In the past six months, I know of five men over 50 (two I
knew well) who passed away. All
were suspected to have committed suicide.
It is even more alarming when they all had great jobs, successful
children and did not seem to have much in life to be concerned. Yet they decided that they had
enough. We will never know what
enough entails. I tried to search
out explanation, and only became more confused.
Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the
United States, resulting in over 30,000 deaths per year recorded. This is
clearly an underestimate of the true figure since many suicides are not
recorded as such because of social stigma, financial considerations, and other
factors. For as long as statistics about suicide have been collected in the
United States there has been a very consistent strong association between
suicide and 3 factors: age, gender, and race. Though women have many more
suicide attempts than men, per attempt, a man is 4 times more likely to die
than a woman. What is even more
alarming is white males accounted for 73% of all suicides in the US in 1996. Overall, the United States suicide rate
is overwhelmingly white, male, and older than age of 50.
There is a well-established strong association
between depression and suicide. So I wonder, should I have seen the signs? One thing I noted amongst them all was
they worked hard and work was their life.
They may have lost touch with reality and became depressed, I just do
not understand. I only wish I
could have seen this coming and intervened.
I had a thought that really seems
wrong. I find that the people who
followed the rules and were doing well seemed to be in the worst emotional
shape. These are folks who believed if they always did the right thing, the
responsible thing, nothing bad would ever happen to them.
I wonder if someone like me, who's
weathered economic extremes for decades, weathered a divorce, had major issues
with most imaginable situations, had great friends die when I was in my teens,
20’s, 30’s 40’s and now 50’s had any advantage. I wonder if I am better emotionally prepared for the
arbitrary turns of life’s wheel. I already know how to be poor and get
by; to be alone and survive; to have a child despise you and live; to see death
and live. Most of my friends, they
didn't.
So why are baby boomers somehow
inherently suicidal? They're just so self-centered and childish; of course they
throw the ultimate tantrum when they can't get their own way? Or not. Maybe they're just human beings
whose lives have been ruined by the lawless actions of the Wall Street elite,
enabled by the austerity fever dreams of the media elite. Politicians worried about gun control
and birth control than providing proper mental health trained them. I may be so far off, but after the
fifth assumed suicide, and that being a close friend, I just look for answers
and that may be an impossible quest for answers.
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