“Suicide is the leading cause of death in men under 50
Male Suicide accounts for more deaths than are accounted for by coronary heart disease, accidental poisoning or diseases of the liver
Rates of suicide increase during times of economic recession
42% of UK men have considered suicide
Male suicide statistics are terrifying, but we must remember that boys and men are people, not numbers.”
Source: Men’s Minds Matter
IF YOU ARE FEELING SUICIDAL YOURSELF THERE IS HELP AVAILABLE SO PLEASE REACH OUT NOW TO ONE OF THE AGENCIES LISTED HERE
Seppuku is honorable death or ritualistic suicide by disembowelment conducted by samurai in order to atone for crimes, regain lost honour, or avoid disgraceful capture.
Seppuku (harakiri) in its most common and recognizable form became a highly ritualized spectacle of noble and artistic suicide and also a form of capital punishment for the nobles especially after the 1600's. The condemned man wore a ceremonial white death kimono and was permitted a final meal. The execution blade, which could range in size from a long sword to a ceremonial knife, was then served in the last plate, and he would be expected to write a death poem before stabbing himself in the abdomen and cuttingfirst from left to the right and then upwards and then downwards.
Upon completing the cut, his second (kaishakunin) would step forward to issue the killing blow to the condemned man's exposed neck. However if honour was to be preserved in the act, it was expected that this cut would not severe the neck completely, but allow just enough flesh attached for the head to fall naturally forward into the executed man's arms. In this way, not only the viewers clothes are not stained with the blood but also the head drops among the two hands of the samurai as if he is holding his head.
The Thinker (French: Le Penseur), by Auguste Rodin, is a bronze sculpture depicting a nude male figure of heroic size, seated on a large rock, leaning forward, right elbow placed upon the left thigh, back of the right hand supporting the chin in a posture evocative of deep thought and contemplation. This universally recognized expression of "deep thought" has made the sculpture one of the most widely known artworks in the world. It has become the iconic symbol of thinking; images of the sculpture in profile are often used to indicate philosophy and other practices of contemplation or introspection.
Rodin conceived the figure as part of his work The Gates of Hell commissioned in 1880, but the first of the familiar monumental bronze castings was made in 1904, and is now exhibited at the Musée Rodin, in Paris.
The Death of Chattertonis an oil painting on canvas, by the English Pre-Raphaelite painter Henry Wallis.
The subject of the painting was the 17-year-old English early Romantic poet Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770), shown dead after he had poisoned himself with arsenic in 1770. Chatterton was considered a Romantic hero for many young and struggling artists in Wallis's time.
The subject of the painting was the 17-year-old English early Romantic poet Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770), shown dead after he had poisoned himself with arsenic in 1770. Chatterton was considered a Romantic hero for many young and struggling artists in Wallis's time.
The painting was Wallis's first exhibited work. It was shown at the Royal Academy summer exhibition in 1856, with a quotation from the Tragedy of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe inscribed on the frame: "Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, And burned is Apollo's laurel bough". It was an immediate success, with John Ruskin describing it as "faultless and wonderful" and was one of the most popular paintings of the 19th century in reproductive print form.
Drowning not Waving
Stevie Smith, 1972
Nobody heard him, the dead man,
But still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought
And not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking
And now he’s dead
It must have been too cold for him his heart gave way,
They said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning.
GP says: “As it stands, with Stage Two Hypertension and raised cholesterol, if you don’t change your lifestyle you may only live another ten years. If you do make the changes, you may have another thirty years, extending your life expectancy to the normal range of 80 years or so.”
Patient thinks: “OK, but what would those extra years be for? Unable to find meaningful work or meaning elsewhere. Alone, viewed as worthless, making-do on a shoestring and only surviving every additional day. That doesn’t sound like living. What would be the point?”