What is a good successful suicide?
| NORTH SEWICKLEY TWP. — A hazmat team was called Monday afternoon to Brush Creek Park when a deceased man was found seated in a parked car with two tanks of helium in the passenger seat, police said. North Sewickley Township Police Chief Jeff Becze said emergency responders were called at about 3:15 p.m. when a park employee found the car and noticed the man inside. The deceased man was identified as Cory J. Rust, 20, of Rochester. |
July 29, 2018: (not a suicide) Man, 25, dies after three jump into Mon River from Hot Metal Bridge
| A 25-year-old Pittsburgh man died Sunday night after three men jumped off the Hot Metal Bridge into the Monongahela River. Authorities responded to the bridge at 8:40 p.m. River Rescue and other personnel saw three men in the water. One appeared hurt and was having trouble swimming to shore. River Rescue officers pulled him onto their boat and began treating him. The man — identified Monday as Austin C. Bible — was taken to a local hospital and was later pronounced dead. The other two jumpers were pulled to the shore uninjured. Police questioned the other two jumpers and determined that they were not trying to kill themselves. No one has been charged and no arrests are pending. |
It is curious how we allow intent to differentiate actions.
Aug 12, 2018: Wash. Post, Atlantic Monthly on Richard Russell's theft of a QS400, hour-long joy ride, and apparent suicide by plane. Internet aviation geeks were listening to the radio transmissions in real time as the drama continued.
What are the makings of a "good" suicide? In my opinion,
- Nobody else gets killed
- Nobody else gets hurt physically (first responders hurting their backs, etc)
- Nobody gets traumatized (a child doesn't discover the headless body)
- no public spectacle, crowds, or witnesses. Nobody else liable.
- plausible ambiguity as to intentional act vs accidental death, for the benefit of your survivors
- irreversability and immediacy
You can hear the pain in Mr. Russell's voice (the man who took the airplane). He's clearly committed to his plan; several people tried to suggest he return for a landing and he didn't. He talked about having a group of people who cared about him, and apologized. He seemed like a person you'd like to meet and have coffee with.
I think it's unfortunate that we've criminalized suicide. Even when it's not explicitly criminal, it's hard to get a scenario where you can accomplish it without hurting others. I do think it's true that an explicit suicide leaves pain, anguish, and trauma in dozens of the deceased's people. It redistributes pain. I wonder if there's an economic approach to understanding that distribution.
In Japan, Aokigahara is a park that people go to for suicide. It seems decent to have some place to go, rather than to have so many individuals trying with varied success to invent their own opportunities.
A year ago, I developed my own plan. I think it's a good to very-good plan. I waited long enough to be sure, and now I think I'm past that time. I attribute me staying to my friend TM. Although I was surprised recently to be focused on this is enough, time to end it now in a quick and overpowering way, but it passed.