economic crisis suicides

[rm]

I have a morbid fixation with the suicides that are being reported as due to the economic crisis.

I'm not sure why, other than as a measure of how bad it is -- not just in terms of the economy, and not even just in terms of consumer sentiment, but in terms of how our economic structure enforces for so many people the idea of no options, and, in terms of support systems, often provides no options.

Anyway, there was the old lady who was foreclosed on who failed in her suicide attempt; and the guy who got laid off from a tech company and then killed his wife and son at Stanford before shooting himself. There's been a couple of hedge fund guys (at least one of which was related to Madoff's ponzi scheme), and now this which is hands down the most horrifying one I've read about.

And chances are, there are a whole bunch more out there that none of us know about.

This is the measure of what's happening out there to people who, by and large, aren't that different from us. And sometimes it feels like Katrina (the only thing that's ever forced me to stop watching news coverage for even a day because I couldn't take it) happening in slow motion.

Comments

[tru2myart.livejournal.com]

No it wasn't intended to be condescending or to imply that people who commit suicide are weak. I was coming at it from my perspective as having been in a situation that was that dire and wondering what it would have taken to get me to the point of suicide. I never considered that there was a stereotypical suicide personality. Different circumstances promote different reactions in people who you would never see it coming in.