Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know someone who recently died from suicide. The obituary didn't explicitly state that but did say that donations could be made to a suicide prevention charity. The fact that it was suicide was explicitly discussed at length during the funeral service.
Yes Suicide should be listed...... Suicide means the person was hurting inside and no one would help them or knew how sad they were...
Suicide is quite important!!
And this is exactly why most families DON'T list suicide as the cause of death when it is - because people will judge their families, their level of care or involvement, or whether or not they tried to help their loved one "enough."
There are some people out there who are just not going to allow, or are unable to accept, a lot of care from others. There are people out there who are so mentally or emotionally (or both) ill that their loved ones simply can't do enough for them. There are some people out there who are absolutely determined to be self destructive regardless of the efforts of their loved ones.
Sometimes the most loving family members cannot prevent a loved one from killing themselves. Sad but true. To assume that "no on e would help them or knew how sad they were" is not constructive or even particularly accurate. Most of the time when someone commits suicide, their family already knew they were not in good shape emotionally or mentally but were unable to help the person - for a variety of reasons, many of which are simply not the family's fault.
I appears that listing cause of death may be regional. Here likely 1/2 or more the obituaries have them, usually with the preface, "after a long and valiant struggle with________" or with "unexpectedly due to a _______________".
What is interesting and I didn't catch it until a Sheriff's Deputy mentioned it, that likely 90% of the 20 somethings dying here are heroin/opioid overdoses. There's are usually 2 or 3 a week now in a County of 90K population.
I almost never see a cause of death in an obit anymore. In fact, published obits are becoming a thing of the past. My wife and I both have in our wills that no service, no obit, etc. We will, however, allow out death to be reported as a change in status on Facebook. (And no that is not a joke.)
What benefit is there to reporting the suicide in an obit anyway? It is painful enough for family members.
This past May, someone I'm acquainted with 20yr old son stood in front of a high speed train that runs close to their neighborhood. Not an obituary, memorial service, notta, nothing. Finances weren't an issue.
As though he never existed.
Back in 1977 our then-neighbor's son had committed suicide. Shot himself in the head in their garage. Believe he was 20 as well at the time of his death and there was no obituary but they did have a very small memorial service ( family only ). However the reason being for the lack of obituary was due to another suicide that had taken place in our neighborhood 6 months prior. A man in his early 30s had also shot and killed himself leaving behind a 9 year old son. Now his suicide was listed in the newspaper obit. Unfortunately in this situation the family for a time had to deal with people they didn't even know calling them up saying how the man was "trash" and is now "burning in the fires of hell" and other bad things. It had got so bad for the family that they had to get their number changed. When my neighbors son had killed himself and knowing what happened to the other family they decided to not have a obituary. Losing their son was bad enough but the thought of having total strangers calling them up and bashing their dead son...they just didn't want to deal with that.
No, because suicide is a criminal act, and there has been no due process to establish the guilt of the deceased person so accused. While it may not matter in any practical sense, a declaration that a death is a suicide would be libelous or slanderous, and possibly actionable by the estate, for example, if insurance monies are involved.
In some countries, the estate of a deceased can be held liable for any expenses that arise from a suicide. For example, if a person commits suicide by walking in front of a train in Japan, the heirs can be held financially responsible for any losses occasioned by the railroad as a consequence of any delays.
My wife was on an Amtrak train that was delayed for six hours by a suicide on the tracks.
the usual blanket statement in an obituary that covers most situations is when someone dies "of an extended illness." Which could mean a long battle with cancer.
But often there's nothing "extended" about it, and it covers everything. Heart disease, growing old, growing WAY old, sadness, diagnosed depression leading to suicide, addiction. Or a sudden heart attack or anyeurism caused by some "extended" love of fatty foods or non-exercise. The term covers it all.
No, because suicide is a criminal act, and there has been no due process to establish the guilt of the deceased person so accused. While it may not matter in any practical sense, a declaration that a death is a suicide would be libelous or slanderous, and possibly actionable by the estate, for example, if insurance monies are involved.
In some countries, the estate of a deceased can be held liable for any expenses that arise from a suicide. For example, if a person commits suicide by walking in front of a train in Japan, the heirs can be held financially responsible for any losses occasioned by the railroad as a consequence of any delays.
My wife was on an Amtrak train that was delayed for six hours by a suicide on the tracks.
What?
It's not like the deceased and their family would be 'outed' by this revelation, nor would here say published in an obituary be a deciding factor in a lawsuit.
You do know that obituaries are placed by either the family, or by the funeral home on behalf of the family, don't you?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.