What Makes People Commit Suicide?
The recent spate of suicides at Cornell University reminds me of how little we understand suicide—despite how common it is.
As a student at Cornell, back in the day, I remember it as a fabulous place to be if you were feeling good—and a terrible place to be when you were sad. The winters last most of the year. The school is isolated from the rest of civilization. And worst of all, it seemed like you were always walking uphill. I don’t know how that is possible, but it definitely felt that way.
Then there were the gorges. Glorious cuts into the earth, dramatic and, to me anyway, proof of life—not death. When I got stressed out, I used to put on my Walkman (oh yes!) and go running down the slick stone boulders lining the gorge, jumping from one to the next, racing the booming rush of water.
It’s worth noting that Cornell’s suicide rate has not historically been higher than other university rates. But it is also true that way more people kill themselves (everywhere) than most of us realize. For a very thoughtful read on the mystery of suicide—and whether gorges, bridges and other dramatic scenery can in fact tempt people to kill themselves—it’s worth looking back at this 2008 New York Times Magazine story.
“[I]f the impulsive suicide attempter tends to reach for whatever means are easy or quick, is it possible that the availability of means can actually spur the act? In looking at suicide’s close cousin, murder, the answer seems obvious. If a man shoots his wife amid a heated argument, we recognize the crucial role played by the gun’s availability. We don’t automatically think, Well, if the gun hadn’t been there, he surely would have strangled her. When it comes to suicide, however, most of us make no such allowance. The very fact that someone kills himself we regard as proof of intent — and of mental illness; the actual method used, we assume, is of minor importance. But is it?”
In the piece, writer Scott Anderson describes a fascinating study conducted in San Francisco. Researcher Richard Seiden got a police list of the 515 people who had been thwarted while trying to kill themselves by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge over the course of three decades. Then he investigated what had happened to these poor souls:
“His report, “Where Are They Now?” remains a landmark in the study of suicide, for what he found was that just 6 percent of those pulled off the bridge went on to kill themselves. Even allowing for suicides that might have been mislabeled as accidents only raised the total to 10 percent.”
William said on March 24, 2010 at 6:48 am
I too have wondered why we know so little about suicide. No matter how common it may be, identifying the root causes is always going to be difficult especially if the suicide attempt is successful. It is interesting to hear that only 6% of those ‘rescued’ from the bridge in Richard Seiden’s study actually went on to kill themselves. I would have assumed this figure to be higher. William.
LIU HONG (Pen-name:Gezi) said on March 30, 2010 at 4:04 am
Dear Amanda:
I wish I could read your book 《The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes-and Why》 earlier and I wish I could meet you in US and share our ideas quickly……Because since 2006, at the other side of the earth – China, I and the others 3 friends – a small team, started to do the research like you in the same area with similar angles . We totaly agree with you and we think this research is very important for human being!
I’m a Chinese writer and sociologist, I was appeared in the media as an avant-garde female writer in the past few years. I now have run my own company to train people, especially young people to have the ten basic abilities to survive when they are in danger…
The year of 2006 was an unusual year for me, during I was living in France, two accidents had happened to me and they made me start thinking and looking for the reasons. When I met a serious traffic accident, I total felt time lasted longer than the other time, in fact it was long enough to make us to do some response and action, but none of us did (there were five persons in the car) . Meanwhile I found the pictures seemed like happened in the film, seemed not true, seemed not happened on me! It was a strange phenomenon .
Before this accident, I had another bad experience -“A robbery accident ”… I found when two strangers entred in my room with knives, the knowledge and skills which we learned from the society was not enough and helpful ! I think people need to have more chance to train themselves and got more abilities to survive in danger.
Now I have back to China and work for my own company, I don’t have enough research funds to do the deeper research like you, but we made a kind of solution which basic on physiology, psychology, sociology, pedagogy, natural sciences foundations, and unified many kinds of technological means and teaching methods. We will train people to have ten basic abilities to resistance disaster, they are self-perception capacity, observation and recognition capability, the capacity of knowledge stock, the ability of dangerous situation precaution, the contingency reaction ability, independent ability, communication ability, psychological adjustment ability, self-rescue ability and survival adaptability ability. We also find a busniss model and have built a system, which including training session, inter-games, animation books and cartoon movies etc…to train people from different angles. Our “Be-in-peril Survival Training System ” is only one in China and has win two government prizes.
I hoped to get your book in English with your signature, and I’d like very much to invite you to join our team as a member, a consultant , to share our research results and ideas, then try to put them into maket in order to influence and help more people.
Here’s our web http://www.weisos.com, you can see my photo and contact me directly or though my old friend John Pomfret, the journilist of the Washington Post or the journilist of Times, or the translator of this book… It’s also great if you have chance visit China.
