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

[shipchan.livejournal.com]

Yes, but as someone who has known quite a few people who have killed or tried to kill themselves I can tell you most of them are either depressed, bipolar, or worse. I'm not saying there aren't (extreme) situations where mentally well people would chose that, but most people in this sort of situation would not, or else we would be seeing quite a bit more of it. Suicide is never a good or fair choice especially to the people around you you end up hurting and leaving behind. Most people can see that and see that they can somehow carry on.

Sometimes thing are horrible and it seems like there's no way out, but it's not a 'if I was in their shoes I would do the same' situation like, say, being hurt in a plane crash is. It takes something in a person to go through with suicide and usually it's a sort of mental illness. I'm not trying to judge them, I'm just being realistic and speaking from experience.