Suicide contagion, also known as
the Werther effect, is a well-documented phenomenon of serious concern for
young people.
Also called “copycat syndrome”,
the understanding that knowledge of a youth suicide creates risk factors
amongst peer groups, school classmates and even ‘friends-of-friends’ networks
has been taken seriously now by
educators, police and the media for decades.
The World Health Organisation
issued media reporting guidelines in an effort to ensure that media reporting
did not contribute to the problem and schools have protocols to ensure that
fellow students have access to counselling when a suicide occurs in a school
cohort.
Young, impressionable minds can
more easily be caught up in suicide ideation. Macabre, unhealthy thinking about
the circumstances of a death of someone close can foster thoughts of
hopelessness and despair. Little wonder that a great deal of public funding,
time and effort has been expended to combat a high youth suicide rate.
I’ve written before questioning
why it is that news of a youth suicide is greeted with far more concern than a
suicide of an elderly or infirmed person. Certainly, it’s natural to lament a
young life lost; a future snuffed out prematurely. But suicide in the elderly
and infirmed is no less a tragedy – particularly as it often portrays a sense
of loss of hope or ability to find support and answers to one’s fears and
concerns. But suicides, and assisted suicides, and suicide pacts, and
murder-suicides are all treated as fodder for the evening news.
Isn’t anyone thinking about the
Werther effect on the elderly?

Two suicide-pact deaths in
Western Australia within the past year (both where the male partner survived)
were reported to have been initiated because of fears associated with the
possibility of needing to move into nursing home care.
Such fears are not irrational.
After all, leaving one’s family home and moving into care with only a minimum of
personal effects and where someone is seemingly destined thereafter to become
increasingly more reliant upon others is a legitimate concern. It’s a life
changing event at a time in a person’s life when their probably least likely to
want any change. But how is it that, in these cases at least, the solution was
suicide? After all, many thousands of Australians successfully deal with these
fears every year.
Is it possible that the most
recent suicide pact couple heard about the earlier couple or indeed others who
had taken this path? Is it possible, prior to this knowledge, that their fears
were held to a lesser degree – that they might have found another less dramatic
solution? We cannot know.
And what affect do the media
reports have on the elderly? A recent anecdote that came to my attention
suggests that there’s a “lowering of morale” when the elderly hear of such
tragedies – especially if the deaths were local or of people with a public
profile. The use of phrases like: did
not want to be ‘forced into a nursing home’ from the recent WA news report are
emotionally charged and cannot help.
The use of the phrase ‘you don’t
want to be a burden’ and variations on that theme have been appearing recently
in TV advertisements for funeral plan insurance. Again, whilst being a burden
is a natural concern, its affirmation in sales slogans can hardly be helpful.
As one might imagine, the aging couple spruiking for the insurance are tanned,
fit, well groomed affluent and clearly in control. Are those of us who don’t fit
this description destined to become a burden? Should we be thinking of another
‘way out’ to make sure that we’re not a burden or so that we’ll leave a larger
nest egg for our family?

A recent study of the activities
of the Scottish Right-to-Die group, Friends at the End (or FATE) summarizes
what we already know of the pro-euthanasia lobby. Here is what one activist had
to say:
“The palliative care
[philosophy] ’you live until you die’ is bilge. A lot of people do live
peacefully until they die. But for a lot of people the last few weeks of their
lives are very
unpleasant and their symptoms dominate them to the extent that they can’t
really think clearly about anything else. And it’s that part that they want to
avoid.”
The modus operandi is clear: paint
the picture of a bleak and pain-racked path to death using statements broad
enough so as to remain unchallenged yet specific enough (usually by way of
example) so as to pique fear and concern.
Certainly, if there are problems,
then fix them. People don’t need to die in pain – experts tell us that; so
let’s make sure everyone has access to the very best of care. Life in our aged
care facilities shouldn’t be a debilitating experience – let’s question the
funding models and the service delivery mindful of the debt of gratitude, care
and attention we owe to the elderly. We should not, by way of public policy,
effectively endorse and amplify their fears.
Just as we all share concern for the
mental health of our youth, we all should try to be aware, to be on the lookout
for tell-tale signs of concern in our elderly loved ones. Affirming words and
taking the time to listen – to give our elders the opportunity to share their
fears – is so important. Comments like ‘I don’t want to be a burden’ are often
really a cri de coeur for affirmation
and not a wish to be gone. At a time in their lives of change, of uncertainty
and insecurity, we need to be constant in our care and presence.
As our population increasingly ages in
coming years we will as a society need to turn our minds more and more to this
question of elder care. How we deal with this, I believe, will be a historical
marker for this generation. Will we continue to turn a blind eye to the subtle
and not-so-subtle messages of hopelessness or will we have the courage and
imagination to revision what aging in Australia should look like?
No comments:
Post a Comment