By Lubna Abdel-Aziz What struggle, what pain, what courage, what despair lies behind the act of suicide! Is life truly ours, to enter and exit as we please? They say no man is educated who has never dallied with the thought of suicide. But the pain of those we leave behind may be the deterrent. Only 15% of those who attempt suicide actually kill themselves. A study by the World Health Organization has concluded that suicide is highest among elderly men. Out of 57 countries Hungary led the list (52.1 per 100,000) followed by Sri Lanka (49-6). Is suicide a remedy or a whim? No reason or analysis was offered. The apparent suicide of American actor David Carradine in his hotel room in Bangkok, bewildered family, friends, and fans. Although not a household name, his career carries considerable weight in Hollywood. The character actor is a member of an acting family that commands respect. David is the eldest son of legendary actor John Carradine, and brother to Keith and Robert and Bruce. A leading and supporting player, he excelled in portraying villains, in action and terror films. With 100 feature films to his credit, fans may remember him as the sinister killer Bill, in Quentin Tarrantino's, Kill Bill volume I (2003) and volume II (2004) for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. David rose to fame in his iconic role as Kwai Chang Caine on the popular TV series Kung Fu (1972 -- 1975). He left the series to pursue a movie career. In Thailand to shoot the movie Stretch, David Carradine (72) was found by a hotel maid, "naked and hanging in the closet." No further details were provided "out of consideration for his family." Whatever happened to trigger such an act of self destruction? No one close to him detected any signs of despondency. No one knew of any reason to choose death over life. Was it done on the spur of the moment, or was it deliberated, calculated, and executed? Even a suicide note never quite reveals the inner secrets that drive an individual to tie a rope around his neck and suffocate, to jump off a cliff, or point a gun at himself. Is it voluntary or involuntary? Is one controlled or in control? The precise emotions of that split second are secrets buried with the victim, to surface nevermore. Suicide has always threatened mankind. In ancient times there was a relaxed attitude towards the deed. The ancient Egyptians viewed it as a neutral event, since death was only a passage from one life to another. The Epicureans and Stoics considered suicide an appropriate escape from the sufferings of the world. Greek philosophers, like Aristotle rejected it, while Plato conditionally approved of it. In ancient Rome it was specifically forbidden in 3 cases: those accused of a capital crime, soldiers, and slaves. Reasons of dishonor and patriotism were fully approved. Death was unimportant. It was the way of dying that mattered intensely. While Brutus, falling on his sword, was acclaimed, Marc Antony's suicide was condemned, because it was done for love not honour. Most religions condemn suicide. Confuscionism, Hinduism, Shintoism, accept it in rare cases such as incurable disease. Early Christianity was strongly attracted towards suicide, as it was indistinguishable from martyrdom. Its views gradually changed, and by the 6th century suicide became a crime punishable by excommunication. St. Augustine in The City of God (5th century) condemned suicide by applying to it the 6th commandment: "Thou shalt not kill." Self harm was a direct offence against divine law. The ultimate irony was the execution of people for the crime of attempting to commit suicide. Islam vehemently prohibits suicide; Muslim "suicide bombers" regard their acts as "martyrdom operations." Hara-kiri is the ritual suicide in Japan, accepted, respected, and even expected in certain cases of dishonor. By the early 19th century, suicide had become a psychological/sociological condition, rather than a philosophical/ideological one. The fault shifted from the individual to the society. One can hardly be blamed for mental illness or biological imbalances. A variety of stressful events can put practically anyone at incredible risk for harming oneself. All groups of society are not immune to the temptation of suicide. 60% of all suicides are the result of mood disorders; only 30%, of psychiatric disorders. Copying an idol, a celebrity, or a parent is another major cause predisposing to suicide. The rich and famous, especially movie stars, models, rock stars, etc, are on the average more unhappy than the rest of the population. Many struggle with alcohol or drug addiction, and have virtually little family or moral support. Ernest Hemingway leads an endless list of famous people who chose death over life. Charles Boyer, Geirge Sanders, Alan Ladd, Dalida, Kurt Cobain, Will Rogers Jr., Jean Seberg, Gig Young and Carlos Thompson. Thompson, an Argentinean actor who starred wih Lana Turner in The Flame and the Flesh (1954), was one of the happiest, funniest, smartest actors I ever met. We worked together in London in the late 60s, and he and his wife German/Austrian actress Lilli Palmer appeared to have the perfect marriage, and led picture-perfect lives. What triggered his inexplicable act of fleeing life on this earth! We shall never know if Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Preseley, Natalie Wood, Souad Hosni, or Anna Nicole Smith, deliberately ended some intolerable pain, or was their death the unintended result of a miscalculation. Movie stars often suffer from what analysts call the "imposter syndrome," a fear that their success is undeserved and that the public will discover them to be less wonderful. Add to that the emotional demands of the profession, the intense passion for perfection, the struggle to remain on top. Who cares to live in such a fish bowl? Fame is not all that it is touted to be. Is our life ours to take or leave, or does it belong to a divine plan Are we free to rush to our "secret house of death," because of extreme depression or intolerable conditions? The lure of suicide was never better expressed than in Shakespeare's 8 tragedies, where suicide occurs 14 times. Unforgettable is Hamlet's cry "To be or not to be?" Is it courage, or the lack of it, that urges the victim to end it all? Which takes more courage, to live and fight our demons or to escape the pain, the torment, the humiliation? With society's unavoidable ills, perhaps it takes more courage to live than to die! ...To die; to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to..... -- William Shakespeare (1564 -- 1616)
