This disturbing piece ran in today's Times.
Three recent deaths of students--all suspected to be suicides--has the Cornell University community reacting. Immediately I was sad because the success-at-all-costs culture can really get to people who have a tendency toward depression.
But I do wonder: Are the Cornell statistics any different than at other Ivy League schools? A source in the article points to the very public area where these students died--a beautiful gorge by a bridge--and that makes them stand out. As well, the long winters can add to depression. Both true. But isn't Harvard beautiful and cold? Yale?
Like most things, the cases are complex.
I do appreciate that the article was published in the first place. Little by little, we are erasing stigmas, not only about suicide but mental illness in general.
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2 comments:
Interesting article, Allison. As you know, the subject of suicide interests me. In the late 1960s I was personnel director of a financial services firm in Atlanta. One day a vice president of the firm, a man I liked and respected, killed himself by jumping into the lobby of the Hyatt Regency ,which was a new hotel. It was a horrifying time for his family and friends. To my dismay, other people over the years chose to die this same way. The Golden Gate Bridge has that same reputation, as does a bridge in DC. Now the Cornell gorges seem to be drawing people who no longer want to live. Psychologists will no doubt study this factor in the tragedies.
Hey. ... I do remember (or, I remember my parents telling me) about the Hyatt Regency suicide. ... these very public ones are interesting, almost like the person aims to bring others along in the process.
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