Suicide contradictions

nlgbbbblth

I would be interested in reading what people have to say about this.

Every so often a national newspaper will publish an article on suicide. The article usually quotes statistics and there is a certain amount of hand-wringing in relation to 'the stigma of suicide' / 'facing up to suicide' / 'not sweeping suicide under the carpet'. The overriding message is that the root causes of suicide should be addressed and people should confront rather than deny.

Which brings me to the media's reporting of suicide. If a person dies accidentally, of natural causes, as a result of an assault or is murdered their death will be reported as such. However if they commit suicide the reports are inevitably fudged with banal and intelligence-insulting euphemisms such as 'not looking for anyone else in connection', 'fell in front of train', 'entered the river' etc. Frequently a coroner's report will state a verdict of accidental death when it was anything but.

The reason for such reporting is usually given as 'to protect the family' etc. But how can a family face up to a suicide if nobody will dare speak the dreaded 's word'.

On one hand we have the media bemoaning increasing suicide numbers and complaining about people have their heads in the sand about it while simultaneously refusing to tackle the practical issue head on and print the actual facts when it comes to reporting one. This double standard filters downwards to ordinary citizens who will speak in hushed tones about the deceased and rarely mention the why and how of his/her death.

My personal experience in this regard stems from when my uncle committed suicide in 1983. At no stage throughout the years did anybody in my family admit that he took his own life and it was only much later that I accidentally discovered the truth.

Femelade

i'm sorry but i'm not sure what u are getting at, are you saying that in this day and age suicide is still something that's not talked about? or talked about too much in the media?

nlgbbbblth

Femmy wrote:

i'm sorry but i'm not sure what u are getting at, are you saying that in this day and age suicide is still something that's not talked about? or talked about too much in the media?

It is generally discussed in the media.
But is rarely reported as a cause of death.

Femelade

ah i see, well, i'm not sure about it rarely being reported as a cause of death, maybe it is to spare feelings of the families concerned.
i know 2 brothers who commited suicide, terribly painful for the whole community.

jrey1981

interesting thread...I am a freelance writer thinking of writing a feature on suicide and depression and some wider related points that I do not feel get mentioned in the press.

I think we as a society need to be more honest about suicide and the many possible reasons people feel driven to it. One thing we need to be more honest about is that there is more pressure on people today than perhaps ever before, the sources of that pressure and why some people may be more vulnerable than others to that pressure.

Heyes

Suicide is a massive problem in Ireland. I totally agree with what the OP says on this subject, it is a subject that over the years has always been hushed hushed. Its like there s a sence of embaressement represented with someone taking there life.

I have a fair bit of experience in dealing with how people and families have reacted to sucide as a number of people i know over the years have taken there lives, it was said that most were related to the individuals suffering from depression, which in my opinion is another thing that is not addressed in this country. Yes people can say it was connected to one thing, but realistically the only person that knows the truth is the person that has commited suicide.

Every year as stated above the newspapers issue figures on the numbers of people committing suicide and they always say that more things need to be done to see why people feel this need and also to see if help can be provided for families and the individuals involved. Yes "Aware" has been set up, and in my opinion can only do good.

But realistically i feel the government should not just sit back and issue figures, they need to get up and do something about it. Invest in companies like Aware, invest in reseach. The government and large companies through out the county always seem to invest in the larger companes ie: Cancer research etc, which is clearly very important, however Suicide in Ireland is becoming a bigger and unfortunately a very silent problem and clearly needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.

nesf

Moved to Humanities.

Heyes

i think this thread should have stayed in after hours so as to obtain a varied opinion on the subject.

its a big issue in ireland, and an issue that needs to be addressed not avoided

nesf

Heyes wrote:

i think this thread should have stayed in after hours so as to obtain a varied opinion on the subject.

its a big issue in ireland, and an issue that needs to be addressed not avoided

Personally I was torn between News/Media and Humanities. AH is a place for threads that don't fit in elsewhere. This thread most definitely did fit in elsewhere, so it was moved. It most definitely was not moved here to be "avoided". I feel quite strongly about this issue and really would not like to see it swept under the carpet.


By the way I agree with you about Aware. It really is not enough. If anything, it doesn't work for a lot of people. Self help groups are great, and for some they can be life saving, but they are by no means the only avenue that needs to be explored in this and tbh Aware will never attract the ones who need the most help imho.

The biggest issue is that there isn't an easy way to deal with suicide levels. As is, the key points (imho) seem to be a lack of awareness coupled with a lack of access to good professional care. This does require funding but essentially is a black hole cash wise. To prioritise spending on this would take away funds from other equally (if not more) deserving medical issues.

