Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, both celebrities and on the surface at the top of their personal worlds, took their own lives a few weeks ago, and just yesterday Tina Turner’s oldest son was reported to have taken his own life. As frequently happens events like this focus attention for a short period. Sometimes that’s all; after a time people go back to their normal existence and forget about whatever drew their attention. Other times it stays longer in the public consciousness and on even rarer occasions leads to a dialogue and rarer still to some kind of sea change.
I don’t know if that’s likely with suicide. NPR’s program “All Things Considered” did a piece on suicide hosted by Michel Martin (her brother committed suicide), interviewing a journalist whose father committed suicide 20 years ago and a researcher from the Centers of Disease Control who had studied suicide. As might be expected this is an emotional and heart-breaking topic; anyone who has had someone close to them take their lives is forever changed.
The CDC study (read it here) states that in 2016 more than 45,000 people in the US took their own lives, most of them using guns (although the prevalence of handguns probably made it easier for them to do so, that’s not what my topic here). It’s one of only three causes of death that are on the rise in the US and is currently the 10th leading cause of death.
The metaphor the journalist in the NPR interview used is the story of a person who finds themselves in a Minnesota blizzard where the snow is falling so fast and the wind blowing so hard that it is impossible to see even a couple of feet in front of them. They give up and simply freeze to death in the storm, to be discovered when the storm is over just a few yards from safety. It’s so tragic to think of people who feel they have no reason to keep living and make this most final of all decisions, when help is nearby in the form of friends or family or professional counseling. While I am sure that some number of suicides are suffering from a terminal illness and choose their own time and manner of departing this life, I think that is a totally different situation; I suspect the vast majority are just so full of hopelessness that they can’t continue.
My cousin’s daughter died by suicide; she was in her early 20s and seemed to be at the beginning of a bright adulthood. No one knows why she did this but it devastated her parents (who have never really recovered, even 20 years later). I have a couple of friends with family or close friends who died by their own hands as well. It’s surprising (and sad) how many people can say the same.
Part of my point in this post is that, in spite of the fact that we live in the wealthiest country in history, suicide is so common. While we have access to more “stuff” than ever before it seems we as a society are less happy than if we were in the past. When Cathy and I were in Africa one of the things that struck me is how happy people seemed to be, despite living in what by our standards is abject poverty. Huts with dirt floors, frequently no running water and virtually none of the comforts I take for granted. Maybe being constantly bombarded with advertisements to get us to acquire more stuff is contributing to a societal malaise; it’s entirely possible that part of the reason for the prevalence of suicide in America is actually a result of our societal wealth. At the very least it’s pretty clear that more stuff doesn’t make us happier or lead to a better life.
Circling around to my previous postings about “The Good Life” makes me see more clearly that being happy has nothing to do with what you have. Whether it’s Madison Avenue that causes this or the advertising industry is just feeding off people’s acquisitiveness is anybody’s guess. People smarter than me will have to sort it out.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer.
Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.
The 10th leading cause of death in the US
Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, both celebrities and on the surface at the top of their personal worlds, took their own lives a few weeks ago, and just yesterday Tina Turner’s oldest son was reported to have taken his own life. As frequently happens events like this focus attention for a short period. Sometimes that’s all; after a time people go back to their normal existence and forget about whatever drew their attention. Other times it stays longer in the public consciousness and on even rarer occasions leads to a dialogue and rarer still to some kind of sea change.
I don’t know if that’s likely with suicide. NPR’s program “All Things Considered” did a piece on suicide hosted by Michel Martin (her brother committed suicide), interviewing a journalist whose father committed suicide 20 years ago and a researcher from the Centers of Disease Control who had studied suicide. As might be expected this is an emotional and heart-breaking topic; anyone who has had someone close to them take their lives is forever changed.
The CDC study (read it here) states that in 2016 more than 45,000 people in the US took their own lives, most of them using guns (although the prevalence of handguns probably made it easier for them to do so, that’s not what my topic here). It’s one of only three causes of death that are on the rise in the US and is currently the 10th leading cause of death.
The metaphor the journalist in the NPR interview used is the story of a person who finds themselves in a Minnesota blizzard where the snow is falling so fast and the wind blowing so hard that it is impossible to see even a couple of feet in front of them. They give up and simply freeze to death in the storm, to be discovered when the storm is over just a few yards from safety. It’s so tragic to think of people who feel they have no reason to keep living and make this most final of all decisions, when help is nearby in the form of friends or family or professional counseling. While I am sure that some number of suicides are suffering from a terminal illness and choose their own time and manner of departing this life, I think that is a totally different situation; I suspect the vast majority are just so full of hopelessness that they can’t continue.
My cousin’s daughter died by suicide; she was in her early 20s and seemed to be at the beginning of a bright adulthood. No one knows why she did this but it devastated her parents (who have never really recovered, even 20 years later). I have a couple of friends with family or close friends who died by their own hands as well. It’s surprising (and sad) how many people can say the same.
Part of my point in this post is that, in spite of the fact that we live in the wealthiest country in history, suicide is so common. While we have access to more “stuff” than ever before it seems we as a society are less happy than if we were in the past. When Cathy and I were in Africa one of the things that struck me is how happy people seemed to be, despite living in what by our standards is abject poverty. Huts with dirt floors, frequently no running water and virtually none of the comforts I take for granted. Maybe being constantly bombarded with advertisements to get us to acquire more stuff is contributing to a societal malaise; it’s entirely possible that part of the reason for the prevalence of suicide in America is actually a result of our societal wealth. At the very least it’s pretty clear that more stuff doesn’t make us happier or lead to a better life.
Circling around to my previous postings about “The Good Life” makes me see more clearly that being happy has nothing to do with what you have. Whether it’s Madison Avenue that causes this or the advertising industry is just feeding off people’s acquisitiveness is anybody’s guess. People smarter than me will have to sort it out.
About BigBill
Stats: Married male boomer. Hobbies: Hiking, woodworking, reading, philosophy, good conversation.