WCVE Forum September 25: “The Suicide Paradox”
Americans are far more likely to know someone who has taken his or her own life than someone who has been murdered. We’re a nation with twice as many suicides than murders each year. Yet the profile of suicide as a public health risk is the opposite – a shameful problem, whose victims and solutions are not the focus of wide debate.
If you were asked what’s more common in the U.S. – homicide or suicide – what would you say?
Homicide is certainly a lot more prominent; it’s constantly in the headlines and in our public consciousness. But the fact is that suicide is more than twice as common as homicide. The preliminary numbers for 2009, the most recent year for which there is data available, show there were roughly 36,500 suicides in the U.S. and roughly 16,500 homicides.
So why don’t we hear more about suicide? In part because it is a very different type of tragedy. Murder represents a fractured promise within our social contract, and it’s got an obvious villain. Suicide represents – well, what does it represent? It’s hard to say. It carries such a strong taboo that most of us just don’t discuss it much. The result is that there are far more questions about suicide than answers. Like: do we do enough to prevent it? How do you prevent it? And the biggest question of all: why do people commit suicide?
Those are just a few of the questions addressed in this edition of Freakonomics Radio, “The Suicide Paradox.”
Tune in for WCVE Forum, Sunday at 6:00 p.m. on WCVE Public Radio.
I am the Richmond Area Coordinator for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and am very pleased to see that you're broadcasting on the topic of suicide. We are currently in the process of starting an official AFSP Chapter in the Richmond area so there will be more resources and education available in our community. Suicide is a national health problem that takes an enormous toll on families, friends, co-workers, schools and the entire community. Sadly, every minute of every day, someone attempts to take their own life and every 15 minutes someone dies by suicide. We need to know more about suicide and ways to prevent it. We also need to educate the public to recognize the symptoms of depression, especially in teenagers as they are a particularly vulnerable group. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults and the second leading cause of death for college students. The statistics surrounding suicide are heartbreaking and so is the stigma related to mental illness. It truly is an issue that needs to be discussed around dinner tables! It is so very important for people to know the warning signs and symptoms and understand that much of what they "hear" about suicide and mental illness is false. It is our hope that by starting an AFSP Chapter here in Richmond we can continue to educate and support the community. I'd love the opportunity to provide you with information about mental illness and suicide as well as give you more details on AFSP. On October 29th we are hosting one of over 250 walks that will be taking place across the country this fall. The "Out of the Darkness Community Walk" benefits local and national suicide prevention and awareness programs. If you'd like, you may visit www.outofthedarkness.org for more information.
Again, I sincerely thank you for your willingness to educate listeners on suicide prevention and raise awareness about this issue.
Ashlee Witt
Richmond.AFSP@gmail.com
Socrates committed suicide (even after he was offered safe escape) for a principle he believed in, namely, that he had been reared as an intellectual and political creature by the Athenian state, and thus he was obligated to follow Athenian law.
If someone could let us know what the "obvious villain" of murder is, it might be helpful in dealing with the problem over the next decade or two.
Also, I don't quite see how suicide is a "tragedy" (to again quote the article)if it is a rational choice (c.f. Socrates two paragraphs back).
It is the general consensus of the large majority of scholars that Socrates did not, in fact, commit suicide. Although he intentionally killed himself, he did so because he was condemned under law (which he is obliged to follow for reasons you acknowledged). His "suicide" is incomparable to the contemporary notion of suicide - which is intentional self-killing, but is not done under order of law.
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