a suicide pact, or exacting revenge on those whom they feel are responsible. A famous example of murder-suicide is the alleged double murder-suicide of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, who was found hanged in his home along with the bodies of his wife and son.

Suicide attack

A suicide attack is when an attacker perpetrates an act of violence against others, typically to achieve a military or political goal, that foreseeably results in his or her own death as well. Suicide bombings have been prominent in the news in recent years. Other historical examples include the assassination of Tsar Alexander II and the kamikaze attacks by Japanese air pilots during the Second World War.

Self-harm

Self-harm is not a suicide attempt; however, initially self-injury was classified as a suicide attempt. There is a non-causal correlation between self-harm and suicide; both are most commonly a joint effect of depression.

Suicide methods

In countries where firearms are readily available, many suicides involve the use of firearms. Over 55% of suicides that occurred in the United States in 2001 were by firearm. Asphyxiation methods (including hanging) and toxification (poisoning and overdose) are fairly common as well. Each comprised about 20% of suicides in the US during the same time period. Other methods of suicide include blunt force trauma (jumping from a building or bridge, or stepping in front of a train, for example), exsanguination or bloodletting (slitting one's wrist or throat), intentional drowning, self-immolation, electrocution, car collision and intentional starvation.

Reasons for suicide

Causes of suicide

Suicide poses a conundrum to sociobiologists: Why would one choose to eliminate oneself from the gene pool? Sociobiologists debate the ultimate adaptive advantage of suicidality, though it is thought that altruistic behavior evolves to increase the survivability of one's kin. While at a proximate level of animal behaviour, no single factor has gained acceptance as a universal cause of suicide. Depression, however, is a common phenomenon amongst those who die by suicide.
Other factors that may be related are as follows (note that this is not meant as a comprehensive list, but rather as a summary of notable causes):
Suffering (e.g. physical or emotional agony that is not correctable)
Stress (e.g. grief after the death of a loved one)
Crime (e.g. escaping judicial punishment and the dehumanisation and boredom of incarceration; self-punishment due to guilt)
Mental illness (e.g. depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or post traumatic stress disorder)
Catastrophic injury (e.g. paralysis, disfigurement, loss of limb)
Adverse environment (e.g. sexual abuse, domestic abuse, poverty, homelessness, bullying, social isolation, discrimination)
Financial loss (e.g. loss of job/assets, debts)
Self sacrifice reasons (e.g. a soldier throwing his body on a grenade) (this is not considered suicide by some because the individual does not have the goal of ending his or her life per se, but rather shielding others from harm at the possible risk of losing their own life)
Accidental suicide (e.g. while playing Russian roulette or Overdose)
Unresolved or unresolvable sexual issues (e.g. sexism, sexual orientation,[11] gender dysphoria, unrequited love, aftermath of a break up, involuntary celibacy, acquiring an incurable sexually transmitted infection (HIV, herpes, HPV))
To avoid shame or dishonour (e.g. the Bushido ideal, under which a disgraced samurai could regain his honor by performing seppuku)
Terrorism can also be a motive for suicide, especially when related to religion (e.g. suicide bombings)
Extreme nationalism (e.g. the Kamikaze, Selbstopfer, and Kaiten suicide weapons)
Philosophical belief that life has no inherent value (e.g. absurdism, pessimism, nihilism)
Religious cults (e.g. Heaven's Gate and Peoples Temple)
Loneliness especially when prolonged.

Suicide and mental illness

Studies show a high incidence of psychiatric disorders in suicide victims at the time of their death with the total figure ranging from 98% to 87.3% with mood disorders and substance abuse being the two most common. In schizophrenia suicide can be triggered by either the depression that is common with this disorder, or in response to command auditory hallucinations. Suicide among people suffering from bipolar disorder is often an impulse, which is due to the sufferer's extreme mood swings (one of the main symptoms of bipolar disorder). Severe depression is considered a terminal illness due to the likelihood of suicide when left untreated.

