• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Places That Attract Suicides

Beachy Head is a well-known suicde spot,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beachy_Head#Suicide_spot

I visited Beachy head several times in my childhood, but I wasn't then aware it was a suicide spot, or feel any negative vibes there. Probably there aren't any negative vibes there - it's a good suicide spot because it's an easily accessible very high cliff.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Golden Gate Bridge hits record 46 suicides in 2013
Published time: February 26, 2014 10:09
http://rt.com/usa/suicides-bridge-record-golden-810/

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California (Reuters / Robert Galbraith)

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge has seen a record-breaking level of ‘jumpers’ in 2013, with 46 people ending their life, according to a watchdog group. This is 1.5 times higher than a year before.

The Bridge Rail Foundation urged the authorities to install a safety net to prevent further escalation of the suicide rate at the 1,280-meter bridge, which towers more than 65 meters over the entrance to San Francisco Bay.

However, the Foundation doesn’t hope for the government’s reaction any time soon.

"I know it won't be built soon, and that's the most frustrating thing about this," Dayna Whitmer, board member with the organization, told Reuters.

"We hate to see any more 17-year-olds jump or 86-year-olds jump, it's just not right," she added.

The authorities have been planning to set up a special safety net to catch people who jump. However, $66 million are needed to build the construction. Three years ago, a company was given $5 million to design the safety net.

The previous record of suicides is believed to have been 40 or 41 fatalities in one year, Whitmer said.

The total number of those who died by jumping off the bridge remains unknown, partly because there were almost no records of the suicide rates, and also due to the fact that some bodies are never found.

Whitmer's 20-year-old son, Matthew, is believed to have committed suicide off the Golden Gate in 2007 after he was reported missing and the car he drove was discovered near the bridge, she told Reuters.

Initially, the information on the casualties came from the spokeswoman for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, Mary Currie, who has been keeping an unofficial count of suicides since 2000.

Currie also said that police officers or others stopped another 118 people from jumping to their deaths. To stop the people from ending their lives, there are bicycle patrols, plus two to four officers on the bridge’s sidewalks, according to California Highway Patrol spokeswoman Andrew Barclay, as cited by Reuters.

In 2012, the number of suicides stood at 33.
Click to expand...
 
Someone who survived.

A man who jumped off San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to try to take his own life and was kept afloat by a sea lion said Wednesday suicide prevention was now his life's work.

Kevin Hines, in Australia to speak at several conferences, was a teenager struggling with mental illness and depression when he jumped off the famous bridge in 2000. He survived the fall, only to see what he thought was a shark beneath him.

"I was freaking out in those waters. And I was thinking I didn't die there and now I am going to die here in the water because of a creature of some sort," he told AFP. "I really thought it was a shark and I thought it was going to take off a leg and I was panicking. And then it just didn't, it just kept circling beneath me. I remember floating atop the water and this thing just bumping me, bumping me up."

Hines later spoke to a man who had been on the bridge that day and who had seen that it was not a shark but a sea lion. ...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/national/golden-gate-bridge-jumper-says-sea-lion-saved-him/ar-BBid5j4
 
Do not read the comments below the article from bible bashers. Cumpulsive reading but got on my nerves rather. reading
 
From the Eastbourne Herald:

"BEACHY HEAD

One of Sussex’s most beautiful areas is also one of the saddest. Beachy Head near Eastbourne has been the scene of numerous suicides over the years. So many deaths have occurred here that it isn’t any wonder that the place has been witness to numerous ghosts. ...

What is it about this place that people want to end their lives? One thing’s for sure, even after an exorcism conducted at Beachy Head way back in 1952 which was attended by over 100 people held beneath large wooden crosses this wasn’t enough to stave off the curse of Beachy Head."

There are some other ghost stories about the local area in the article.
Read more at: https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/...colm-robinson-ghosts-of-beachy-head-1-3011863
 
Last edited by a moderator:
CALGACUS03 said:
"What is it about this place that people want to end their lives?"
Click to expand...
Er it's really high up. But that's local journalism for you I guess. It's a bit tasteless really? Trying to get a ghost story out of a place that lots of desperate people kill themselves at. "Too soon" as they say.

I looked up the "exorcism" in the Eastbourne Gazette of the day, it was actually a medium and his chums from the Peacehaven Spiritualist Church having a seance. A member of the British Society of Dowsers had selected the spot "as one of 'evil influence'. I liked the other comments in the newspaper article: a local vicar said that "while he believed fully in the existence of the spirit of evil, and of the powers of exorcism, he could not accept that evil spirits at Beachy Head could 'drag a person from, say, Birmingham or Manchester, to throw himself over a cliff'. and a Catholic dismissing the seance as "absolute nonsense". and maybe the best one: "The last word on the question came from a local police officer who on several occasions has descended the sheer cliff face to recover the bodies of Beachy Head victims. Asked for his comments, he replied, in effect, that he was not impressed."
 
