Suicide: A sad and very high cost to society

Suicide: A sad and very high cost to society.
I am speaking at the American Psychotherapy Association convention in Orlando and as I always do, I attend other sessions to see what is going on.
I decided to attend a session titled: The Last Goodbye: A forensic approach to Suicide Notes.
To say the least, it was a very interesting and surprising session.
In the US, someone commits suicide every 18 minutes and it ranks number 41 in the world, so imagine what happens in other countries. Puerto Rico, using 2008 statistics, ranks number 62. As the economy worsens, this figure will rise.
Belarus, Lithuania, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Japan, Russia, Guyana, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and Hungary at the top suicide countries in the world.
What causes people to kill themselves? How can anyone, do such a thing?
Well, there are many reasons: Depression, anger, revenge, drugs/alcohol, loneliness, relationship issues, disabilities, religious reasons and of course, financial problems.
A suicidal individual can only see one option. They think that suicide is the only solution for their real or perceived problem and nothing can be further from the truth.
Less than 40 percent of suicides leave a note. This is really something that affects their families and loved ones quite a bit, because they would like an explanation, they would like a message, anything from a loved one that has decided to take his or her own life.
There is a lady that lost her husband 19 years ago and he left no note. She is still looking for it since she can’t believe that he did that.
It is very interesting that over 90% of the murder suicides do leave a note. It seems that they do need to communicate a message after such a horrible action.
There are generally three types of suicide notes: Anomic, altruistic and egotistic.
The anomic note is left by a person that can’t cope with his or her circumstances. That person is in a tunnel vision state, can’t see solutions to his problem. It might be a simple problem such as owing some money but at that moment, they think that they will not be able to pay it back and they decide to end it all. Obviously, this is far from the truth.
The altruistic suicide is committed for a cause, for the greater good, rather than for the individual. An example of this is the suicide bombers who are mostly young people that have been persuaded that if they commit the act, they will go to heaven and enjoy the company of 7 or more virgins besides getting rid of the infidels in society.
It is a cause for alarm to see so many young people, from many different nationalities, fall for this type of indoctrination. It is such a shame.
I believe that the only way out is education. People need to be educated and that means a long road ahead.
The egotistic suicide is all about the person. It could be revenge, an impulse, a drug problem or a mental illness.
During the session, I was able to see several suicide notes.
: A well known poet, Vachel Lindsay killed himself in December 12, 1931 and his note said: “They tried to get me. I got them first”. He drank a bottle of Lysol.
Most people think that during holidays people kill themselves at a higher rate. Not so. June and July are the top suicidal months.
Las Vegas is the city in the US where most suicides take place. This must have something to do with gambling losses.
A favorite spot, for some crazy reason is the San Francisco Bridge. Since 2009, 31 people have jumped off. This bridge doesn’t have a suicide barrier as many bridges and buildings do. The city government hasn’t approved the barrier for aesthetic reasons; it wouldn’t look nice in the bridge. I tell you, reality is stranger than fiction.
Most families don’t want a death to be reported as a suicide even if there was a suicide note. It is natural since most, if not all, insurance policies do not pay the survivors if the person kills himself.
Others don’t want it reported because of religious reasons. There are religions that condemn a suicidal to an eternity in hell with no chance of getting out and people don’t want friends and family to know that their relative or friend will never go to heaven.
Some people that kill themselves because of a terminal illness, not wanting to go through the horrible pain that the illness would entail, and the suffering of their loved ones, decide to end it all. There is at least one State in the US that allows euthanasia and several countries in the world also allow it.
Years ago, visiting Las Vegas, one of my favorite cities, I went to a show of a very talented comedian, of Puerto Rican descent, named Freddie Prinze. A few days later, in a bout with depression, he shot himself with a small semi automatic pistol after a phone conversation with his wife. His business manager, Dusty Snyder tried to intervene, but couldn’t do it. He shot himself in the head. His family removed him from life support at the UCLA Medical Center the following day.
His note said: “I must end it. There is no hope left. I will be at peace. No one had anything to do with this. My decision totally” Signed Freddie Prinze. He then wrote a P.S which said “I am sorry. Forgive me. Dusty is here. He is innocent. He really cared”.
Well, although it was obviously a suicide, his family with a good lawyer and lots of money, took the case to court and in 1977 his death was ruled a suicide in a civil case.
There is a very disturbing trend going on right now. People are using social networks to communicate their plans to commit suicide. Face book is getting a lot of those and other network sites as well.
On October 6th 2009 Kevin McGee, former partner of British comedian Matt Lucas left the following message as a status update on Face book:
“Kevin McGee thinks death is much better than life”. He was discovered in his apartment hanging from the pole in his closet.
Thirty year old New York model/actor Paul Zolezzi committed suicide in Mount Pleasant Park, Brooklyn in February 2009. Police found his body hanging from the monkey bars of the playground.
Zolezzi left the following suicide note as a Face book status update:
“Born in San Francisco, became a shooting star over everywhere and ended his life in Brooklyn…And couldn’t have asked for more”.
It is interesting that years earlier, his father threw himself over the Golden Gate Bridge when Zolezzi was eight years old.
Last but not least, although a very sad event, a rather funny note by a guy named Bill.
His last words, written in a note were:
Dear Mary:
“I hate you”, Love, Bill
Suicide is a serious matte and besides causing great sadness, it hurts society in many ways.