Comments on: Richard Jeni Ends His Life

By: C Stanley

C Stanley — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:14:13 +0000

Sorry to hear that, Gray. I do think that most (maybe all?) cases of suicide probably involve some imbalance of brain chemistry because what you mention here is often true: objectively looking at the circumstances it’s hard to imagine that the person should have felt so hopeless. And certainly you can almost always find hundreds of examples of people who truly are/were worse off, but still held on to hope and kept working to improve their situation. And I don’t say that to point out suicide as an option of people who are weak in character because I don’t believe that at all; I just believe that there is something going on that causes them to lose perspective, and that this something has a physiological basis rather than a moral one.

By: Gray

Gray — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 13:27:17 +0000

“But the more important point is that a lot of depression and suicidality is biochemical, and has not much at all to do with what is going on externally in oneâ€™s life.”

I know, CS, but thanks for weighing in. It’s just that I lost two good friends to suicide. They shouldn’t have given up, there was reasonable hope that their problems could have been solved. They were far from the end of the line, and this makes me angry. I miss them.

By: C Stanley

C Stanley — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 12:52:35 +0000

Gray,
We don’t really have any idea what he wanted or didn’t want. Everyone has their own goals and if he wasn’t feeling that he was meeting his, that would lead to depression.

But the more important point is that a lot of depression and suicidality is biochemical, and has not much at all to do with what is going on externally in one’s life. People can sometimes “have it all” and still feel depressed; in fact that can be even worse because the person then feels that he is crazy for feeling that way and that just makes the depression worse.

Bipolar disease is common among performers and artists, so that is a possibility here too. The point is that we really have no way of knowing and he is just one among many tragic cases. We need to do a lot more to understand mental illness, to recognize it and become more able to treat it.

By: Gray

Gray — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 02:43:22 +0000

Hmm, who cares, Holly? Your TV habits aren’t the topic here.
|-(

By: Holly in Cincinnati

Holly in Cincinnati — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 02:37:42 +0000

I mostly quit watching TV by the mid-90s and have never been a fan of the late-night shows.

By: Gray

Gray — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:49:29 +0000

Just to get this into perspective: Leslie Nielson was 62 when he finally had the great, worldwide success with ‘The Naked Gun’. For god’s sake, even a quick google search shows that Jeni was a respected, successful professional in his job, what else did he want? Is it really a rational reason to give up because you didn’t make it to the ultimate top? Or at least an emotional one?

If this were so, what arguments do average Joes have to not follow his example? Grrr.

By: Gray

Gray — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 01:24:20 +0000

I never heard of him, but, damn, why? He had a girlfriend and a job. He wasn’t down and out yet. Really, some people seem to give up to easily.

By: DLS

DLS — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 22:54:39 +0000

> I have no idea who this guy was – his name doesnâ€™t even sound familiar!

I never heard of him until today. It’s a sad thing, of course. The same is so for the vocalist of Boston (a band that made great music), who was recently found dead at home.

By: Sam

Sam — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:36:33 +0000

I know who he is, and back in ’93 he came to Villanova. Good act, and he did destroy a heckler who just happened to be in the Astronomy dept with me. He peaked in the 90′s but was still around making jokes, at least until now. I’m sad to hear his of his death, and especially its cause.

By: Michael van der GaliÃ«n

Michael van der GaliÃ«n — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:43:05 +0000

Doma, I think that people who commit suicide tend not to be “looking” for something as much as they are looking for a way out of something. They’re not looking for peace, they’re looking for an end to the problem(s).

Sounds the same but it’s not.

By: domajot

domajot — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:03:43 +0000

It leaves one wondering what his last thoughts were. I hope he was just looking for peace.

By: The Populist

The Populist — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 17:42:35 +0000

Truly A sad thing.

By: Holly in Cincinnati

Holly in Cincinnati — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 15:08:29 +0000

I have no idea who this guy was – his name doesn’t even sound familiar!