From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A suicide note or death note is a message left by someone who later attempts or commits suicide. It is estimated that 12–20% of suicides are accompanied by a note. ^[1] However, incidence rates may depend on ethnicity, method of suicide, and cultural differences, and may reach rates as high as 50% in certain demographics.^[2][3] A suicide note can be in written, audio, or video form.

Reasons

According to Dr. Lenora Olson, the most common reasons that people contemplating suicide choose to write a suicide note include one or more of the following:

• To ease the pain of those known to the victim by attempting to dissipate guilt.
• To increase the pain of survivors by attempting to create guilt.^[4]
• To set out the reason(s) for suicide.
• To give instructions as to disposal of remains.
• Occasionally, those who have committed murder or some other offense will confess their acts in a note.^[5][6][7]

The most common reasons people contemplating suicide fail to write a note are:^{[citation needed]}

• They are so focused on the practicalities of what they are about to do (e.g. loading a pistol or tying a noose, etc.) that the idea of leaving a note does not occur to them.
• Their choice to commit suicide was impulsive, or at least hasty enough that there was no time to compose a suicide note.
• They have nothing to say and/or nobody to say it to — common for those without surviving loved ones or other social relationships, such as the elderly.
• They feel that they cannot express what they wish to say.
• They simply do not wish to write about their choice, or cannot see any point in doing so.
• They are functionally or completely illiterate, or uncomfortable with written language.
• They hope the suicide will be considered to be an accident or homicide. This is common in those who wish to be buried in consecrated ground or hope their families will be able to collect on insurance.

Sometimes there is also a message in the case of murder–suicide, explaining the reason(s) for the murder(s), see e.g. Marc Lépine's suicide statement and videotaped statements of the 7 July 2005 London bombers.

Forgeries

According to forensic linguist John Olsson, forged suicide notes often contain negative social projections about people who commit suicide. A forged note might contain words like "crazy" or "cowardly," which rarely occur in genuine suicide notes. ^[8]

Famous suicide notes

The following people have left famous suicide notes:^{[citation needed]}

• Christine Chubbuck - WXLT TV (Sarasota, FL) anchor who committed suicide during a newscast.
• Misao Fujimura - high school student studying philosophy who wrote the suicide note on a tree; the suicide resulted in many copycat suicides.
• Getulio Vargas - lawyer, politician and Brazilian president (1930–1945; 1950–1954) who used his suicide and suicide note (the "Carta Testamento") as a political weapon against his enemies.
• Lisandro de la Torre - Argentinian lawyer, politician and senator who fought against his government's corrupt officers during the "Década Infame" (Infamous Decade) of the 1930s. Finally, abandoned by his allies and believing his struggle to be lost, he committed suicide, leaving a note describing the desperate situation he was in.
• Leandro Alem - Argentinian lawyer, politician and senator who took his own life in 1896 after being betrayed by his fellow Radical-party members, who gave themselves to the fraudulent regime then in power in the country, at least according to his view. He left a note denouncing them and his own nephew and heir to the leadership of his party, the future president Hipólito Yrigoyen.
• Yukio Mishima, Japanese writer. His suicide note explained his reasons for attempting to incite mutiny amongst the Japanese self-defence forces.
• Eduardo Chibás, Cuban politician and radio celebrity, killed himself during the broadcast of his programme, making his speech during it a kind of oral suicidal note, protesting against the widespread corruption of the reigning regime.
• Roger Angleton - murderer and brother of famous bookmaker Robert Angleton.
• J. Clifford Baxter - Enron Corporation executive.
• Roh Moo-hyun, former South Korean President. The note expressed his remorse to the people, claiming to be a "burden for others".
• Eustace Budgell, English writer: "What Cato did, and Addison approved, cannot be wrong."
• Leslie Cheung - Hong Kong actor and musician who suffered from clinical depression.
• Kurt Cobain - lead singer of Nirvana. The note first addresses his fans and gives his reasons, followed by a message to his wife, Courtney Love, and to his daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. The note made reference to Freddie Mercury and famously quoted "Hey Hey, My My" from Neil Young's album Rust Never Sleeps.
• Clara Blandick - U.S. film actress, most famous for playing Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Her note stated, "I am now about to make the great adventure".
• Ida Craddock - Facing prison in 1902 for sending through the U.S. Mail sexually explicit marriage manuals she had authored, Craddock penned a lengthy public suicide note to her readers condemning Anthony Comstock, sponsor of the Comstock Act under which she was convicted.
• Dalida - popular French singer. She wrote, "Life has become unbearable ... forgive me."
• Per Yngve "Dead" Ohlin - Lead singer of the black metal group Mayhem, whose suicide note famously read, in part, "Excuse all the blood" and included an apology for the loud gunshot.
  
