For the last two months of travel it’s occurred to me that the tragedy of people committing suicide is universal — it happens in all cultures.
Here in Croatia, we were atop one of the tallest buildings in Zagreb for our TV work. It provided a great, high view of the city but we had to take apart our camera to slip the lens through the prison-like bars that caged in what was a top-floor, view café. My Croatian friend explained, “This spot is very tempting if you’re prone to kill yourself.” The ambience of what could have been the most exciting café in town was completely murdered to stop people from jumping.
In Ljubljana, what was once the tallest building in Slovenia — nicknamed simply “the Skyscraper” — had a trendy café on its top floor, but it’s been closed as too many were jumping to their deaths. Slovenes, so easy-going and friendly, are, statistically one of the more suicide-prone people in Europe.
Earlier, while I was in Spain, it seemed every town had a place known as a departure point for people committing suicide. An average of three people a year travel “from all over Andalusia” to jump off the famous bridge into Ronda’s gorge.
Standing at the Balcony of Europe, a gentle, Old World terrace overlooking the Mediterranean in Nerja, I asked my guide if it is a suicide point. She said, “No, but last year a city official investigated for corruption slit his wrists in his office, didn’t die, dribbled his blood all the way to the balcony, and jumped.”
In the Andalusian hilltown of Arcos, where they brag only they “can see the backs of the birds as they fly,” it’s traditional for suicidal men to jump from one side of the hilltown and women to jump from the other.
And the Swiss, people famous for being successful and content, have a relatively high suicide rate. The bridge in Lausanne was so commonly used as the springboard for those who wanted to end it all that on Christmas and New Year’s, when troubled people are inclined to become distraught, volunteers take turns manning the bridge with hot chocolate and cookies, ready to talk people out of killing themselves.
Is it just me, or does every major city have its spot notorious as a place for people to kill themselves?
When traveling, I strive to see beyond the tourist glitz and find the mundane grind and reality of life. Like the sweetness of being happy, the despair of being hopeless knows no borders.
When traveling, I strive to see beyond the tourist glitz and find the mundane grind and reality of life. Like the sweetness of being happy, the despair of being hopeless knows no borders. I find Paris the perfect illustration of this paradox. The glorious Paris that tourists love is actually not the economic heart of the city. Rather, the largest area of employment for Parisians is found in the rather soul-less but efficient glass, steel and concrete jungles of La Defense. And then there’s the infamous “banlieux” that Sarcozy once threatened to clean out with a power hose. Europe is not Disney World for yuppies…
In Salt Lake City at the base of Parleys Canyon is Suicide Rock. I suppose it has been used. I just never hear about it. Death by cop, death by car, death by od, death by gun (53% of all), by jumping. What else? I just wonder about all the different reasons people do it. But no matter the specific reason, I read recently that they just believe the pain will never end.
I wonder about suicide statistics. How are they gathered? How accurate are they? How honest are they? What are the differing attitudes in different cultures about suicide? Is suicide ever justified? Is the alienation caused by capitalism a factor in suicide?
Is the alienation caused by capitalism a factor in suicide? Yes because no one commits suicide in China or Cuba or Sudan or France etc etc.
Capitalism a cause for suicide?!? I guess we will find out in the near future, and then see if our suicide rate dwindles to near nothing. I see just the opposite. I would think other economic and political systems would breed a suicidal mindset. What is the point in living if one cannot provide for oneself? How can anyone achieve any sense of fulfillment, value, or self worth being dependent upon others? The gorge at Ronda is just too stunning to be splatted up with smashed body parts.
There was a recent episode in a city in China, where one man was so fed up with another man’s threats to throw himself off a bridge, tying up traffic and police for hours, that he finally went up to the would-be suicide, grabbed his hand as if to shake it, and threw him over the side. Fellow landed on an inflated bag, put there to catch him.