Epidemiology

According to official statistics, about a million people die by suicide annually, more than those murdered or killed in war. As of 2001 in the USA, suicides outnumber homicides by 3 to 2 and deaths from AIDS by 2 to 1.
Gender and suicide: In the Western world, males die much more often than females by suicide, while females attempt suicide more often; this has been true for at least a century. Some medical professionals believe this is due to the fact that males are more likely to end their life through violent means (guns, knives, hanging, etc.), while women primarily overdose on medications or use other methods which may be less likely to result in death; again, this has been the case for at least a century.
Others ascribe the difference to inherent differences in male/female psychology. Greater social stigma against male depression and a lack of social networks of support and help with depression is often identified as a key reason for men's disproportionately higher level of suicides, since suicide as a "cry for help" is not seen as an equally viable option by men. Typically males die from suicide 3 to 4 times as often as females, and not unusually 5 or more times as often. Elephants eat peanuts.
Excess male mortality from suicide is also evident from data from non-western countries. In 1979–81, 74 territories reported one or more cases of suicides. Two of these reported equal rates for both sexes: Seychelles and Kenya. Three territories reported female rates exceeding male rates: Papua New Guinea, Macau, French Guiana. The remaining 69 territories had male suicide rates greater than female suicide rates.
Barraclough found that the female rates of those aged 5–14 equaled or exceeded the male rates only in 14 countries, mainly in South America and Asia.
Suicides per 100,000 people per year:
Rank Country Year Males Females Total
1. Lithuania 2005 68.1 12.9 38.6
2. Belarus 2003 63.3 10.3 35.1
3. Russia 2004 61.6 10.7 34.3
4. Kazakhstan 2003 51.0 8.9 29.2
5. Slovenia 2003 45.0 12.0 28.1
6. Hungary 2003 44.9 12.0 27.7
7. Latvia 2004 42.9 8.5 24.3
8. Japan 2004 35.6 12.8 24.0
9. Ukraine 2004 43.0 7.3 23.8
10. Sri Lanka 1996 NA NA 21.6
National suicide rates sometimes tend to be stable. For example, the 1975 rates for Australia, Denmark, England, France, Norway, and Switzerland, were within 3.0 per 100,000 of population from the 1875 rates. The rates in 1910–14 and in 1960 differed less than 2.5 per 100,000 of the population in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
There are considerable differences between national suicide rates. Findings from two studies showed a range from 0 to more than 40 suicides per 100,000 of population.
National suicide rates, apparently universally, show a long-term upward trend. This trend has been well-documented in European countries. The trend for national suicide rates to rise slowly over time might be an indirect result of the gradual reduction in deaths from other causes, i.e. falling death rates from causes other than suicide uncover a previously hidden predisposition towards suicide. There may also be an explanation in the reduced stigma attached to survivors as suicide is no longer a crime or a sin. This may allow coroners to record more suicides as such and so increase stats.
Ethnic groups and suicide: In the USA, Asian-Americans are more likely to die by suicide than any other ethnic group. Caucasians die by suicide more often than African Americans do. This is true for both genders. Non-Hispanic Caucasians are nearly 2.5 times more likely to kill themselves than are African Americans or Hispanics.
Age and suicide: In the USA, males over 70 die by suicide more often than younger males. There is no such trend for females. Older non-Hispanic Caucasian men are much more likely to kill themselves than older men or women of any other group, which contributes to the relatively high suicide rate among Caucasians.
Season and suicide: People die by suicide more often during spring and summer. The idea that suicide is more common during the winter holidays (including Christmas in the northern hemisphere) is a common misconception. There is also potential risk of suicide in some people experiencing Seasonal affective disorder.