I visited there in 2006. I was aware of it's history as a suicide spot, so was well primed to view it as something unnerving... which was exactly what happened. It was a bright summers day, and tehre were families walking about. Down by the cliffs edge I just found it so... edgy somehow. There was that usual 'urge to jump off' which often accompanies cliffs edges and train platforms (not really an urge, but you can't help but think about it). It seemed stronger here though, and there was something about the light that made everything too 'clear' somehow - and distance seemed really messed up too. There was a building in the distance - some kind of farmhouse - and I couldn't tell what size it was. I walked down a path by the cliff-edge with a friend, and when we got to the 'bottom' of the cliff, we looked back, and were quite horrified to see just how close it was to the edge of the cliff - which we weren't aware of at the time. It looked far steeper too. In essence a lot more 'dangerous' that we realized. I was relieved to leave the area. it all felt too dangerous to me somehow. A very unsafe region. As I said though, I knew it's reputation as a suicide spot, and had read some of the ghost stories, so no doubt imagination was busy at work. I spoke to a friend the next day, and told her about our trip to Beachy Head. She said that she had been down there when she had had her first child and felt that she would 'never be happy again'. Odd place. didn't like it, but as I said, imagination...
 
The recently opened 'Vessel' attraction in New York City seems to attract suicides. It's been closed while operators consult with suicide prevention experts.

Vessel-NYC.jpg

The Vessel in New York City closed after third suicide at tourist attraction

The 150-foot set of spiraling staircases is now off-limits as operators consult with suicide-prevention experts.

Operators of a towering New York City tourist attraction closed the structure until further notice this week following multiple suicides at the site. ...

The Vessel in Hudson Yards on the far west side of Manhattan has been the scene of three deaths by suicide since it opened last year, the most recent occurring on Monday, the New York Times reported.

And now operators of the 150-foot set of spiraling staircases will close it while they consult with suicide-prevention experts, NBC New York reported on Wednesday. ...
Click to expand...

SOURCE: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...ter-third-suicide-tourist-attraction-n1254190

VESSEL WEBSITE: https://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/discover/vessel
 
It's horrible that they had to take that into consideration at all, but they really should have at the planning stage. I suppose it might not cross an enthusiastic architect's mind. Sad all round.
 
In Sydney, Australia there is 'The Gap' a beautiful cliff side look out on the South Head penninsula in the suburb of Watson's Bay.
It's fenced off, but according to this Sydney Morning Herald article from 2011, some 50 people still take their lives there each year.

thegap.jpg


A FENCE built to deter jumpers at the infamous suicide spot The Gap could be climbed with ease by ''people in a desperate situation'', warns the woman who campaigned for it.

Dianne Gaddin lost her daughter Tracy at The Gap 5½ years ago and has since spent years lobbying for new safety measures along the rugged stretch of Sydney coastline.
Click to expand...
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/new-fence-at-the-gap-just-not-high-enough-20110625-1gklq.html
 
The escarpment at Halls Gap, Victoria, is also famous for suicides. I had a weird experience there which I mention in the "Odd bit of road" thread. If I can work out how to quote from another thread I'll repost it.
 
pandacracker said:
The escarpment at Halls Gap, Victoria, is also famous for suicides. I had a weird experience there which I mention in the "Odd bit of road" thread. If I can work out how to quote from another thread I'll repost it.
Click to expand...
You look for the number at top right of the post and quote that or summat.
 
Thanks for the hint Scargy but it was easier than I thought. Here it is.

pandacracker said:
I've had a similar cliff edge/escarpment experience at "Hall's Gap" in Victoria, Aus. Beautiful place but on approaching the edge I had an overwhelming feeling of wanting/having to jump. It was so strong I had to get down on my hands and knees and explore. The need to jump came in waves and I was shaking a little. That evening around the fire our guide told us that the place was famous for suicides.
Click to expand...
 
Lord Lucan said:
In Sydney, Australia there is 'The Gap' a beautiful cliff side look out on the South Head penninsula in the suburb of Watson's Bay.
It's fenced off, but according to this Sydney Morning Herald article from 2011, some 50 people still take their lives there each year.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/new-fence-at-the-gap-just-not-high-enough-20110625-1gklq.html
Click to expand...

Within the last couple of years new fences have been erected along railway tracks at British stations where access to tracks used to be open.

They are tall, sturdy metal structures. You'd need a roofer's ladder to scale one.

The idea is to prevent general trespassing/theft/vandalism issues which cause delays and danger and cost a fortune.