I remember when it was forbidden to bury a suicide from the church or in consecrated ground, yet which soul and his family is in more need of the succor of the faith than the tormented soul who sees no hope in this life?
Is the alienation caused by capitalism a factor in suicide? Considering that before the end of communism, the suicide rate in Warsaw Pact countries was usually DOUBLE that of the West, I’d say if anything, the opposite! By the way, this exact topic is one of the themes of the excellent German film, The Lives of Others.
Adding to the discussion, I’d note that in Prague there’s a bridge over a large ravine. If you take the Metro Line C (the Red Line) to the Vysehrad stop, you pass along the underside of the bridge and the station is at one end. Some years ago, when the Red Line was completed the bridge was named “Klement Gottwald Bridge” in honor of Czechoslovakia’s first Communist leader. But soon the bridge became a popular place for people to commit suicide, earning the moniker the “bridge of suicides,” which prompted the Communist government to erect curved fencing on either side of the bridge to prevent people from jumping off it because the regime didn’t appreciate the connection between Gottwald and suicide.
Is the alienation caused by capitalism a factor in suicide? LOL, spoken like a true Socialist/Communist. By the way, Bill, how IS that (false) hope and (loose) change working out for you so far? ;-)
I think someone needs to take their political biases and do some research. France has the highest number of people on medication for depression than any country in the world. I talked to people that live there and they say how many people in Paris are just sad. Look at the faces on the metro – empty and sad. I will refrain from being nasty about the political comment above. Instead I will point people to this statistic – According to WHO (world health organization), European and parts of Asia lead the world in suicide rates. According to the most recent data that I found, the US is 42nd in suicide rates. Here are a list of some of the countries ahead of the US (in order) – Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary, Japan, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Croatia, Hong Kong, France, Swtizerland, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, CHINA, Denmark, New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, Slovakia, CUBA, Norway, Canada, Iceland, Portugal. Many socialist, capitalist, and even communist countries before you get to the US. Nearly every European country is above the US in suicide rates. So it might help to do some research before unfounded, bias, and incorrect remarks are made.
Interesting blog entry. Seattle has America’s highest suicide rate. The dreary, wet weather year-round is attributed as a cause.
Meanwhile back in Salt Lake City…..Utah women have the highest use of Prozac, etc. in the nation. Most women here are Republican and Mormon, of course. I can imagine Democrats have the highest rate of suicide. After 8 years of Bush, I was pretty depressed too.
The lowest suicide rate is amount Bible believing Christians. Something to think about. It’s called hope.
Terry and John,will you please list your sources for the information you have added above? Terry, not that I doubt George W. Bush was the most powerful influence in the entire universe the past 8 years but I still would like to see the source of your facts. If Democrats have been committing wholesale suicide these past 8 years what explains B.O.? John, is there a study showing the lowest suicide rate is amongst Christians? I Googled this and found one study showing Muslims as having the lowest rates. Does this take into account the wack-job suicide bombers? I then read another study showing Latin Americans (Catholics) as having the lowest rates. What is your source? Just inquiring for the sake of truth and justice.
Many countries do not report suicides due’ to the copy-cat effect they have, better known as the “Werther effect”. This phenomenon comes from Goethes’ best-seller, “The Sorrows of Young Werther”. Countries in Scandinavia especially, will not report suicides in the media. Other European countries sort of have an understanding in the press, though there is no law against it. So, it is kind of hard to gather statistics if the media does not report them. This means a lot of those stats are going to be skewed, don’t you think?