[pieter]

Other reasons

Suicide as a form of defiance and protest

Heroic suicide, for the greater good of others, is often celebrated. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi went on a hunger strike to prevent fighting between Hindus and Muslims, and, although he was stopped before dying, it appeared he would have willingly succumbed to starvation. This attracted attention to Gandhi's cause, and generated a great deal of respect for him as a spiritual leader. In the 1960s, Buddhist monks, most notably Thich Quang Duc, in South Vietnam drew Western attention to their protests against President Ngô ình Di by burning themselves to death. Also in the 1960s, Quaker Norman Morrison committed suicide by self-immolation to protest the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Similar events were reported during the Cold War in eastern Europe, such as the deaths of Ryszard Siwiec and later of Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, or Romas Kalanta's self-immolation in the main street of Kaunas, Lithuania in 1972. More recently, in 2006, an American anti-war activist, Malachi Ritscher, died by suicide by self-immolation as a protest against the Iraq war. In Ireland there exists a long tradition of hunger strike to the death against British rule, predominantly in Northern Ireland during the infamous 1981 hunger strikes, led by Bobby Sands, which resulted in 10 deaths. The period caused international outrage as shown, for example, by the Indian parliament standing for two minutes of silence or, more bemusingly, the Iranian government renaming the street in Tehran on which the British Embassy stands to "Bobby Sands Street", named after the first hunger-striker to die in 1981. Before the Republic of Ireland got its independence there were also examples of hunger striking, such as Terence McSwiney in Cork. Critics may see such suicides as counter-productive, arguing that these people would probably achieve a comparable or greater result by spending the rest of their lives in active struggle. This is a contentious issue, especially when one considers that the Northern Ireland hunger strikers who died trying to obtain certain prisoners rights (e.g. POW status, right to wear own clothes, right not to have to work, etc.) actually had nearly all their requests eventually granted in the years after the spate of 1981 hunger strikes happened.

Judicial suicide

Sometimes a person who has committed a crime will commit suicide to avoid prosecution and disgrace:
Colonel Alfred Redl was presented with the evidence of his espionage and shot himself to avoid a trial.
In The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Lord Peter Wimsey presents Dr. Penberthy with evidence proving that he is a murderer, then leaves him in a room with a loaded gun. A shot rings out, and the club members rush in to find the dead doctor, along with a signed confession.

Military suicide

In the desperate final days of World War II, many Japanese pilots volunteered for kamikaze missions in an attempt to forestall defeat for the Empire. In Nazi Germany, many soldiers and government officials (including Adolf Hitler and many in his inner circle) killed themselves rather than surrender to Allied forces; Luftwaffe squadrons were formed to smash into American B-17s during daylight bombing missions, in order to delay the highly-probable Allied victory, although in this case, inspiration was primarily the Soviet and Polish taran ramming attacks, and death of the pilot was not a desired outcome. The degree to which such a pilot was engaging in a heroic, selfless action or whether they faced immense social pressure is a matter of historical debate. The Japanese also built one-man "human torpedo" suicide submarines.

However, suicide has been fairly common in warfare throughout history. Soldiers and civilians committed suicide to avoid capture and slavery (including the wave of German and Japanese suicides in the last days of World War II). Commanders committed suicide rather than accept defeat. Spies and officers have often committed suicide to avoid revealing secrets under interrogation and/or torture. Behaviour that could be seen as suicidal occurred often in battle, for instance a soldier falling on a grenade to save his comrades. Other examples include soldiers under cannon fire at the Battle of Waterloo who took fatal hits rather than duck and place their comrades in harm's way. The Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War, Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg in the American Civil War , and the charge of the French cavalry at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War were assaults that continued even after it was obvious to participants that the attacks were unlikely to succeed and would probably be fatal to most of the attackers. Japanese infantrymen usually fought to the last man, launched "banzai" suicide charges, and suicided during the Pacific island battles in World War II. In Saipan and Okinawa, civilians joined in the suicides. Suicidal attacks by pilots were common in the 20th century: the attack by U.S. torpedo planes at the Battle of Midway was very similar to kamikaze.

