FASHIONS IN SUICIDE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 260, 2 November 1928, Page 8

FASHIONS IN SUICIDE

STATISTICS THROW LIGHT ON CAUSES OF SELF-DESTRUCTION That a woman always tries to look her best when she intends to commit suicide was an interesting proposition which a medical witness put before a Sydney coroner during an inquiry into the death cf a woman. Figures bear that out —and incidentally indicate many other intriguing fancies in the taking of one’s life, A'olumes have been written on the subject of suicide and th e eccentricities of the people who commit this crime, but only a few words here and there indicate that a woman’s whims arc displayed in this a» they are m everything else. It has been urged by several eminent philosophers that ther e is no worry nr disappointintment in the world so black that it justifies one in getting out of the world to avoid it. And, regarding it from this point of view, woman the world over is more level-headed, and gifted with a truer sense of values than mere man. A European’s average of suicides show that for every woman whe takes her own life, between four and five men do so. But there woman’s levelheadedness stops. Dr. James O’Dea. an American authority on the subject, says that the mode of suicide usually goes by sex. Women occasionally end their lives with a pistol, but usually they show a preference for poisoning because they instinctively shrink from the mutilation of their bodies. He contends that they show a preference for drowning, because of the mystery and repose and restfulness of the water, in contrast with the turmoil and fever of their worries or passions. Men arc by no means so fastidious, and, once they decide to take their own lives, are apt to seize the first means that presents itself. Consideration for Others. It may not be mere fastidiousness .iiar, compels women to seek neater ways of suicide, but it may be a real consideration for those who will have to look after them when they are dead. A doctor says that he does not think it is entirely a question of the personal disfigurement that prevents worneu suicides from ending their lives by means of firearms. He says that it >s rare for a woman to be really familiar with a gun or revolver, and, even when contemplating suicide, they are “nervous’’ of them. They shrink from the idea of the awful pain which must result, even momentarily, from such methods as shooting or strangulation, and foolishly they prefer poison, because it is painless at first. They forget about the dreadful pain which must ensue as the poison takes its course. It is unusual for a woman to take her own life by what is called “cutting’ embracing both the cutting of the throat and cutting of arteries with a view to bleeding to death. Those Motives Some interesting information has been gathered together in Europe and America on the subject of the motives behind various suicides, and their relative importance. For example, American figures show that, out of the total suicides in one year, 373 men and 193 women took their own lives because of their grief at the loss of their parents. The n ajoritv of them were under 25 years, and some were mere children, ranging up from 10 to 12. Parents, it can ba seen, did not reciprocate their children’s esteem in quite tlic same measure, for 137 men and 74 women die t d owing to grief at the loss or ingratitude i.f their offspring. What Air W. S. Gilbert called “blighted affection” was responsible for 35 men and 16 women destroying themselves. These small totals, it ’s pointed out, are striking support for Samuel Butler, who in “Hudibras” wrote:

“What mad lover ever dy’d To gain a soft and gentle bride? Or for a lady tender-hearted In purling streams or hemp departed?

In Great Britain, out of 265 suicides, only 12 could be surely assigned to this romantic cause, aud most of these were under the age of 25, * ‘when,” as the iron-hearted statistician points out, “they had not yet reached the period of mental maturity.”

Again wc arc indebted to American figures for discovering other causes of svicidp. Gambling was blamed for the draths of 157 men and one woman — who sue was is not revealed, nor yet her methods of play. Pure bone-idle laziness carried to excess caused 76 men and four women to take their own lives apparently to avoid the trouble of getting up in the morning.