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Why Do People Broadcast Their Suicides?
Dwyer believed the justice system had failed him and wanted to clear his family name. Toward the end of the press conference, he urged those who believed his innocence, “Press on with the efforts to vindicate me, so that my family and their future families are not tainted by this injustice that has been perpetrated on me.” The opportunity to make this public plea in dramatic and memorable fashion could explain why he chose to end his life in front of TV crews and photographers. According to Dr. Appelbaum, “People who are suicidal frequently have the sense that those around them have failed to recognize their importance and value.” For someone like Dwyer, a public suicide “offers a mechanism to go out in a blaze of glory.”
Still others, like Biggs, might announce their intentions publicly in the hope that someone will stop them. “Even while planning to die, they simultaneously want to live,” says Dr. Appelbaum, “especially if someone else cares enough to save them.” No doubt some of the people who egged Abraham on thought he was joking.
“I think he wanted someone to stop him, save him from himself,” guessed one commenter on an online message board. “If he thought he wasn’t good enough, he wanted someone to tell him that he was.”
Constantino Diaz-Duran is a writer living in Manhattan. He has written for The New York Post, The Washington Blade, El Diario NY, and the Orange County Register.
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Constantino Diaz-Duran is a writer living in Manhattan. He has written for the New York Post, the Washington Blade, El Diario NY and the Orange County Register.
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Constantino Diaz-Duran is a writer living in Manhattan. He has written for the New York Post, the Washington Blade, El Diario NY and the Orange County Register.
Before webcams and Youtube ,the unusual venue for a "public" suicide was the ledge of a tall building-- with onlookers behaving in much the same fashion (some pleading for the "jumper" not to do it; some cheering him on). It seems that this isn't something new, exactly--only something more widely-disseminated because of the cyberspace capabilities now available. I don't think that the fundamental sadness or motivations underlying the suicide are different today. And there have always been those who wanted to "share" (and,yes, there may be an element of aggression in that) their choice of suicide rather than to fulfill it privately. The only difference seems to me to be that those who wish to make known their wishes can do so to a much wider audience. That's not an audience most of us would like to count ourselves among.
How gruesome. I've heard of the 'faces of death' website, but I couldn't imagine someone wanting to be spurred on in such a horrendous time. What an odd world we live in.
Yeah, I agree with all comments. There are of course, nuts who think that if their suicides were broad casted, and if they took enough evil people with them at the same time, they might have conjugal rights with 72 virgins. But I think that in Western terms, the act is a final kick in the balls to those who caused them such pain. Philosophically, the actor might think that the act was the only voluntary statement they have ever made. Social pressure is the mechanism that tells us what behavior is right and wrong. "You are fat." "You are bald." (Sorry Gergin, your comb over does not work anymore) "You are short." "You lisp." (Sorry Dick Morris) "You act like a girl." (Governor of California made many legislators at least think about the ultimate sacrifice) "You are the wrong color." (Sorry John C. Calhoun, but you and SC always had the best of intentions) "You should not wear pajamas when you blog."(Joe Scarborough, I take this personally) "If you accept Jesus as your Personal Savior we will let you into Bobby Jones University--on restrictive probation"
These are all social directives that many people feel are unattainable. The issue concerning the attempted suicides is intriguing. How can you really gauge intent? The Roman Catholics attempted to answer these questions. You make suicide a sin. After that, you do not have to ask why. It is over. Today, people participate or attempt to participate in any shame that will be put on the air. Just give me my fifteen minutes of fame. But there are 61/5 BILLION people on this planet. There are not enough minutes to go around.
Nice article. It makes you think in what a person can do, when probably their self esteem is so low that they need desperately, for at least a moment people paying attention to them.
Chiqui
Thank you.
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