Abstract
Last year I claimed that newspaper reports of suicide indicate that in at least some instances, suicide is not predicted by those close to the subject [1,2]. This could be because the survivors are either not trained or not alert. But I believe that in certain cases, even those both fully trained and alert are unable to pick-up signs—because there aren't any. This leads to the proposal that some suicide is not preventable and that in these cases, the attribution of blame is wrong. I labour this point because we live in a ‘culture of complaint’ and I sense a strong drive to find someone responsible whenever a suicide occurs. I doubt that I lack compassion or that I am paranoid—but I do not deny the possibility.
Three instances of suicide have been reported in the press, recently.
David Edward Such (58 years) hanged himself with a skipping rope in mid-June in north west London. I saw Such when he came to Australia in the early 1960s. At that stage he was a rock and roll singer. He was already unusual. At the time all rock and roll singers wore snappy suits and meticulously combed and oiled hair. On the day I saw him he wore a pair of jeans and a jumper and his hair was long, uncombed and non-oiled. He changed his name to Lord Such by deed poll and became known as ‘Screaming Lord Such’.
He did not have many hit records, but Such continued to make a living as a singer, in pubs and concerts. He was best known for his political behaviour. He established a political party called the Monster Raving Loonie Party. Their slogan: ‘Vote for insanity—you know it makes sense’. Whether he was an eccentric exhibitionist, a publicity seeking entertainer or a true satirist may be debated. What is beyond doubt is that he was the longest serving party leader in Britain. Over 30 years he fought 40 elections. Each time he failed to gain the necessary votes to have his deposit refunded. He wore outrageous clothes, shouted through a megaphone and made fun of the political system and himself.
Tony Blair's office expressed regret at his death. At his funeral, 600 of his friends turned out dressed in weird coloured top hats and other extravagances. His ex-wife, his ex-de facto and his current fiancee were among the mourners, along with his 24 year old son.
All expressed surprise and sadness. There are many ways to conceptualise the life and death of Such. However, there is evidence that there were many people who cared for him and would have done what was possible to prevent his suicide.
The hanging death of Australian intelligence agent Colonel Mevyn Jenkins (48 years) in Washington was also reported in mid June. He was a married man with three sons. He was under investigation for ‘breaches of information handling procedures’—this is believed to be a minor matter—it was said that no information left his department. His death took place just weeks after Jean-Philippe Wispelaere (a former Australian Defence Intelligence Organisation officer) was arrested by the FBI for attempting to sell American secrets.
Again, friends expressed sadness and they had not predicted his death. There is now concern that the investigators may have ‘over-zealously pursued a needless investigation’ and, ‘the DIO needs to provide some public answers about the exact nature of the investigation’ [The Australian, 19–20 June]. Even those who investigate the security of our security service may not be immune from blame when it comes to suicide.
In early July Barbara Wyrzkowski (25 years) died with her five children in a Toyota Tarago van with a hose bringing exhaust gases through a window. It is believed this was a murder—suicide. Ms Wyrzkowski's partner and father of three of the children ‘had no idea the children's lives had been in danger’. In murder—suicides involving children, when there have not been custody battles or other fights between carers, it is usually concluded that the parent has been suffering from a psychotic depression but kept the matter secret. The police stated ‘From what we can gather thus far, there was no inkling that anything like this was going to happen’.
These are terrible events. Suicide must be prevented wherever possible. It is a mistake to make such situations worse by blaming survivors for not preventing something which was not preventable.