That's something I find myself doing a lot, and I suppose it's because I'm looking for some kind of affirmation of my own desire to ctb. Is it just me being morbid or do any of you find yourselves doing this?
Here in the US, it seems that news coverage of suicides is heavily focused on kids who've been bullied at school. I'm 59, and when I was growing up, I don't ever recall such a thing happening, whereas now it seems pretty common. Not to say that bullying didn't happen, but it certainly seems more brutal today in that it results in so many teens and even pre-teens taking their own lives. Or maybe it was hushed up in the past and today there's just more awareness? I tend to think not, though, as I believe that the internet has elevated bullying to a whole new level. What are your thoughts on this?
Another thing I've noticed is that suicides of adults, on the other hand, do not seem to receive the same level of media coverage unless they are done in a public setting, such as ctb by jumping from bridges, tall buildings, or parking garages. Or by throwing themselves in front of trains, though this method doesn't seem to me to occur as much here as in other parts of the world, except in NYC where subway suicides are not uncommon. Otherwise, if it concerns the suicide of a person who is in the public eye, but ctbs in a private setting, the coverage usually doesn't specify the method, as in the recent suicides of Stella Tennant and Tommy Raskin. I suppose this is to discourage copycat suicides, such as happened after the deaths of Robin Williams, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain, all of whom died by hanging. In the case of Robin Williams, there was a very detailed description in the media of how he achieved a partial hanging using a belt. What are your thoughts/observations on this?
Another interesting thing I've noticed is the prevalence of murder-suicides, especially here in the US, where gun ownership is apparently so common that it's truly frightening IMO. Practically every single day, there is a story somewhere in the US of someone being shot, usually a woman by her husband, who then turns the gun on himself. Very rarely is it the other way around. Earlier this week, there was a story from Pennsylvania of neighbors who were having a dispute over snow shoveling with one man gunning down a married couple who lived next door because they were shoveling snow onto his property. Then there are the murder-suicides of whole families, usually by the fathers, as in the recent case of an Indian-American family in Pennsylvania. But there are also many instances in which the mother is the perpetrator, most always when the father is absent. In December, a clearly mentally ill mother in West Virginia shot all five of her children and step-children dead before turning the gun on herself and burning down their house. And here in Boston last year, a mother drove to the top of a parking garage on Christmas morning and threw her two young children off the top before joining them. I have to wonder what drives a person to take others along with them when they decide to ctb. Clearly, in the case of husbands and wives, this is most likely the culmination of a history of marital discord and spousal abuse. But in the case of innocent children, one has to wonder what drove them to do such a horrible thing.
My last observation on suicide news is the particularly interesting way in which it's covered in the U.K., and here I am referring specifically to the Mirror, which typically provides a very touching story of the person and the often tragic details of what drove them to ctb. Or, if the particular motives are not known, then the story usually focuses on how out of character it was that this person, who is often described as being the life of the party, would do such a thing. This detailed level of coverage seems to apply to people of all ages, not just teenagers. Hanging seems to be a very common method as does jumping in front of trains. I'm guessing this is due to the limited availability of guns. There's a restaurant in London called the Coq d'Argent with a roof terrace that has seen seven suicides, including some rather famous people, and only recently have they installed barriers. Of course, there are many stories of people who ctb at Beachy Head. I don't know of a similar hotspot here in the US that is a natural feature. Maybe the Grand Canyon, but I found only one instance of a suicide there in recent years, though there have been plenty of deaths by selfie, which are clearly unintended but unfortunately pretty common among self-obsessed people around the world, especially in India it seems.
I know that I'm oftentimes bored because I find it hard to get out of bed being as depressed as I am, but do any of you share my morbid fascination? Whether you do or not, feel free to share your own observations.
Here in the US, it seems that news coverage of suicides is heavily focused on kids who've been bullied at school. I'm 59, and when I was growing up, I don't ever recall such a thing happening, whereas now it seems pretty common. Not to say that bullying didn't happen, but it certainly seems more brutal today in that it results in so many teens and even pre-teens taking their own lives. Or maybe it was hushed up in the past and today there's just more awareness? I tend to think not, though, as I believe that the internet has elevated bullying to a whole new level. What are your thoughts on this?
Another thing I've noticed is that suicides of adults, on the other hand, do not seem to receive the same level of media coverage unless they are done in a public setting, such as ctb by jumping from bridges, tall buildings, or parking garages. Or by throwing themselves in front of trains, though this method doesn't seem to me to occur as much here as in other parts of the world, except in NYC where subway suicides are not uncommon. Otherwise, if it concerns the suicide of a person who is in the public eye, but ctbs in a private setting, the coverage usually doesn't specify the method, as in the recent suicides of Stella Tennant and Tommy Raskin. I suppose this is to discourage copycat suicides, such as happened after the deaths of Robin Williams, Kate Spade, and Anthony Bourdain, all of whom died by hanging. In the case of Robin Williams, there was a very detailed description in the media of how he achieved a partial hanging using a belt. What are your thoughts/observations on this?
Another interesting thing I've noticed is the prevalence of murder-suicides, especially here in the US, where gun ownership is apparently so common that it's truly frightening IMO. Practically every single day, there is a story somewhere in the US of someone being shot, usually a woman by her husband, who then turns the gun on himself. Very rarely is it the other way around. Earlier this week, there was a story from Pennsylvania of neighbors who were having a dispute over snow shoveling with one man gunning down a married couple who lived next door because they were shoveling snow onto his property. Then there are the murder-suicides of whole families, usually by the fathers, as in the recent case of an Indian-American family in Pennsylvania. But there are also many instances in which the mother is the perpetrator, most always when the father is absent. In December, a clearly mentally ill mother in West Virginia shot all five of her children and step-children dead before turning the gun on herself and burning down their house. And here in Boston last year, a mother drove to the top of a parking garage on Christmas morning and threw her two young children off the top before joining them. I have to wonder what drives a person to take others along with them when they decide to ctb. Clearly, in the case of husbands and wives, this is most likely the culmination of a history of marital discord and spousal abuse. But in the case of innocent children, one has to wonder what drove them to do such a horrible thing.
My last observation on suicide news is the particularly interesting way in which it's covered in the U.K., and here I am referring specifically to the Mirror, which typically provides a very touching story of the person and the often tragic details of what drove them to ctb. Or, if the particular motives are not known, then the story usually focuses on how out of character it was that this person, who is often described as being the life of the party, would do such a thing. This detailed level of coverage seems to apply to people of all ages, not just teenagers. Hanging seems to be a very common method as does jumping in front of trains. I'm guessing this is due to the limited availability of guns. There's a restaurant in London called the Coq d'Argent with a roof terrace that has seen seven suicides, including some rather famous people, and only recently have they installed barriers. Of course, there are many stories of people who ctb at Beachy Head. I don't know of a similar hotspot here in the US that is a natural feature. Maybe the Grand Canyon, but I found only one instance of a suicide there in recent years, though there have been plenty of deaths by selfie, which are clearly unintended but unfortunately pretty common among self-obsessed people around the world, especially in India it seems.
I know that I'm oftentimes bored because I find it hard to get out of bed being as depressed as I am, but do any of you share my morbid fascination? Whether you do or not, feel free to share your own observations.
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