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Comment by anoncoward111 | Hacker News Reader

Really, really horrible news. The anecdotal data is really starting to pile up in my mind- Chester Bennington, Chris Cornell, Kate Spade, Anthony Bourdain...

... suicide is all too common in our world, and some professions (especially doctors) are affected more than others.

All of the money and fame in the world cannot protect you from the depths of your mind.

I hope that anyone struggling with this affliction can know its ok to step away from everything they're doing, get a breath of fresh air, and know that it's ok for everything to go wrong in life.

Your life is always still valuable and fixable.

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All the money and fame in the world doesn't do much protecting at all: it can lock you in the depths of your mind. Imagine a situation where every interaction you have with other people is fawning or fraudulent. Where all day, every day, someone is either kissing your ass or wiping your ass. Nothing is genuine. Nothing can be trusted. Everyone wants to use you to their own ends.

Fame and the life it brings seems desirable, but there's ample evidence that would indicate otherwise.

If you think about it, it's no wonder so many famous people are depressed, dysfunctional, or disgusting - their self worth and ability to self-evaluate are completely distorted. And the pressure of maintaining that fame, that score that many believe determines how important you are to society, is crushing.

If you're not happy, not content, not satisfied with yourself when you're a "nobody", becoming a "somebody" won't change that. Whatever issues you brought to the table before you got fame and power won't be improved once fame and/or power is acquired. The Good Book says something along those lines a few thousand years ago:

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. - Luke 16:10

> "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. - Luke 16:10

Water that is wet is also dry, and water that is dry is also wet!

This particular translation is a bit confusing in its wording, but the meaning of the passage is the opposite of what you're implying.

What's wild is that people still talk about that time Dave Chappelle "went crazy", left his show, and walked out of the spotlight. He's never been anything other than clear that the he felt like it was messing up his life, for all the reasons you mentioned in that first paragraph.

Having needs is one way to fill the existential emptiness.

> and some professions (especially doctors) are affected more than others.

Doctors don't have higher rates of death by suicide.

I think female doctors do have a higher rate of death by suicide than women in general.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/65/wr/mm6525a1.htm

Actually that is the statistic I was thinking of (I read an article from a formerly-suicidal female doctor).

I assumed that the trend applied to males too but now I am quite curious as to why it does not apply.

Regional statistics would be helpful too- some have thought that Finns and Russians carry a genetic marker for suicidal tendencies.

Males die of suicide more often because they use more successful methods. It makes sense that a female doctor would be much more successful than the average female due to her education.

Most women use pills, men use guns.

Agreed. Randomly and anecdotally, I am reminded of Iris Chang, who was a famous author responsible for our knowledge of the Rape of Nanking.

Her cause of death was brutal, and she was going through immense pressure during her last research project. A self-influcted gunshot to the mouth sounds like a horrible way to go.

Even when you control for method, men are more successful at suicide than women.

The ratio is just as lopsided with countries with strict gun control (e.g. Britain).

Alternative hypothesis: death is the goal for many men, while women often use suicide attempts as a cry for help.

Perhaps it should read, "especially veterinarians."

> A 2014 federal Centers for Disease Control online survey of 10,000 practicing veterinarians published last year found that more than one in six American veterinarians has considered suicide.

The study: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6405a6.htm

I suspect 'All of the money and fame in the world' presents its own unique set of challenges to deal with,

and those challenges are usually poorly understood

> Your life is always still valuable and fixable.

It's like wearing a heavy cloak around, after having done so for most of your life, day after day, year after year. If you're a proper adult, age-wise, all of the effort in the world doesn't guarantee that cloak will fall off one day. The idea that it's fixable doesn't play itself out in real life. I would posit that this is why riches and fame only temporarily relieve the weight of it.

Also the sister of Dutch Queen

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