Suicide and Intentionality

[Satchmo Distel]

Last night I watched Anderson Cooper and his mother Gloria Vanderbilt discussing the death of his brother, her son, who jumped from a window despite her being in the same room. It reminded me of reading about Primo Levi's jumping death, and the "suicide pact" that killed Christopher Hitchens' mother.

My feeling is that we have to resist our natural desire to understand the "intention" of the victim at that moment and just accept that a human brain gripped by intense illness and despair can kill its owner. Trying to locate a "self" and a "will" in that process is as futile as trying to find intentionality in cancer.

[Reed John]

Suicide and Intentionality

I watched that. It was gut-wrenching.

Speaking of that. This is an amazing story. Including the bit where he was saved by a sea lion.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Lethal-Beauty-A-Survivor-s-Story-A-jumper-2598731.php

[G-Man]

Suicide and Intentionality

I didn't see that, but I applaud Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt for discussing suicide openly.

Most suicides are not really freely chosen, even when they are meticulously planned (some obviously are elected, such as the person killing themselves rather than being caught by the police). Our innate instinct is to preserve our life, not end it.

There are some who reject the terminology of somebody "committing" suicide, suggesting instead the phrase "died of suicide".

It is indeed futile to speculate about the "intentions" of the victim, but for those left behind, that is an inevitable response. And that is perfectly natural; unless we have been on the verge of dying of suicide ourselves, we can't really understand what it's like; it defies our reason.

So it's good advice for the bereaved not to focus too much on "intent", but it must be accepted that those left behind probably will interrogate the circumstances and seek reasons they can make sense of.

With suicide, the grieving process is more complex than it is in cases of natural death. There is so much to work through, chiefly the question: "Was my love not strong enough to prevent this?" And even for those who can approach the question of suicide with much rational thought, that question never goes away. One may know that the "intent" question is useless, but it never goes away.