Suicide Article Summary

Application Paper

The article I chose for this assignment tells the tragic story of twin sisters from Australia who attempted to commit suicide together. One was successful in taking her life while the other was not. This is interesting from a psychological stand point on many levels. First off the depression leading to suicide is a powerful emotion worthy of psychological study in its own right, but the fact that they chose to do it together brings group mentality and sibling bond into the equation as well.

In the article the two sisters first began gun training in an apparent attempt to acquire the knowledge of guns necessary to kill themselves two weeks before the attempted double suicide. To me this shows that they were in a major depressive state for an extended period of time to plot a suicide that far in advance. This psychological pain, which to the human brain is much the same as physical pain, must have been unbearable. I subscribe to a hedonic view in which people seek out pleasure and avoid pain, and thus believe that is what suicide victims are trying to do. They get trapped in the helplessness theory and feel that the pain is too great and that it is not temporary and there is no way to make it stop other than to end their lives. It is truly tragic that they are doing what is in mankind’s most basic nature and seeking out happiness, but only finding it in death.

The group mentality of mass suicides has always intrigued me. That one or a couple of people can influence the emotional state of a group so much that they are willing to take their own lives is fascinating. Although two people entering into a suicide pack is not necessarily a group, it is still interesting that one of the twins didn’t talk the other one up out of the suicide or insist that she get help. Instead they used each other to find the strength to do something that they might not have had the strength to do on their own. This undoubtedly shows an extremely...