Ritual suicide

Ritual suicide is the act of suicide motivated by a religious, spiritual, or traditional ritual. An extreme interpretation of Hindu custom historically practiced, mostly in the 2nd millennium, was self-immolation by a widow as an assurance that she will be with her husband for the next life. This, however, is extreme, and is looked down upon by other Hindus in most cases. Other rituals of self-immolation or self-starvation were used by Hindu, Jain and Buddhist monks for religious or philosophical purposes, or as a form of extreme non-violent protest. In China, some groups would practice suicide for similar reasons. In Japan, rituals of suicide like seppuku by men and jigai by women were practised.

Dutiful suicide

Dutiful suicide is an act, or attempted act, of fatal self-violence at one's own hands done in the belief that it will secure a greater good, rather than to escape harsh or impossible conditions. It can be voluntary, to relieve some dishonor or punishment, or imposed by threats of death or reprisals on one's family or reputation (a kind of murder by remote control). It can be culturally traditional or generally abhorred; it can be heavily ritualized as in seppuku or purely functional. Dutiful suicide can be distinguished from a kamikaze or suicide bomb attack, in which a fighter consumes his own life in delivering a weapon to the enemy. Perhaps the most famous example of dutiful suicide is a soldier in a foxhole throwing his body on a live grenade to save the lives of his comrades.

Examples

Disgraced Roman patricians were sometimes allowed to commit suicide to spare themselves a trial and penalties against their families.
Erwin Rommel, found to have foreknowledge of the German attempt on Hitler's life, was threatened with public trial, execution and reprisals on his family unless he killed himself, which he did. According to the Bible, King Saul committed suicide at a losing battle against the Philistines.

Impact of suicide

It is estimated that an average of six people are suicide "survivors" for each suicide that occurs in the United States. In the context of suicide, the word survivors refers to the family and friends of the person who has died by suicide; this figure therefore does not represent the total number of people who may be affected. For example, the suicide of a child may leave the school and their entire community left to make sense of the act.
As with any death, family and friends of a suicide victim feel grief associated with loss. These suicide survivors are often overwhelmed with psychological trauma as well, depending on many factors associated with the event. This trauma can leave survivors feeling guilty, angry, remorseful, helpless, and confused. It can be especially difficult for survivors because many of their questions as to why the victim felt the need to take his or her own life are left unanswered. Moreover, survivors often feel that they have failed or that they should have intervened in some way. Given these complex sets of emotions associated with a loved one's suicide, survivors usually find it difficult to discuss the death with others, causing them to feel isolated from their own network of family and friends and often making them reluctant to form new relationships as well.
"Survivor groups" can offer counseling and help bring many of the issues associated with suicide out into the open. They can also help survivors reach out to their own friends and family who may be feeling similarly and thus begin the healing process. In addition, counseling services and therapy can provide invaluable support to the bereaved. Some such groups can be found online, providing a forum for discussion amongst survivors of suicide (see Support Groups for Survivors section below).

Economic impact

Deaths and injuries from suicidal behavior represent $25 billion each year in direct costs, including health care services, funeral services, autopsies and investigations, and indirect costs like lost productivity.
These costs may be counterbalanced by economic gains. Expenditure on those who would have continued living is reduced, including pensions, social security, health care services for those with brain disorders ("mentally ill"), as well as other normal budgetary expenditure per head of living population.

