Another fatality at Penge East

[alywin]

http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/14690 ... t_station/

[sydenham_matt]

F*ck off Rod.

Your reply is the worse response to this type of tragedy. You should feel shame.

[mosy]

Is there any evidence yet that this was a suicide? I'm not sure I'd bother doing shopping as the intended last thing I'd do so perhaps might have been a dizzy spell or whatever.

I agree with rod taylor though in principle. If this were in the Town Pub where it could be discussed hypothetically I'd probably join in.

[Robin Orton]

My problem with Rod's suggestion is that it would constitute one more step towards the normalisation of suicide - interpreting it an acceptable lifestyle option, like nudism or celibacy. I fear that would have a corrosive effect on our society, in particular on what obligations we see ourselves as having towards other people.

'Entirely philosophically rational and justifiable'? The New Wertherism?

[stuart]

My problem with Rod's suggestion is that it would constitute one more step towards the normalisation of suicide - interpreting it an acceptable lifestyle option, like nudism or celibacy.

Suicide is already an acceptable life(death)style option. That is what decriminalisation means. Different from an undesirable option.

The suicide prevention industry is based on the premise that in most cases there is a less worse option than death - and helps the person discover it and attempts to provide any needed support. It has been notably successful. But, sadly, there are a few people for whom death is the most rational and humane outcome. Those that try to stop it (rather than persuade) are, if you are logical, inflicting something worse than death.

Usually leaving the option with the person to take or not take their life after trying to work through the alternatives is more successful than attempting to physically stop them and deprive them of the only choice they think they have left in life.

Maybe we should adjourn this discussion to the local hostelry as we don't know if any of this is relevant to this person and it would be inappropriate to speculate into this terrible incident.

Stuart

[Eagle]

Do we know this was a suicide or are some people just guessing .

Hope they did not have headphones on and just walk without looking where they are going.

How did we commute in the 70's without Mobile devices. How did we ever survive.

[Robin Orton]

... we don't know if any of this is relevant to this person and it would be inappropriate to speculate into this terrible incident.

I agree, although others clearly don't.

Maybe we should adjourn this discussion to the local hostelry

Do you know any nice local hostelries?

[Manwithaview1]

F*ck off Rod.

Your reply is the worse response to this type of tragedy. You should feel shame.

If you could tell me how my response is so bad I'd take the abuse. Otherwise my response is utterly humane in an inhumane world - it is NewsShopper who care when the train lines will be running again.

I feel no shame whatsoever for demonstrating compassion. There's more nuance to my post than you've detected Matt - I think you got the wrong end of the stick.

Who would work in a place clearing up suicides?

[Parker1970]

I've resisted posting in this thread thus far, mainly because when this happened it was just days after a friend of mine took his own life and it was still very "raw". I did take Rod's comment as somewhat "WTF" at the time but again, that was more die to timing and I think I understand the point he was trying to make, if a little "unsubtly"

I will never understand what drives someone to a public suicide like this, I realize and somewhat agree with assisted suicides where someone's life is not living (medically speaking), it's the suicide due to depression and stress that confuses me the most, which considering I have never been in that place mentally, I won't understand it. But I certainly don't think that a person that deliberately steps in front of a train is thinking about the affect it will have on the train route, it's passengers and indeed (as someone rightly said) the train driver themself for whom it must be extremely shocking.

When my friend took his life just over a week ago, most of his friends (myself included) were wracked with guilt because we did not know they were in such a bad place. It made me reach out to all my friends on social media just to let them know that if they ever were not sure who to reach out to, they could at least reach out to me. It's easy to look at these news articles and judge, it's another thing entirely when you lose someone to suicide. Truly heartbreaking and it certainly makes you look far deeper into what people may be feeling or experiencing. Something I hope I dont ever have to reconcile again.

[Manwithaview1]

Who would work in a place clearing up suicides?

I assume similar to those who work in palliative care.

Never assume anything in a capitalist society.