Not sure if anyone has seen this movie, but its pretty disturbing. A film crew sat on each side of the Golden Gate bridge for a year and filmed the suicide jumps off of it.

A few of the jumps have been put on youtube like this one. and this one (Warning-Graphic)

Two real questions. What drives someone to do something like this, and why would you film it instead of trying to stop it? If you knew the location enough to train a camera there, would your time be better spent standing there and at least trying to stop what was about to happen?

Any thoughts?

T

My wife who has a Degree in Psychology has always stated that trying to talk someone out of a suicidal tendency is something left to the professionals. Someone who is not trained specifically for this dilemma could say the wrong thing and literally push the jumper over the edge.

Last I remembered, the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges have call boxes set every couple hundred of feet that can connect a person to a mental health professional.

Of course with all the tourists who walk on that bridge, one would think that someone would try and physically restrain someone about to jump.

I have a close friend that has been in this situation, as a counselor...Once a man in misery begged him to bring a gun and help him put himself out of his misery...My friend, without missing a beat (he knows his stuff... what not to say and when to say the right thing)...Asked him what caliber he thought would be best, if a hollow point would speed up the process or create too big a mess, he got the guy talking about this so much they both ended up laughing and getting down to the real issue.

I'm certain that is not my line of expertise.

My sister made a suicide try every time she was told NO. Never serious, she'd swallow aspirins but they'd come right back up, it was only to get mom to give her something like money, mom didn't have any to spare, expensive clothes etc.
She died of a heart attack after going through hell with broken bone disease.She told me she was sorry to be selfish but it was too late to tell mom

I know where your coming from. My mother use to exhibit suicidal tendencies. I can remember at least three times where she sliced her wrist in front of my sister and I. More times than that holding a loaded gun to her head. I could never understand the logic and I always thought it was selfish.

I can also remember a night where the gun to the head thing started again, and I can remember thinking that if you're so damn miserable, pull the damn trigger and get it over with. I hated myself for ever thinking such thoughts, but I was at my limit with dealing with such a careless person.

I guess I just dont understand how one willfully takes there own life.

T

I couldn’t understand the concept of suicide either, until I was forced to live with extreme pain, 24/7/365 for 10 years or so. The pain interrupts my sleeping pattern and I can go 30 days or so on 1 to 3 hours of sleep per night. If I do manage to fall asleep, my leg stays in one position for too long and I am woken up by massive knee joint cramping. And I am not talking like ‘Charlie Horse’ cramping, I mean serious agony. Do you know how lonely it is to know that the entire world is sleeping while you sit in agony wishing that the doctors would have cut your legs off rather than save them? It makes me want to scream! The pain is constant. It never leaves. It never takes a vacation. Every step I takes hurts. Sitting with my leg in one position for ten minutes sends a shock through my body which feels like a knife being forced into my knee and then having the knife twisted. A flight of stairs send shudders through my body because I know how much it is going to hurt. At 49 years old, I have had 12 leg operation including two knee replacement, skin grafts, bone grafts, insertion of a metal plate, and so many ligament tears that I totally lost count! And I live each day with the ‘joy’ of knowing that it is only going to get worse as I age. And my only out is my final ‘out’.

I can see how someone can decide to kill themselves. I’ve wondered whether death would be the easier option than constant agony. But people decide to kill themselves because they are focusing on the wrong thing. They are focusing on their pain… on their suffering and on their situation. They need to find a reason to live… a reason to overcome their individual challenges. They need to focus on something bigger than themselves. They need a reason to live.

quote:

Originally posted by militia1:


and why would you film it instead of trying to stop it?

Any thoughts?

T

For the same reason these moronic cameramen won't drop the camera if they see someone trapped in a burning car. Too worried they will miss out on some news award.

Don

DISAGREED
Your situation is unique. You wake up with pain every day. Do you have a family? I'll pray for you hang, in there. Life is precious, you don't think that way you're too busy fighting the pain.

I'm sending positive vibes and prayers to you folks in pain.
My knees suck from years of hockey, basketball and running but they still get me up hill or around the block so I feel very fortunate.
Peace,
Dick

Many, many years ago the CG station at Fort Point had stencils in the boathouse for all the jumpers they had picked up. One stencil for men, another for women.

It was deemed "insensitive" and painted over.

I was stationed at Woods Hole when jumping from the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges was pretty common. The Canal Station folks got most of them but we got called in to a few that went off the Bourne Bridge. They now have the suicide barriers up and they seem to work pretty well. I guess folks just go somewhere else. It is hard to contemplate that state of mind.

If they have family the family suffers most. They're gone, the family lives with it forever. The 'what if's,' abound. They can get help with a hotline which may or may not stop the suicide.
Life is precious, ask someone whose dearly loved one has died?

quote:

Originally posted by Hooligan1790:
I was stationed at Woods Hole when jumping from the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges was pretty common. The Canal Station folks got most of them but we got called in to a few that went off the Bourne Bridge. They now have the suicide barriers up and they seem to work pretty well. I guess folks just go somewhere else. It is hard to contemplate that state of mind.

Yep....the Skyway over Tampa Bay had it's share as well.

Don

There have been proposals to erect a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge, but many people don't think it would "aesthetically pleasing." You know how San Fran is!


...gjd

quote:

Many, many years ago the CG station at Fort Point had stencils in the boathouse for all the jumpers they had picked up. One stencil for men, another for women.

It was deemed "insensitive" and painted over.

Wow. That is sad. I think we need "insensitivity training" instead of vice versa these days. If we don't, then the terrorists will teach us.