The natural
end of every human life is death. Some people, for
reasons that have never been fully understood, choose to
end their own lives. This act is called suicide, which
means literally "self-killing." The English
physician and writer Sir Thomas Browne once commented:
"Not to be content with life is the unsatisfactory
state of those who destroy themselves." For all the
uncertainty that has surrounded the phenomenon of
suicide, his assessment of the problem is probably as
accurate as any. The individual, in seemingly hopeless
conflict with the world, decides to end his or her
existence in what amounts to a final temper tantrum
against a society that can no longer be tolerated. In so
doing, the person symbolically obtains a final revenge on
everything and everyone that have caused these feelings
of depression.
Sometimes suicide has been used as a form of execution.
Perhaps the most famous such case is that of the
philosopher Socrates, who was required to drink hemlock
to end his life in 399 BC, after being found guilty of
corrupting the youth of Athens (see Socrates). In the
20th century the German general Erwin Rommel took poison
rather than be executed for his role in a plot to oust
Adolf Hitler from office (see Rommel).
In some societies suicide has had a social dimension. In
Japan, for example, the customs and rules of one's class
have demanded suicide under certain circumstances. Called
seppuku--or popularly known as hara-kiri, which means
"self-disembowelment"--it has long been viewed
as an honorable method of taking one's life. It was used
by warriors after losing a battle to avoid the dishonor
of capture. Seppuku was also used as a means of capital
punishment to spare warriors the disgrace of execution.
In India, widows allowed themselves to be burned to death
on their husband's funeral pyre, a practice called
suttee.
At least since the 18th century, suicide has been thought
of by some as a romantic type of death. This notion led
to the belief that some artistic individuals--writers,
painters, and poets--glamorize suicide, thinking that
such a death will add to their reputations. The German
writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's novel 'The Sorrows of
Werther' (1774) reinforced this concept and was credited
with creating a near epidemic of romantic suicides in
Europe. Among well-known artists who killed themselves
are Vincent van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, Anne Sexton, Mark
Rothko, Jerzy Kosinski, Ernest Hemingway, and Sylvia
Plath.
Most suicides in the 20th century occur when the bonds
between an individual and society are strained or broken.
Some event, or combination of events, puts an individual
into a state of hopelessness. Loss of a job or the death
of a friend or relative can precipitate thoughts of
suicide. At the start of the Great Depression, for
example, many people who had suddenly lost great wealth
killed themselves.
The emotions springing from unfavorable events are
hostility, despair, shame, guilt, despondency, and
alienation. Dwelling on circumstances while in the grasp
of such emotions can lead people to kill themselves. The
increase in teenage suicides during the 1980s probably
resulted from an element of romantic fantasy combined
with hostility toward the immediate world. Many suicides
result from loss of relationships and from loneliness.
Closely related to these emotions is the conviction that
the happiness of past years can never be recaptured.
Sometimes, terminally ill persons choose to end their
lives rather than submit to long, painful declines. In
the early 1990s the controversial topic of assisted
suicide--in which terminally ill people are aided in
committing suicide by physicians, loved ones, or other
acquaintances--was examined as a legal topic. However,
voters in Washington state in 1991 rejected a proposition
to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Nevertheless,
Derek Humphry's book 'Final Exit', a guide for terminally
ill people who want to commit suicide, became a
best-seller that same year.
During wartime, suicide rates drop dramatically. This
decline may be related to the turning of aggression
toward a common enemy, suggesting that there may be a
great deal of unacknowledged aggression behind the act of
suicide.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have all condemned
suicide as a violation of the law of God. In Europe
religious and civil laws were used to combat suicide from
the early Middle Ages until the 19th century. After the
French Revolution (1789) criminal penalties for
attempting suicide were abolished in European countries.
Great Britain was the last to abolish its penalties, in
1961.
Prevention of suicide has proved difficult unless an
individual demonstrates warning signs. Early recognition
and treatment of mental disorders are possible
deterrents. Since the 1950s suicide-prevention centers
have been set up in many countries. They maintain
telephone hot lines that desperate or lonely individuals
may use to get help.
1 Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Deluxe
© 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.
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