Sometimes it's understandable that someone has taken that drastic step. Their life is so terrible that more of the same for years to come is simply too much to contemplate. Other times it's a complete mystery. Someone seems to have a great life, with everything going their way, and out of the blue they're found dead.
Why do some people struggle on, however dismal their circumstances, while other just give up and decide it's all too much?
It was very understandable when one of Jenny's old school friends killed herself. She was a diagnosed schizophrenic and had had severe mental health problems for many years. Her quality of life was drastically limited and there was no sign of that ever changing.
But other people are found dead and there were no warning signs whatever. Why they did what they did leaves everyone baffled. Even people who were close to them and knew them really well (or thought they did) can't begin to explain it.
What's truly shocking though is when someone doesn't just take their own life but takes other people with them. This seems to be getting more common. Like the man who killed six people before turning the gun on himself at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia. And the man who killed his wife and three children in a domestic dispute in Phoenix, Arizona, before taking his own life.
They might have been able to explain their own suicide, but how do they justify ending other people's lives as well as their own?
How come people feel so desperate, so helpless, so beleaguered that they resort to such an extreme solution? How come they just want to leave everything behind and end their life?
ReplyDeleteI think if you've never been there, you can't really understand. It's not something that can be explained to someone else.
I can see that if someone had decided on suicide, he may have a feeling of being able to do anything -- he has nothing to lose, after all. So such a person might decide to kill a hated enemy as well. But just killing random people who never did anything to him is the mark of a sociopath.
Infidel: It's very understandable in a case like Jenny's old school friend. The future must have looked pretty bleak. In other cases when someone seemed to have an enviable life, it can be a total enigma.
DeleteThere are never any real answers.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: I think sometimes there are very clear answers, especially if the person has crippling mental health problems, or if they're serving a long jail sentence, or if they've been in a war and seen horrific massacres.
DeleteI meant there are no answers to your final question of why they would end other people’s lives as well.
DeleteBijoux: Ah, I'm with you. Yes, why people are prepared to kill totally innocent people as well as themselves is baffling. They see other human beings as expendable, as collateral damage.
DeleteMy mom committed suicide 14 years ago after my dad passed. She was also addicted to painkillers and her doctor wouldn’t prescribe anymore. She finally ran out.
ReplyDeleteShe had a tragic childhood but a happy and good life after marriage with my dad. But those demons from her past were still haunting her. Very sad.
Debby: I'm very sorry to hear about your mum. As you say, demons from the past can go on haunting you for many years.
DeletePeace Thyme: I think you're right that many people contemplate suicide but don't act on the thought. It's still a bit of a taboo subject so people don't admit to thinking about it. And yes, looking at why some people pull back could be helpful.
ReplyDeleteI know three people who have attempted or completed suicide. The only one I don't understand is the unsuccessful one.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Why were they unsuccessful? And are they still suicidal or have they got past that?
DeleteIt's total despair and hopelessness, Nick. As Infidel said, if you've never been there then you won't understand - be grateful for that!
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: Yes, I'm very glad I'm never anything more than dejected or horrified or alarmed.
DeleteI understand it completely. And have known more than a few who went through with it. Quietly. Even a slight history of their tortured souls tells the reasons why. And always the same. Always.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: Sometimes it's blindingly obvious why someone committed suicide. Their life was so difficult, so distressing that they just couldn't endure it any longer.
DeleteI'm sorry, but we should not discuss about people who committed suicide in giving possible reasons for their despair. I find it tactless .
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: But might it not be helpful to have some idea why someone committed suicide, so that other suicides could be prevented?
DeleteNick I just do not know. My best friend , the funniest and positive guy I never knew committed suicide at the age of 45 , leaving a personal letter for each of his friends explaining that life was an absurd event, be born to die just an impossible idea for him. The reasons why people decide to go are probably so many and diverse that we can hardly be able to detect them.
DeleteHannah
Hannah: I'm sorry about your friend. But maybe you're right. I guess at the end of the day why someone commits suicide is a very personal thing and hard to unravel.
DeleteMary: Absolutely. Mental health services in the UK are hopelessly overloaded. People are having to wait many months just for an initial consultation.
ReplyDelete