Sorry, KEN K, I wasn’t being serious about Democrats being the most depressed…I know plenty of Republicans were very depressed about Bush and their party, too. It was a wry joke. I guess I wasn’t clear enough. Kind of hard to make a joke on a very polarizing subject in a way that is understood….and is funny. But on the Mormon woman thing, here is one link: http://packham.n4m.org/prozac.htm
There are few topics that stir emotions as the act of taking one’s life. Those of us who have had family members or friends kill themselves know the pain and anguish this causes. Paradoxically, life and the manner in which individuals choose to act or respond to life are what assist individuals in choosing to say I want no more, enough is enough, please just make it stop. Trying to assess blame on specific forms of government, religion, economic status, is just plain ignorance. For every example of a suicide with a given set of characteristics, we can find thousands of others with the same circumstances and all have chosen to live. At times, for some individuals, the pain of living is so overwhelming they choose to stop it. As far as Utah women are concerned, that reference above appears to have been authored by a linguistics professor, Dr. Kent Ponder, after a short, personal study of his. First, he is not qualified to identify the reasons LDS women are proscribed Prozac. Second, the actual study was done by Express Scripts in 2002. Brenda Motheral, a senior researcher, said the company looked at claims of 2 million Americans enrolled in commercial and managed-care health plans. The results included adults with jobs and their dependents, but not prescription drug users enrolled in government-sponsored programs such as Medicare or Medicaid. Oregon, Maine, and Utah had the highest anti-depressant proscriptions in the nation. There is a difference between being prescriptions, and actual cases of depression. The study did not attempt to answer any of the questions of why, when, where, and how prescriptions were ordered. Con incidentally, 5% of the insured patients consume 50% of all drug expenditures to insurers. This is the only link I could find to the study: http://www.geocities.com/wsimister/prozac1.htm. Unfortunately, it is not directly to the actual study and the newspaper that reported it.
Fascinating topic. People deal with the same struggles everywhere.
In California I will start with the Golden Gate Bridge in the bay area as a suicide attraction where the count is kept. Pasadena had to close “suicide bridge” because of large numbers. San Diego keeps count of the many jumpers off the Coronado bridge.
Rick, I so enjoy your blog and being immersed into your travels – but I found this post on suicides quite depressing. Perhaps it needed a lighter tone somehow? Otherwise keep up the good work that you do, It is so nice to read your travels and writtings. We just received your Europe books and Iran dvd – very good!
Thanks for the painfully real report from the road, Rick. Clearly, mental health is a relevant issue for people around the globe. My husband and I work in suicide prevention, and research shows that graphic descriptions of suicide (like the ones in your post) can sometimes trigger upsetting responses in those who have attempted or who have lost a loved one to suicide, possibly contributing to additional suicides and attempts. Because of this, I want to add this phone number and links to the discussion: 1-800-273-TALK http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ http://lifeline-gallery.org/ It’s the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in the U.S. – if anyone reading this is struggling with thoughts of suicide, please call the number. (I volunteer with them; otherwise I’m not officially associated.) If you’re not based in the U.S., please reach out to a friend, family member, counselor, clergy and other community members, or find a local crisis center who can help you. Suicide is preventable.
Rick, if you think the Slovenes are easy going I’d hate to see what you call tense. The Slovenes are intense hard working people, closer to the Austrians than their neighbors. They are very independent minded these days, which is a 180 from the way they operated under comunism. They are responsible and serious and not very tolerant of those who are not(Croatians).
And here at home – In the Seattle Times today it was reported that an 8′ suicide-prevention fence has been approved by the Landmarks Preservation Board on the Aurora Bridge.
Like the sweetness of being happy, the despair of being hopeless knows no borders. Tears out of nowhere when I read this line. Thank you for posting this, another, albeit sad, reminder that we are all the same. I don’t think I could ever kill myself. I have enough trouble knowing that such amazing things happened in this world before I was born, so I can’t imagine not staying around for as long as possible to see what’s next. The reminder that there are so many that don’t, or have stopped feeling that way, is heartbreaking.
Thanks for not sugar-coating it, Rick. I appreciate your ability to bring a country’s struggles into focus along with its glories. We are more alike than unalike.
To a COD: was this comment really necessary? Thankfully, Slovenian people I know are tolerant, even to irresponsible and frivolous Croatians.
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