Hope to hear from you soon and I’ll give you more information about me and the project!
LIU HONG (Pen-name:Gezi)
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
527-4-8B No.10 Nanhu Nanlu, Chaoyang
district, Beijing,China. 100102
0086-10-62205369(office)
Linda said on April 22, 2010 at 9:00 am
I too have wondered why we know so little about suicide
Steen said on April 28, 2010 at 8:40 am
What Makes People Commit Suicide? It is a global issue .... There is a psychology, religion, culture, social factors influence a particular situation.
I think that quite often people do not want to die, but simply to do something to attract attention, to break the rules. And do not notice when the game gets out of control.
This is one of the options.
The theme for the book, but not for the article ...
christine said on May 16, 2010 at 1:12 pm
I want to commit suicide and I think it is because I don’t feel in control of my life and I don’t know how to “get” in control of my life. I don’t seem to make decisions rather I simply allow others to decide everything for me as if it isn’t my life at all but someone else’s to do with what they want. I can’t or rather won’t take responsibility for my life and start trying to live it according to what I want or believe. This makes me feel guilty and bad – although all I do, I only do for or according to other’s wishes. I feel weak. I am weak. I feel a sinner. I am a sinner. I feel like I am messing everything up and every action is taking me further from what I would want or would want to be and that the longer I live, the more sin I commit and the worse a person I become. I hate myself. I loathe my weakness. I feel I will lose my soul shortly. I want to live according to my soul and not according to my ego but I am weak and afraid and I can’t seem to manage this. There is nothing wrong with my life materially but everything wrong with my personality and brain. I have no self-discipline. I probably need help but don’t know where to start. I just want to be good and strong and courageous and loving and helpful and altruistic and not all wrong.
Amanda said on May 17, 2010 at 9:54 am
Have you thought about talking to someone to try to get more control over your life? The one thing that I know about the brain is that it can change dramatically depending on what you do with it. I have literally seen how the brain can physically change—and it is amazing.
This web site can help locate a therapist near you: http://therapists.psychologytoday.com/rms/. And the number for the national suicide hotline in the U.S. is 1-800-273-8255.
I don’t know where you live, but if you want to email me off-line at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), I would be happy to help direct you to more resources.
Martin said on August 11, 2010 at 12:40 pm
I think that a nature of a suicide is not that easy to reveal, it’s just bad circustances that provoke someone to do something like that. Hopefully, sometimes there is a person who helps you to cope with your problems.
Mari said on September 16, 2010 at 8:31 am
People commit suicide because they either were born with a sever depression to which no medication works, or they realize this Earth is awful what with people raping children and robbing each other, cheating on each other, it’s a disgrace. Eventually you just can’t take it anymore. Death becomes a dream that takes you out of your nightmare. It is actually quite beautiful to the suicidal person. It’s not dark at all, it’s like leaving the coal mines to go into the light.
Linda said on September 17, 2010 at 10:00 am
And there are statistics of suicide in different countries?
I think that the underdeveloped countries, there is no accurate data.
But the rest is interesting to see.
Miller said on September 24, 2010 at 9:30 am
It makes me sad to hear about people who commit suicide, and I am sure it’s hard for their families as well. I think that suicides are a symptom of something that needs to be changed in our society (although I am not really sure what it is…). Perhaps the stress is just too hard for some people that they decide to give up… I wish I knew what we should do, but I believe that improving our education system can definitely help.
anime said on November 13, 2010 at 7:13 am
As someone with a chronic pain condition that can not go five minutes without thinking about suicide, you can definitely say that it is physical pain that does it for me. On the rare occasions when my pain is mild or tolerable, thoughts of suicide are cleaned from my brain like mental chlorine.
I do not think that most suicides are crazy. They are just a pain, whether physical, psychological, or both, and need a little more to tackle what a chat. Under certain circumstances, suicide can be a rational choice. The argument that allows people to suicide with the means to self-release must be banned because “effective treatment options are available” is totally unrealistic and unjustified. I can tell you from personal experience and that of thousands of sufferers of chronic pain that I have read or talked to the most effective treatment is definitely not available to all in anything but theory. The same stereotype that connects patients with chronic pain of being weak, whiny and manipulative also applies to people with psychological disorders.
I think society has a duty to do everything possible to help. but also has the duty to respect the right of everyone to decide for themselves if they believe continued suffering of the death or permanent.
andy23 said on November 25, 2011 at 9:05 am
Studies shows that men have higher suicide rate than women.
alexamaot said on December 01, 2011 at 1:26 am
Some who commits suicide are either deppressed or under the influenced of drug addiction.