bob@alice.UUCP (12/19/85)
From a reputable publication: A female chemist's lot is not a happy one. The National Cancer Institute says their suicide rate is five times what might be expected. Nobody's quite sure why, but the findings jibe with other figures showing chemists in general are high suicide risks, as are women doctors and nurses. Most female chemists kill themselves with cyanide. Sounds happy to me. BOB
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (12/19/85)
other figures showing chemists in general are high suicide risks,
as are women doctors and nurses. Most female chemists kill themselves
with cyanide.
BOB
I always heard that dentists have a problem with suicide, too. It's
a pretty boring job. Plus you spend the whole day in people's mouths.
I was in chemistry for a while--long enough to realize how boring it
can be. Plus you have the means--available poisons. Nurses and doctors
probably have the same sort of reason--access to the means.
Along somewhat different lines... (After all, what is this newsgroup
for if not digressions.) I had thoughts of suicide as a teenager.
I always considered that fairly universal. In talking to friends at
college, I found most of them agreed. However when I worked at a
factory, welding car seats, I found out in a conversation that all
of my fellow workers not only had never thought of suicide (or wouldn't
admit it), but thought that the idea was sick. They didn't see how
a fairly normal teenager could even consider it.
Is there a cultural thing at work here? (i.e. middle-class intellectuals
vs. blue-collar workers) Is suicide and thoughts of it (especially in
adolescence) connected with later college attendence, and therefore
certain professions? Is it an intellectual growth stage? (My fellow
workers were not unintelligent, in fact I respected their basic common
sense--but they did not share my orientation on many things. I was odd
in lots of ways to them.)
--
Sue Brezden
ihnp4!drutx!slb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To search for perfection is all very well,
But to look for heaven is to live here in hell.
--Sting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~tim@ism780c.UUCP (Tim Smith) (12/26/85)
In article <4718@alice.UUCP> bob@alice.UUCP writes: > >A female chemist's lot is not a happy one. The National Cancer >Institute says their suicide rate is five times what might be >expected. Nobody's quite sure why, but the findings jibe with Is this actual suicides or attempted suicides? A chemist who wants to kill herself is probably better able to pick a method that works than most people. So I would expect the rate of actual suicides to be higher than normal, even if the rate of attempted suicides isn't higher than normal. -- Tim Smith sdcrdcf!ism780c!tim || ima!ism780!tim || ihnp4!cithep!tim
mat@mtx5a.UUCP (m.terribile) (12/29/85)
> Along somewhat different lines... (After all, what is this newsgroup > for if not digressions.) I had thoughts of suicide as a teenager. > I always considered that fairly universal. In talking to friends at > college, I found most of them agreed. However when I worked at a > factory, welding car seats, I found out in a conversation that all > of my fellow workers not only had never thought of suicide (or wouldn't > admit it), but thought that the idea was sick. They didn't see how > a fairly normal teenager could even consider it. > > Is there a cultural thing at work here? (i.e. middle-class intellectuals > vs. blue-collar workers) Is suicide and thoughts of it (especially in > adolescence) connected with later college attendence, and therefore > certain professions? Is it an intellectual growth stage? (My fellow > workers were not unintelligent, in fact I respected their basic common > sense--but they did not share my orientation on many things. I was odd > in lots of ways to them.) > I have come to the conclusion that, given the circumstances, almost anyone is capable of suicidal feelings. No, strike the ``almost''. I have experienced sudden and unexpected urges to drive off bridges, etc. I have had friends tell me that the same things have happened to them. And I've been told by a practicing psychologist that such feelings usually get their energy from long-repressed anger -- anger that cannot be expressed ``legitimately'' -- perhaps against parents, perhaps against God, perhaps against a loved one who died. Anger that finally turns against us, for want of any other target. Each time I've realized that what was happening in my feelings did not reflect ``reality'' ... in this sense the feelings are wrong. I've also found that I could not believe/accept that what I might do would affect anyone else. And I saw the same thing happen with a friend who refused any gesture of closeness when this happened. (We both have competent therapists, thank you ... for us, this was stuff that may have been dredged up in the process.) It may be that people who grow up in the ``blue-collar'' mold are not as quick to bury anger ... or that they are not as effective, letting it surface in simpler ways like grudges and prejudices. But the person who insists that no ``normal'' person could have these feelings has either never had them, or else cannot admit them for fear of seeming like a ``mental case''. Beethoven, incidentally, wrote of suicidal feelings at least twice in his letters. Each time, he was held back by the feeling that he still had more to do. As for me, I just thank God that I've kept my head. -- from Mole End Mark Terribile (scrape .. dig ) mtx5b!mat ,.. .,, ,,, ..,***_*.