However, when I saw one being put up I was told it was actually a 'suicide barrier' and all stations are getting them.
 
pandacracker said:
Thanks for the hint Scargy but it was easier than I thought. Here it is.
Click to expand...

L'appel du vide! The call of the void.

Do we have a thread on it? L'appel du vide is not usually suicidal, although of course we can't ask anyone who's succumbed to it.
 
escargot said:
Within the last couple of years new fences have been erected along railway tracks at British stations where access to tracks used to be open.

They are tall, sturdy metal structures. You'd need a roofer's ladder to scale one.

The idea is to prevent general trespassing/theft/vandalism issues which cause delays and danger and cost a fortune.

However, when I saw one being put up I was told it was actually a 'suicide barrier' and all stations are getting them.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of the suicide prevention measures installed at a number of tube stations on the london underground
hqdefault.jpg
 
A place where Techy and I have cycled to a few times is a regular suicide spot. There is a level crossing nearby which can't be completely fenced off. West Coast main line trains pass it almost continuously at well over 100mph.

It's a gorgeous area, next to the sea and with views of hills across a bay. People come and go to walk dogs and have picnics there. It's sad to think someone could feel so desperate there.
 
escargot said:
Yup, that one's Westminster. I'd assumed it was a security measure because it's so close to Parliament.
Click to expand...
According to the press they are definately suicide prevention measures copied frim the St.Petersburg underground network.
 
Railway /Tube suicide barriers aren't about compassion, as I mentioned earlier. They are there to save money. A barrier in a frequent suicide spot will soon pay for itself.

Sadlt, this doesn't mean lives are necessarily being saved, of course.
 
There can be something almost mesmerising about certain places and I’d forgotten that ‘Call of the Void’, but I’ve experienced it, and when I was very young.
My uncles and aunt were dedicated gardeners and ever year would pile up the clipping etc in the allotment and light a bonfire on November 5th. It was usually tall (man high) and a real old ‘beacon’ fire.

I was watching it (must have been about 7) and the burning, the flames in the darkness and had this urge to run straight into it. It wouldn’t have killed (although I’d have been burned) as there were adults around. It was almost like hypnotism. And I was a happy child, no reason at all to feel that.
 
EnolaGaia said:
The recently opened 'Vessel' attraction in New York City seems to attract suicides. It's been closed while operators consult with suicide prevention experts.
Click to expand...
Update ... The Vessel is reopening with added suicide prevention measures, including a requirement that no one will be allowed to explore the structure alone.
The Vessel in New York is reopening, focusing on suicide prevention after three young adults took their own lives there

One of New York City's newer tourist attractions is reopening to the public with a focus on suicide prevention after three young adults took their own lives there over the last year.

The climbable, 150-foot-tall staircase, known as the "Vessel," located at Hudson Yards in Manhattan, closed for visitors in January after a 21-year-old man wanted for questioning in a deadly stabbing in Texas jumped to his death from the structure ... The man was the third person in 15 months to take their own life there ...

The Vessel will reopen with new safety measures in place, such as increased security, and buddy system and mental health resources signage.

Hudson Yards is also tripling the staff and security and "installing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline signage and messaging developed in partnership with Born This Way, an organization committed to supporting the wellness of young people, at the entrance to the attraction and on all Vessel tickets," the statement said.

So if you're thinking about going alone, grab a friend to accompany you. Visitors won't be able to explore solo, according to the new regulations. ...
Click to expand...
FULL STORY: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/26/us/v...-reopening-suicide-prevention-trnd/index.html
 
Not one kilometre from my home is the entrance to the largest National Park in New South Wales ( Australia). As you enter the park there is a picnic area to the left with covered eating areas, public barbeques and plenty of space for children to run and play.
It's a pleasant, picturesque place surrounded by lots of low bush and gum trees.
However, there is one large gum tree that sits within the picnic area that to those in the know, is known as the 'suicide tree' where many have taken their lives by hanging over the past couple of decades.
I was and still am friends with a guy who was for 10 years the local police officer. We went to school together and have known each other all of our adult lives.
Two to three times each year he would be called to this particular tree when people would take their lives. He was often the first on the scene.
He's now been medically discharged from the force but when talking to him about such things he once told my wife and I that the area around this particular tree was the only place he'd been in his career that ever unsettled him.
Many of the people that took their lives there were locals although a number drove quite a distance to do so as well.
The area is patrolled daily by rangers and is a popular place with locals and tourists particularly on weekends so the chance that their bodies would be discovered quickly was almost guaranteed.
 
Last edited:
The Bridgend thing always puzzles me.

The way it was written off as something that although appearing to be an obvious "thing" actually to be not at all. That none of the suicides were connected (altho many clearly were) and, under statistical analysis, there was no apparent significance. That never sat well with me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top