The Stigma of Suicide
David Lester
Last week, I revisited the National Civil Rights Museum
at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. I was last there 15 years ago and,
in the first poster back then, there was mention of the resistance by the
slaves against their slavery. The poster mentioned acts of destruction of the
slave owners’ property, and the poster also mentioned suicide. That word acted
like a neon sign to me, and I soon published an article on suicide in slaves.
The re-modeled museum no longer has that poster, and it
makes no mention of suicide.
I think a similar avoidance of the mention of suicide is
found in institutions centered around the Holocaust. Yes, suicide occurred, and
Konrad Kwiet and I have written books on the topic, but those involved in
Holocaust centers prefer to avoid this topic.
We know that suicide has always had stigma associated
with it, and this stigma persists. I think that suicide is typically viewed as
acts made by people who are psychiatrically disturbed. The prevailing view
today is that almost all suicides have a psychiatric disorder, with the
implication that such people cannot make rational decisions, a position that I
strongly disagree with. It is also viewed as a sign of weakness, another
position that I strongly disagree with.
But it understandable that, if you hold both positions,
suicide among those that the institutions are honoring is something that
institutions would prefer to ignore.
A pity.