  

  

  The German poet Heinrich von Kleist's suicide note from 1811 is a farewell letter to his sister Ulrike.
• Budd Dwyer - Pennsylvania politician who, during a recorded televised news conference, read a prepared statement and then shot himself.
• George Sanders - Academy Award-winning British actor. His note stated only: "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck."
• George Eastman - Inventor of 35 mm film and founder of Eastman Kodak. His note simply read, "My work is done. Why wait?"
• Mike Von Erich - Wrestler who committed suicide after thinking that he was not as good as he had been prior to a shoulder injury. His brothers Kerry and Chris also committed suicide.
• James Forrestal - Former United States Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy.
• Pete Ham - Leader of the rock group Badfinger. Ham's note blamed the group's manager for his financial ruin, calling him "...a soulless bastard. I will take him with me."
• Tony Hancock - British comedian, who died in 1968. Suicide note included the line "Things just went wrong too many times".
• Freddie Prinze - U.S. actor and comedian, famous for his role on the sitcom Chico and the Man. Is the father of Freddie Prinze Jr.
• Elliott Smith - Singer/songwriter who suffered from addiction and depression. The note, according to the coroner, read "I'm so sorry - love, Elliot. God forgive me." The misspelling of the name is believed to be the fault of the coroner, but it is still unclear whether it was a suicide or not.^{[citation needed]}
• Hunter S. Thompson - Creator of gonzo journalism
• Virginia Woolf - English feminist author and poet. Her suicide note iterated that she feared she was on the brink of what would have been the latest in a series of breakdowns, and that she would rather die than endure another such episode. Her note concluded with a message to her husband telling him that she loved him and thanking him for the time they had together.
• Lee Eun-ju - She left a suicide note scrawled in blood, in which she wrote, "Mom, I am sorry and I love you." A separate note said, "I wanted to do too much. Even though I live, I'm not really alive. I don't want anyone to be disappointed. It's nice having money... I wanted to make money."
• Korechika Anami - "I - with my death - humbly apologize to the Emperor for the great crime." Historians are divided as to what crime he was referring to. It is possibly a reference to his part in the aborted coup against the Emperor Hirohito in the hours following Japan's decision to surrender at the end of World War II.
• Vincent Van Gogh - Post-Impressionist artist.
• Romain Gary - He wrote a suicide note explaining the reasons of his suicide and then shot himself in the mouth. Apart from his suicide note, he had stated: "I really had fun. Goodbye and thank you."

See also

• Death poem

References

1. ^ "AIM Report: Critiquing Berman's Report on Foster". Accuracy in Media. 2001-06-01. http://www.aim.org/aim_report/A3630_0_4_0_C/. 
2. ^ "The significance of suicide notes in the elderly". 2002-05-01. http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/content/kkdxrceq8bd94qnh/m. 
3. ^ "Incidence of note-leaving remains constant despite increasing suicide rates". Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 2005-04-01. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-1819.2005.01364.x?cookieSet=1&journalCode=pcn. 
4. ^ "Mother left notes before deaths". bbc.co.uk. 2008-07-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7535330.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
5. ^ "Suicide note reveals murder confession". bbc.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/14/newsid_2503000/2503395.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
6. ^ "Man jailed for murder in lay-by". bbc.co.uk. 2008-03-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/4762774.stm. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
7. ^ "Suicide note found in murder-suicide case". cbc.ca. 2000-06-23. http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/06/23/note000623.html. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 
8. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197187/Dear-Garry-Ive-decided-end-The-stop-trapped-killer.html

External links

• Mark Etkind: ...Or Not to Be: A Collection of Suicide Notes, Riverhead Trade, ISBN 1-573225-80-0
• Lenora M. Olson, The use of suicide notes as an aid for understanding motive in completed suicides, Proquest/UMI, ISBN 0-542162-85-7
• Famous suicide notes - dying words of famous people
• Suicide note
• Suicide Note
• Sam Paul: Why I Committed Suicide, iUniverse, Inc., ISBN 0-595326-95-1
• Kurt Cobain suicide note Shows the full text of Kurt Cobain's suicide note and discusses it in relation to recognized acute risk factors.