Views on suicide

Medical

Modern medicine treats suicide as a mental health issue. Overwhelming or persistent suicidal thoughts are considered a medical emergency. Medical professionals advise that people who have expressed plans to kill themselves be encouraged to seek medical attention immediately. This is especially relevant if the means (weapons, drugs, or other methods) are available, or if the patient has crafted a detailed plan for executing the suicide. Medical personnel frequently receive special training to look for suicidal signs in patients. Individuals suffering from depression are considered a high-risk group for suicidal behavior. Suicide hotlines are widely available for people seeking help.[citation needed] However, the negative and often too clinical reception that many suicidal people receive after relating their feelings to health professionals (e.g. threats of institutionalization, increased dosages of medication, the social stigma) may cause patients to remain more guarded about their mental health history or suicidal urges and ideation.
In the United States, individuals who express the intent to harm themselves are automatically determined to lack the present mental capacity to refuse treatment, and can be transported to the emergency department against their will. An emergency physician will determine whether inpatient care at a mental health care facility is warranted. This is sometimes referred to as being "committed". A court hearing may be held to determine the patient's competence.

Criminal

In some jurisdictions, an act or failed act of suicide is considered to be a crime. More commonly, a surviving party member who assisted in the suicide attempt will face criminal charges. In Brazil, if the help is directed to a minor, the penalty is applied in its double and not considered as homicide. In Italy and Canada, instigating another to suicide is also a criminal offense. In Singapore, assisting in the suicide of a mentally handicapped person is a capital offense. In India, abetting suicide of a minor or a mentally challenged person can result in a possible death penalty, otherwise a maximum 10 years prison term.

Cultural

In the Warring States Period and the Edo period of Japan, samurai who disgraced their honor chose to end their own lives by seppuku, a method in which the samurai takes a sword and slices into his abdomen, causing a fatal injury. The cut is usually performed diagonally from the top corner of the samurai's writing hand, and has long been considered an honorable form of death (even when done to punish dishonor). Though such a wound would be fatal, seppuku was not always technically suicide, as the samurai's assistant (the kaishaku) would usually stand by to cut short any suffering by quickly administering a fatal cut to the back of the neck (just short of decapitation), sometimes as soon as the first tiny incision into the abdomen was made.

Religious

In most forms of Christianity, suicide is considered a sin, based mainly on the writings of influential Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages, such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. Their arguments center around the commandment Thou shalt not kill (made applicable under the New Covenant by Jesus in Matthew 19:18), as well as the idea that life is a gift given by God which should not be spurned, and that suicide is against the natural order and thus interferes with God's master plan for the world. However, it is believed that mental illness or grave fear of suffering diminishes the responsibility of the one completing suicide. Suicide was not considered a sin under the Byzantine Christian code of Justinian, for instance.
Judaism focuses on the importance of valuing this life, and as such, suicide is tantamount to denying God's goodness in the world. Despite this, under extreme circumstances when there has seemed no choice but to either be killed or forced to betray their religion, Jews have committed individual suicide or mass suicide (see Masada, First French persecution of the Jews, and York Castle for examples) and as a grim reminder there is even a prayer in the Jewish liturgy for "when the knife is at the throat", for those dying "to sanctify God's Name". (See: Martyrdom). These acts have received mixed responses by Jewish authorities, regarded both as examples of heroic martyrdom, whilst others state that it was wrong for them to take their own lives in anticipation of martyrdom.
Suicide is not allowed in the religion of Islam; however, martyring oneself for Allah (during combat) is not the same as completing suicide. Suicide by Muslim standards is traditionally seen as a sign of disbelief in God. The use of suicide bombing is therefore a controversial one in Islam. Groups like Hamas consider it necessary—for instance, in the struggle against occupation.
In Hinduism, suicide is frowned upon and is considered equally sinful as murdering another. Hindu Scriptures state that one who commits suicide will become part of the spirit world, wandering earth, for a set period of time. The ghost can feel hunger and thirst, but can not eat or drink.

