Taboo of Suicide: The 'Judas Iscariot' of Crime (Die Tageszeitung, German)
"The number
of victims of violence, natural disaster, and AIDS - none compares with the
number of suicide victims. This is in a country without hunger or war, and with
a health system that functions reasonably well. Yet there is no outcry, no
public debate. Suicide is modern society's last taboo. … It isn't talked about.
... It’s no coincidence that the person
who committed the worst crime imaginable, the betrayer of God, Judas Iscariot - hung
himself."
One doesn’t speak of
suicide. Or only briefly, when celebrities, like Robin Williams now, choose
death. At the same time, the subject is alarmingly relevant - with three times as
many fatalities as there are for traffic accidents.
It's a hush-hush topic.Suicide, killing oneself – isn’t spoken of, it isn't written about. Only
rarely does the issue bubble up, as when a prominent individual takes his or
her own life. As was the case five years ago, when football goalkeeper Robert Enke threw himself in front of a train, or now that actor Robin
Williams has taken his own life. Then the horror and perplexity are great, and
on every face is written the question: Why?Why?
Before long, the questioning falls silent again, and that
silence grows stronger than the horror.
Suicide is not discussed.
More deaths than
AIDS, Disasters, or Violence
At the same time, the subject is alarmingly relevant. Every
year, more than 10,000 people in Germany decide to take their own lives. That
is almost three times the number of road fatalities per year. The number of
suicides continues to decline, due mostly to improvements in the treatment of
depression. Thirty years ago there were more than 18,000 suicides. But the number
10,000 still conveys a powerful message. The number of victims of violence, natural
disaster, and AIDS - none compares with the number of suicide victims. This is in
a country without hunger or war, and with a health system that functions
reasonably well. Yet there is no outcry, no public debate. Suicide is modern
society's last taboo.
The number of
attempts is 50 times as high
At the same time, a very large number of people have been
touched by suicide. The number 10,000 is merely the total number of completed
suicides. The number of attempts is much higher. Conservative estimates suggest
that the number of attempted suicides in the industrialized nations of Western
Europe is at least ten times as high as the number of completed suicides. This
would amount to roughly 100,000 attempts in Germany very year. The U.S. National
Institute of Mental Health has come up with even more frightening results. The
Institute estimates the number of attempts to be as much as 50 times higher
than the number of completed suicides – which would be half a million cases.
If one considers that each of these people have relatives,
acquaintances, and friends, then the sum total of people who have something to
do with suicide amounts to several million. Even if we assume that many suicide
attempts are likely cries for help, the number is still incredible,
particularly since these are cries of human misfortune.
Suicide is still
considered criminal
Nevertheless, it isn't talked about. One oft-stated reason is
that discussing suicide leads to suicide and triggers copycats. Comparisons are
made to the once infamous "Werther fever,"
which emerged after the publication of Goethe’s novel [The
Sorrows of Young Werner], when people wearing blue and yellow Werther costumes and with Goethe’s book in hand committed
suicide. It is true that a collective hysteria over suicide exists. However, could
such bizarre occurrences seriously explain why suicide and suicide prevention
are taboo topics?
Posted By Worldmeets.US
The actual reason is probably different. "Freitod" [voluntary
death or suicide] - a term coined by Friedrich Nietzsche
and banned by the National Socialists [Nazis] - is considered by many to be
wrong, sinful, even criminal. This is already demonstrated by the everyday use
of the work "selbstmord"
[self-murder], which probably
originated with Martin Luther’s "seinselbstmorden," [murder one's self] and which contains a
capital crime: murder. In the past, a "self-murderer" was always
considered to be on the fringes of society, a criminal and a sinner who couldn't
be buried on the cemetery’s consecrated ground. It’s no coincidence that the
person who committed the worst crime imaginable, the betrayer of God, Judas
Iscariot - hung himself.
We must open our eyes. Suicides don’t only occur on the
fringes of society, but in its midst as well.