Depression/mental illness and suicide are issues in this country that are getting no where near the amount of attention that they need, but we should not make the mistake of soley focussing on this issue to the exclusion of all else. Good psychiatrists, therapists etc are not cheap and they can take a long time to train. We can invest funding now but not see the benifits for many years. This in itself is a huge obsticle in recieving funding since our "trolley crisis" is far bigger issue in the public mind and this will hugely effect the decisions made (democracy just doesn't work people). Then again, you could blame the media for this aswell. We have god knows how many "armchair economists" who seem to think that fixing the healthcare system is just a matter of throwing money at it and that staff just magically appear when the facilities are in place.

Anyways, back to what I was originally saying, this thread belongs here, or at least outside of AH. Moving it here is by no means "sweeping it under the carpet" or ignoring the issue. If anything, moving it here might prevent it from being derailed into spam.

DadaKopf

I know it's not the same thing, and not among the media except for "he/she died of a long illness", but I find the same thing with cancer.

My grandad died of a "blockage", my other one from "old age" and my mum from a "growth" in her brain.

I think it, perhaps paradoxically, helps more to be up-front about illnesses and causes of death when recovering from grief.

Zombrex

nlgbbbblth wrote:

The reason for such reporting is usually given as 'to protect the family' etc. But how can a family face up to a suicide if nobody will dare speak the dreaded 's word'.

My understanding was this was done for legal and journalistic reasons

Pronouncing a death as a "suicide" is actually quite a big deal. Ignoring the social stigma that a family can experience if a member commits suicide, it also can effect everything from legal relationships between people to things like life insurance and accidental death claims.

So until the death has been offically ruled a suicide it would be irresponsible for a newspaper to claim the death was a suicide.

Heyes

nesf wrote:

Personally I was torn between News/Media and Humanities. AH is a place for threads that don't fit in elsewhere. This thread most definitely did fit in elsewhere, so it was moved. It most definitely was not moved here to be "avoided". I feel quite strongly about this issue and really would not like to see it swept under the carpet.


By the way I agree with you about Aware. It really is not enough. If anything, it doesn't work for a lot of people. Self help groups are great, and for some they can be life saving, but they are by no means the only avenue that needs to be explored in this and tbh Aware will never attract the ones who need the most help imho.

The biggest issue is that there isn't an easy way to deal with suicide levels. As is, the key points (imho) seem to be a lack of awareness coupled with a lack of access to good professional care. This does require funding but essentially is a black hole cash wise. To prioritise spending on this would take away funds from other equally (if not more) deserving medical issues.

Depression/mental illness and suicide are issues in this country that are getting no where near the amount of attention that they need, but we should not make the mistake of soley focussing on this issue to the exclusion of all else. Good psychiatrists, therapists etc are not cheap and they can take a long time to train. We can invest funding now but not see the benifits for many years. This in itself is a huge obsticle in recieving funding since our "trolley crisis" is far bigger issue in the public mind and this will hugely effect the decisions made (democracy just doesn't work people). Then again, you could blame the media for this aswell. We have god knows how many "armchair economists" who seem to think that fixing the healthcare system is just a matter of throwing money at it and that staff just magically appear when the facilities are in place.

Anyways, back to what I was originally saying, this thread belongs here, or at least outside of AH. Moving it here is by no means "sweeping it under the carpet" or ignoring the issue. If anything, moving it here might prevent it from being derailed into spam.

Ah i know you werent "sweeping it under the carper" or ignoring the issue, i suppose the reason i said keep it in after hours is because its a forum that has a very fast turnover of people replying in there, and it would enable for the subject to be addressed and discussed openly.

nlgbbbblth

Wicknight wrote:

My understanding was this was done for legal and journalistic reasons

Pronouncing a death as a "suicide" is actually quite a big deal. Ignoring the social stigma that a family can experience if a member commits suicide, it also can effect everything from legal relationships between people to things like life insurance and accidental death claims.

So until the death has been offically ruled a suicide it would be irresponsible for a newspaper to claim the death was a suicide.

Even when confirmed / officially ruled / no other possible way the person could have died - a suicide is rarely referred to as such by the media.

This cavalier attitude to printing the truth / facts could be construed as irresponsible.
Reason?
Possibly implying [by not stating the real reason for death] that a third party is involved / responsible [i.e. murderer is on the loose / out there somewhere and may strike again]

nlgbbbblth

Heyes wrote:

i suppose the reason i said keep it in after hours is because its a forum that has a very fast turnover of people replying in there, and it would enable for the subject to be addressed and discussed openly.

Indeed.