Why?
Survivors inevitably search for a reason, perhaps because having a reason might restore some small sense of control in a seemingly unpredictable world. Trying to understand "why" can occupy our minds for a long time, but ultimately we realize that we may never know. The only person who knows for sure has died.
Each story is unique, although 70 percent of suicides are associated with depression, (National Institute of Mental Health.) Yet not everyone who dies by suicide can be classified as clinically depressed, schizophrenic, alcoholic, addicted or mentally ill, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 1993.) We know everyone who dies by suicide has reached a place where they can no longer tolerate their pain and suffering. Most don't intend to leave behind a wake of pain and destruction. They are simply searching for a way out of an unbearable struggle. The "Suicidal Trance" In a fascinating study about the pain leading to suicide, Richard A. Heckler, Ph.D. interviewed individuals who survived suicide attempts. In his book, Waking up, Alive, he describes the decline toward suicide: "The trance is a state of mind and body that receives only the kind of input that reinforces the pain and corroborates the person’s conviction that the only way out is through death. The trance marks the moment at which the world becomes devoid of all possibilities except one: suicide. ... Despite differences in detail, everyone who attempts suicide enters the suicidal trance. ... Read more about "the suicidal trance." |
“When we try to determine what type of person would attempt to end his or her life, we can identify no single personality profile. People who attempt suicide share their most basic similarity with everyone else on the planet: their humanity.” -- Richard Heckler PhD There is No Single Answer No one knows for sure why people kill themselves. There is no single answer and much depends on the perspective of the person searching for answers. One psychiatrist might point to a chemical imbalance. Another might point to the high standards the individual set for himself or an inability to tolerate rejection. A sociologist may point out the effect of societal stresses. A philosopher might point out that our loved one was just too sensitive to the problems of the world. A friend might remind us that our loved one was just too good for this world. Read more about "the enigma of suicide." |