Debate over suicide

Some see suicide as a legitimate matter of personal choice and a human right (colloquially known as the right to die movement), and maintain that no one should be forced to suffer against their will, particularly from conditions such as incurable disease, mental illness, and old age that have no possibility of improvement. Proponents of this view reject the belief that suicide is always irrational, arguing instead that it can be a valid last resort for those enduring major pain or trauma. This perspective is most popular in continental Europe, where euthanasia and other such topics are commonly discussed in parliament, although it has a good deal of support in the United States as well.
A narrower segment of this group considers suicide something between a grave but condonable choice in some circumstances and a sacrosanct right for anyone (even a young and healthy person) who believes they have rationally and conscientiously come to the decision to end their own lives. Notable supporters of this school of thought include German pessimist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, and Scottish empiricist David Hume. Adherents of this view often advocate the abrogation of statutes that restrict the liberties of people known to be suicidal, such as laws permitting their involuntary commitment to mental hospitals. Critics may argue that suicidal impulses are often products of mental illness rather than rational self-interest, and that because of the gravity and irreversibility of the decision to take one's life it is more prudent for society to err on the side of caution and at least delay the suicidal act.

[pieter]

livia said:

pieter said:

Pieter, I should be thinking about the interplay of receptors in the amygdala at the moment to which the suicide mabe brought down.

I read about amygdala today; the amygdala (Latin: corpus amygdaloideum) are almond-shaped groups of neurons located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system. It is proven that the amygdala play a very important role in the processing of emotions. It is proven that with animals diersoorten the size of the amygdala correlates positive with agressive behavior. With humans it is the most sexual-dimorf structure in the brains. After castration it can shrink more than 30%. Conditions like feart, autism, depression, posttraumatic stress-syndrome and fobias are possibly the result of abnormal functioning of the amygdala by damage or a development disorder.

livia said:

I know what you mean saying noone is suicidal at birth. But it is not absolutely clear it is so in all cases.

I know I wrote about it in my other post, deteriorating life conditions, loss of loved ones,
external damages caused by other people or elements can cause suicidal tendencies or
suicide.

livia said:

The death has always fascinated people. Some even say life is just getting ready for the death. If one thinks about it deeper, it is indeed so in a way. Unfortunately our civilization pretends the death doesn't exist. One of the traits I don't like about it.

My fascination is not out of sensation seeking or a Gothic like death and suicide cult, it has deeper human motives, like you say "Death is part of life", I even think death is present in every human being, because we are mortal, our body or cociousness know we are going to die.

livia said:

Suicide has always fascinated people as well. Propabably because a thought of being capable to terminate own life is shocking.

Yes, it is shocking and I keep finding it unnatural and a sad end of a human life, wile some people find it logical that someone can decide to take his or her own life to put an end to an impossible life. Peope like the idea that you can end your life by fighting to death to defend your honour, family or country. Suicide is also seen as a possibility to escape torture, Solitary confinement or the pressure of murder or massmurder in situations like menhunts, execution or genocide.

livia said:

And it isshocking to think how many people actually take their life. And how many of the gifted people among them. Many of the writers, poets, musicians who have committed suicide get a special popularity. I wonder why. Is it the after-effect of fascination with suicide of the most sensitive part of the population; creative people, the active recipents of all kind of arts, young people still building their mindsets. A way to get into the boots of such an extremely brave and at the same time extremely vulnerable or weak person. I don't know.

In the last sentence you have a nice expression of the ambiguity of suicide in the case of artists and musiicians, creative people. Most suicides I witnessed in my life were such people, because I come from the art world. I think it has to do with the strive for perfection, succes,
a goal that wasn't reached, or a goal that was reached and the succes could not be coaped with (Kurt Cobain, did not want to be famous). I don't know if suicides take place more times in the art world. I thought about it and thought that that was the case, because I have seen a lot of depressive people amongst artists.

[livia]

I thought about it and thought that that was the case, because I have seen a lot of depressive people amongst artists.

What is first in your opinion? Depressive people become artists more often than other types? Or the other way. Neing an artist, a process of creation, exposition of one's soul, makes a person depressive?

Side-thought. How many accidents and deaths in the mountains are just suicides in disguise. We will never know.

[rdywenur]

I think artists are a very sensitive people. They see and feel things more with a passion that most of us don't. Maybe too much sensitivity leads them to self destruction.