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In the West during the 18th century, a new view gathered momentum—that a man's life was his own to do with as he pleased. Slowly, sanctions against suicide began to be lifted. In the U.S., attempted suicide is still a felony or a misdemeanor in nine states, though the laws are rarely enforced. Even the Roman Catholic Church has modified its position. It is not unusual these days to give a suicide a proper Roman Catholic funeral and a consecrated grave, on the ground "that his demented soul did not possess sufficient freedom of will for his heinous deed to constitute a mortal sin."
Reading the Signals
Even as moral condemnation of suicide is lessening, the scientific community is making greater efforts to prevent it. In Washington, the National Institute of Mental Health has just set up a national Center for the Studies of Suicide Prevention, which will launch research projects and help set up suicide-prevention staffs in hospitals and centers throughout the U.S. At present, there are nearly 60 such centers functioning or about to be established.
Head of the new Washington organization is Psychologist Shneidman who joined with Fellow Psychologist Farberow eight years ago to found the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center, recognized as the most thorough and modern operation of its kind. The volunteers on its staff, who have been trained by professionals, answer the agonized phone calls that flood in with sympathetic attention, assess the imminence of a suicidal act, and refer callers to institutions for help.
Most suicides, psychologists agree, really want to be rescued. The case of the man threatening to jump to death in public view may be extreme, but it is also typical. Says Farberow: "The man up there is saying, 'Look at me. See how bad I feel.' Sitting on the ledge of a building is a tremendous effort at communication." Of immediate importance in improving communication is the education of medical men to recognize the symptoms of potential suicides; two-thirds of those who attempt suicide have visited a physician. There are various warning signs, including talk; the notion that those who talk about suicide will never really do anything about it is entirely false.
Oddly enough, the fear of pain or unpleasantness in the method of killing oneself is often a potent deterrent. As Dorothy Parker wryly noted:
Razors pain you; Rivers are damp; Acids stain you; And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
"You might as well live" is the way men and women normally feel—whatever their present misery. "There is no conceivable human situation," says Dr. Yolles, "which is unendurable or hopeless enough to drive a healthy man to death—neither mental anguish nor concentration camp torture nor bankruptcy." Viewing the suicidal tendency as a kind of mental illness, Yolles predicts that attacking it on a national scale will lower the U.S. suicide rate in a few years.