The Golden Gate Bridge is to suicides what Niagara Falls is to honeymooners.” (1 Viewer)

[wild_cat]

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/10/13/031013fa_fact?currentPage=1

‘I’m going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me on the way, I will not jump.’ "




Should they build a barrier or let the people jump?





(sleater-kinneys song jumpers was inspired by this article)

 

[oh shit]

yeah apparently there's something in the side of the bridge they choose, either facing the city and their problems, or looking out into the ocean and putting the rest of us behind them - so to speak. ever get the urge to run into traffic?

 

[pete]

yeah apparently there's something in the side of the bridge they choose, either facing the city and their problems, or looking out into the ocean and putting the rest of us behind them - so to speak. ever get the urge to run into traffic?

but... they alternate which side of the bridge is open to pedestrians and which side is open to cyclists. imagine if, having picked your side, you turned up without a bike on the wrong day? bummer.

 

[Unicron]

but... they alternate which side of the bridge is open to pedestrians and which side is open to cyclists. imagine if, having picked your side, you turned up without a bike on the wrong day? bummer.

You'd nearly want to end it all if that happened.

 

[Wilbert]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8muNsj1oUpY

 

[pete]

all the same it can't be a pleasant way to go - hitting the water with enough force to dismember your body....

 

[flashback]

The George Washington Bridge, (NJ to NYC) takes an enormous number of jumpers too apparently.
They dont ever talk about it though, its this big secret because they have the idea that the less they talk about it, the less people will do it.
They even shut the access to the bridge walkways at night now.,,

 

[magicbastarder]

 

[La La]

the golden gate bridge is an amazing structure, it looks incredible on a sunny day but very eerie on a foggy one. every time i crossed it i couldn't help but get the jitters because of the suicide factor.

the thing is: building a suicide barrier may stop people from attempting to jump there - but there are many ways of killing oneself and many other bridges in the Bay area.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

the article in the new yorker seemed to suggest that jumping from the golden gate had a element of glamour to it that other bridges (such as the bay bridge) lacked and that this in itself could be a deciding factor in some people jumping. having to settle for a second rate bridge could, i suppose, give people reason to think a bit harder/longer about doing it and maybe the moment would pass. i dont know what i think about it, im inclined to think that you cant run around trying to stop people doing something theyre hell bent on doing - youd have to fence off every cliff etc - and yet maybe in some situations such precautions might be a good idea because the place itself is a contributary factor

 

[shower another shower]

I'd def choose the Sausilito side. San Rafael is beutiful.

 

[Daisy's Dukes]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(documentary_film

 

[Daisy's Dukes]

Don't think that link is working and I'm too dumb to fix it. Its basically about this documentary released last year where the documentary maker filmed 20 odd suicides at the Golden Gate and then interviewed the deceased's family members and witnesses to the suicides. I think it may have been on here in the IFI. Maybe. When interviewing the families he neglected to tell them that he had footage of their loved ones jumping.

 

[Space]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(documentary_film)

 

[cephalopod]

What about the Cliffs of Moher? That's had a few jumpers over the years too?

 

[nlgbbbblth]

The George Washington Bridge, (NJ to NYC) takes an enormous number of jumpers too apparently.
They dont ever talk about it though, its this big secret because they have the idea that the less they talk about it, the less people will do it.

So it's not just Ireland where suicide 'doesn't exist'?

 

[pete]

What about the Cliffs of Moher? That's had a few jumpers over the years too?

fallers

please. this is ireland.

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Re: The Golden Gate Bridge is to suicides what Niagara Falls is to honeymooners.”

What about the Cliffs of Moher? That's had a few jumpers over the years too?

I think half a dozen a year or thereabouts.

 

[Goff]

So it's not just Ireland where suicide 'doesn't exist'?

In fairness, we no longer don't talk about suicide and there have been a large number of public inititiaves over the last few years.

People, of course, still talk about it only in hushed tones. But that's not an Oirish thing. That's universal.

http://www.3ts.ie/ or http://www.turningthetideofsuicide.com/index.htm
It's the same webpage.

And while you're at it, there's a petition to make the Govt. get its thumb out of its arse:

http://www.turningthetideofsuicide.com/events_rally.htm

 

[TrueLoveWaits]

There are actually crisis counselling phones on the Golden Gate bridge for those who may feel the urge...imagine trying to talk someone back from that...and failing.

Suicide doesn't get talked about...just as depression, alcoholism and many of the factors that can ultimately lead to suicide don't get talked about, that's the whole problem. If people stopped seeing depression, anxiety and feelings of insecurity and self-hatred as taboo and somehow signs of weakness and failure, we may actually begin to see a decrease in what is an appallingly high suicide per capita figure in this country.

And yes, it is a universal dilemma, but we Irish do appear to have a unique ability to brush emotional and mental problems under the carpet whilst simultaneously stigmatising them to such an extent that people still see mild forms of depression as some kind of mental disorder...oh how I hate that mentality.