Suicide – a coward's lazy path to success?
Suicide is a human problem. Animals may give their life defending their group or refuse to eat when they are ill which contributes to their death – but this is not suicide. It seems to me that a downside of having a large powerful brain is that we see reality and are aware of future suffering. Life is hard - always has been and always will be.
It seems that suicide has always played a part in our lives as the human race. From the ancient Greeks & Romans, to the suffering of slaves, and even Kamikaze WWII pilots. And let us not forget the modern phenomenon of Islamist terrorists blowing themselves up in crowds.
This act of taking one's life has been a problem for millennia for all religions, and as far as I can tell, actively preach against it. Scriptures were created that condemned the act with the threat of eternal damnation – very strong words. We can surmise that suicide was a problem in ancient history so was denounced as sinful.
Early one morning, I was driving to Manchester airport to start my 5am shift with an airline. Flashing lights diverted me off the empty motorway and into Wythenshawe due to a suicide from a bridge several hours earlier. I got lost. Drove around like a blind man until I stumbled upon a road sign pointing me to the airport. I arrived at work late, stressed and angry. My stress was nothing compared to the hundreds of holidaymakers who arrived late to check in for their flight.
This led me to start asking questions. Why do people kill themselves? Why do many attempt suicide yet fail? Why do some choose a public death? Is it intentional that others are inconvenienced? And the biggest question of all is, should we allow people to end their own lives?
I do not have time to explore and answer all my questions but I have now scratched the surface of this sensitive topic. Let us see what lies beneath the surface.
According to the latest report by the Office Of National Statistics for 2021, in England and Wales, there were 5583 suicides recorded. Of these, 74% were males. Surprisingly, over the last 4 decades, females under 24 years old are the fastest-growing cohort.
In 1981, the rate of suicide was 14.7 per 100,000 of the population. In 2021, it had decreased to 10.7, which is a reduction of a third - very good news. Suicide is not spread evenly across the country. London has the lowest rate - this increases as you move outwards. To put this in context, the North East has over twice the rate of suicide than the capital.
In 1774, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther where the main character shoots himself after he is rejected by the woman he loves. After the publication, there were reports of young men dressing like Werther and shooting themselves in acts of hopelessness (Incels?). This resulted in the book being banned in several places.
Copycat suicide is a real phenomenon and has become known as the Werther Effect. Young people are more susceptible to this social learning, especially when it relates to someone who is admired and where the act is glorified or romanticised.
A suicide cluster is a group of suicides that occur closer together in time and space than would be expected in a given community. In 2008, it was reported that such a phenomenon was happening in a small Welsh town called Bridgend. In slightly over a year, 17 people had killed themselves – all were under 27 years old.
Social contagion is the spread of ideas, attitudes, or behaviour in a group through imitation and conformity. Examples of this today would be the huge increase in self-harming, mask-wearing, and changing gender. The witch hunting in medieval Europe and the Salem witch trials in 17th-century America are also examples from a historic perspective. Monkey see, monkey do!
Some suicide is very difficult to prevent, especially when it is a spur-of-the-moment decision involving alcohol. But what about planned incidents, can we prevent more of these? I think the answer is yes.
The first thing we must do is to stop rewarding the act with positive attention that can influence the same behaviour in others. Instead of referring to suicide as a tragedy, maybe we should mock and denigrate the individual as a fool or a coward. Or as selfish and narcissistic. This may upset the family of the deceased and increase their suffering, but it will stop other families from going through the same trauma. We do not take into account the feelings of a perpetrator's family when we lock up a paedophile.
Presently, we see an individual who ends their own life as a 'victim of suicide' – this is utter nonsense. They are not a victim in any sense, they are ‘the perpetrator’. It may not be murder, but it is antisocial behaviour that ruins lives.
We have press articles that unknowingly promote suicide among selfish and narcissistic individuals. Stories of parents who pay for a park bench in the name of their child so they will be remembered – eternal recognition of how wonderful they were. When a minor celebrity killed herself after being arrested for domestic violence we had story after story. How wonderful she was, gifted, yet troubled and now a lost angel.
We are tribal creatures, we want to fit in and be accepted by the group. If we copy solutions from the old days then we would castigate individuals who took the coward's way – this would make some think twice. Some would realise that death will not bring the attention and acceptance they think they need – only ridicule and shame upon their family. This is not the sort of deal many people will be willing to make, albeit, a handful may.
In Japan, families are held responsible for some suicides. Fines of £500K are levied for the disruption caused by jumping in front of a train. I remember reading that the fine is reduced if the suicide takes place towards the end of a train line, as opposed to in the middle of Tokyo. I cannot find such information today online – so this may not be true. But this unconfirmed article stated this policy pushed suicides to stations where the fine were lower. Even in our darkest hour we still love and want the best for our family.
If suicide prevention aims to stop people from taking their own life, then we should not worry about the hurt feelings of the newly deceased or their family – only saving lives.
If you ask the family of a selfish fool if they would rather be treated with compassion to mitigate their loss or have their loved one still with them – their answer would not be a surprise.
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