From Wikiquote

A suicide note is a document written by a person preparing to commit suicide, often to explain the reasons for this act and to say goodbye to loved ones, although sometimes simply as a means to make an additional statement. A suicide note typically relays the last words of its author, although in several instances the author survives the attempt, or at least survives long enough to utter some additional "last words".

Sourced

• Dou o primeiro passo no caminho da eternidade, e saio da vida para entrar na História.
  • Translation: I take the first step in the path of eternity and I leave life to enter History.
  • Who: Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, Brazilian president, in his Carta Testamento.

Unsourced

• I am now about to make the great adventure.
  • Who: Clara Blandick, U.S. film actress, most famous for playing Auntie Em in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz.

• What Cato did, and Addison approved, cannot be wrong.
  • Who: Eustace Budgell, English writer.

• And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead.
  • Nicolas-Sebastien Chamfort, French writer, d. 1794

• I don't have the passion anymore, and so remember, it's better to burn out than to fade away. Peace, Love, Empathy. Kurt Cobain.
  • Who: Kurt Cobain, Lead singer for American grunge band Nirvana, referencing "My, My, Hey, Hey", a song by Neil Young.

• Life has become unbearable … forgive me.
  • Dalida, popular French singer, d. 1987

• My heart has always been in the right place, honest to God. My head is what is off at times.
  • Who: Melinda Duckett

• To my friends: My work is done. Why wait?
  • Who: George Eastman, inventor.

• I wanted to do too much. Even though I live, I'm not really alive. I don't want anyone to be disappointed. It's nice having money … I wanted to make money.
  • Lee Eun-ju, South Korean actress, d. 2005

• Despair and depression,
  together they grow.
  Hope shall meet hopeless
  when there's nowhere to go.
  • Misao Fujimura, Japanese high school philosophy student, d. 1903

• When all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.
  • Charlotte Perkins Gilman, writer, d. August 17, 1935

• Things just went wrong too many times.
  • Who: Tony Hancock

• All fled – all done, so lift me on the pyre;
  The feast is over, and the lamps expire.
  • Robert E. Howard, writer, d. June 11, 1936

• I am going to put myself to sleep now for a bit longer than usual. Call it Eternity.
  • Who: Jerzy Kosinski, Polish-American novelist

• Excuse all the blood; sorry for firing the weapon indoors.
  • Who: Per Yngve Ohlin, AKA Dead, ex-vocalist with black metal band Mayhem
  • Ohlin left this remark in his suicide note before cutting his wrists, then shooting himself in the head with a shotgun.

• I must end it. There's no hope left. I'll be at peace. No one had anything to do with this. My decision totally.
  • Who: Freddie Prinze, comedian.

• To my friends and supporters to help them make sense of all these events that have happened so quickly: Certain human cultures have been waging war against the Earth for millennia. I chose to fight on the side of bears, mountain lions, skunks, bats, saguaros, cliff rose and all things wild. I am just the most recent casualty in that war. But tonight I have made a jail break – I am returning home, to the Earth, to the place of my origins. Bill, 12/21/05 (the winter solstice.)
  • Who: William C. Rodgers, American environmentalist
  • Note: Rodgers was arrested on December 7, 2005 by the FBI in Operation Backfire, being charged with ecoterrorist activities (Rodgers denied the allegations). He committed suicide in his cell using a plastic bag on December 21, 2005, the winter solstice.

• Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool – good luck.
  • Who: George Sanders, Actor

• Forgive me. I can no longer live with my nerves.
  • Who: Jean Seberg

• When I am dead, and over me bright April
  Shakes out her rain drenched hair,
  Tho you should lean above me broken hearted,
  I shall not care.
  For I shall have peace.
  As leafey trees are peaceful
  When rain bends down the bough.
  And I shall be more silent and cold hearted
  Than you are now.
  • Sara Teasdale (poet), addressing her lover, d. 1933

• No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun – for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax – This won't hurt.
  • Who: Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005), suicide note entitled Football Season is Over
  • Hunter was actually speaking to his wife, Anita, on the telephone, with the word "Counselor" typed on his typewriter, when he shot himself. The above quote was written a week or so earlier.

• The future is just old age and illness and pain … I must have peace and this is the only way.
  • James Whale, film director, d. May 29, 1957

• The act of taking my own life is not something I am doing without a lot of thought. I don't believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm. Love always, Wendy.
  • Who: Wendy O. Williams, Punk Rocker, Lead vocalist for the Plasmatics.

Attributed

• La tristesse durera toujours.
  • The sadness will last forever.
    • Who: Vincent van Gogh

• I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices.
  • Who: Virginia Woolf

See also

• Last words