Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Covid-19's Other Cost: Suicide

This post was written by a 27-year old male from the metro area:


Coronavirus, COVID-19, whatever you want to call it, not only is causing havoc and sickening thousands, it also is creating a mental health crisis - suicide.

My friend killed himself last week, after losing both of his jobs (both retail-related) due to having "non-essential" jobs.  He was only 28, and like many others, had overextended himself with a mortgage, car payment and credit card debt, which basically led him to living check-to-check.  When he killed himself he was down to less than $10 in his checking account.  His roommate found him in his bed unconscious and called 911.  It was too late to save him.

The cause of death is listed as an overdose of opiates, but this does not tell the story of who my friend really was.  He would do almost anything for anyone.  He let people with nowhere to live stay with him.  He would give a broke friend $5 just to get a hamburger.  He let people borrow his car to run their errands.  He was one of the most intelligent people I knew, but he just didn’t know what he wanted to be when he “grew up”.  He had a college degree, but he wasn’t working in anything related to his major.

COVID-19 is doing far more damage than infecting people with a virus.  Deaths from the virus now include a new category:  Suicide.

Please open up the country again and let’s get back to living.  Those who need extra precautions can take them, but the rest of us need to move forward.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad, sad, sad. But don't blame COVID-19. This young man had set himself up for disaster long before anyone ever heard of the virus.

Anonymous said...

So sorry for your loss.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...

Anonymous said...

Well go to work....everything is essential.

Go deliver food.

Go get a job at a nursing home or ER.

Nobody is stopping anyone from getting a job.

By all means go and provide for yourself.

This guy overdoses and this trump infused click bait blug runs with it?

Dirty laundry

Anonymous said...

how did he end up with enough opiates to kill himself?

sad that people feel there’s no way out and have to resort to this. he must have had underlying mental problems that were intensifying due to the situation.

that being said—even when the restrictions are lifted, retail isn’t going to bounce back instantly. it’s going to take a long time.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. As horrific as this young man's death is, it is not because of COVID19. That was the excuse. We have an entire generation (probably two generations in reality) that have no idea how to cope with struggle. Far too many have relied on the adults around them to "protect and shield" them from life and all it bumps and hazards. They have been protected right into a bubble. They have not faced hard times, many have never worked until they leave college. They can't manage their finances, they have NO CLUE about the day-to-day reality that we call "life". For this young man to commit suicide, he obviously had some deeply seated issues.

Anonymous said...

... and this trump infused click bait blug runs with it?

Thanks for reading, commenting and helping to pay the JJ bills.

Your shower is optional.

Anonymous said...

Some of you people are horrible.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to go with 8:48, while suicide is a mental illness(I lost my mom to suicide), many of these people these days don't know how to deal with stress, and don't know how to survive. You can always find a job. It may not be cool, or hip, and you may actually have to lace some boots up and do some manual labor, but you can find work, even during a pandemic.

2 jobs in retail with a college degree, overextended with a mortgage, credit card debt, and car loan says he was already in over his head. He needed debt counseling years ago. You can always let them take the car back and buy a beater, sell the house and rent an apartment split with people until you can actually afford to buy a house. This is the reason lax mortgage lending regulations are a bad thing. No money down, and letting people buy houses that aren't worth what they are selling for doesn't allow people to get rid of them and get the equity out, rather they are upside down in both vehicle and house.


This isn't the Coronavirus, this is making uneducated decisions, not being cautious, living above your means, and not taking steps to help yourself, but rather just doing drugs to make the problem go away. But its always more convenient to blame it on the issue at hand.

Anon-E-Mouse said...

@928: there are 90,000 unemployed people in Mississippi that can’t find a job because the economy was shut down in fear of a virus.

It’s sad this guy overextended his credit and OD’d. But it’s tough out there.

Anonymous said...

So, 9:28AM, it appears that there are people who with underlying mental issues that make them susceptible to dying from the virus panic and associated repercussions, and people who are physically susceptible dying from the virus because of underlying physical health conditions. There is a balance that needs to be struck. We aren't too far out from seeing some serious backlash from the lock-down.

Anonymous said...

Why isn't the government and the all the millionaires and billionaires doing more to help us? They got their money from us!

Anonymous said...

Debt counseling is already too late. Our national debt driven consumptive gluttony is far more virulent and deadly than any Chinese Wuhan virus.

Anonymous said...

Money doesn't quarantine.

Anonymous said...

First, we don't know that his death was a suicide. The death certificate will indicate drug overdose, unless there was a note. Secondly, the death cannot be blamed on Covid-Hunan-Booman virus.

Your friend was no doubt already depressed and fast-tracking toward sure destruction. Based on a careful reading of your initial post, your friend, although a valuable person who was dear to you and others, was not blessed with the ability or will to make good decisions.

Anonymous said...

8:48 - BINGO!!! You nailed it. I've been saying the exact same thing for years. Much of this PTSD of returning soldiers can be blamed more on the life they lived prior to their service than their life in the service. I can only imagine how much PTSD we'll see after this current situation is over.

Anonymous said...

... was not blessed with the ability or will to make good decisions.

A "careful reading" of 258 words helped you determine the nature of the man's will?

Anonymous said...

Notice how some people are so full of fear that they won't care how isolation is having a negative impact, just so long as their safe from a virus.

Anonymous said...

10:24..........
Have you served? Have you fought? Have you KILLED? Have you died(on the inside)?
STFU !!!! Speaking of what you have no knowledge; about those who gave their all so you may type your drivel .

Anonymous said...

@ April 14, 2020 at 10:23 AM
The cause of death may not be listed as suicide. From first hand experience with the fentanyl/opioid death of a family member, it might be listed as a suicide or it might be listed as an accidental overdose. The ME who did the autopsy on my family member determined that his levels of fentanyl and opioids (a very lethal combo) was just over the lethal dosage for that. They were able to test the potency of the fentanyl left over in the vial on his nightstand to make this determination. So in his case the ME listed his cause of death as an accidental overdose. But to be clear, anyone who plays with this opioids and or fentanyl combo is just biding their time until it kills them. And as much as it pains me to says this, he was also of this generation that has no clue of what real life is. He was one of those overly sheltered Gen Xers that thought life was so unfair as he drove the car his parents purchased for him, in the clothes they paid for, to the college he attended.

Anonymous said...

This is a very sad story, regardless. I'd bet a significant percentage of 20-somethings are living paycheck-to-paycheck. If he's the homeowner and has a roommate or two, then it's not necessarily a bad investment -- unless they're out of work, too. Legitimate banks and credit card companies will work with you if you're having trouble paying due to layoff, etc. He probably had a tax refund and a stimulus check coming as well. Maybe he was good to others but didn't have someone looking out for him, so without level-headed counsel he panicked.

Calm Down said...

The unintended consequences of the lockdown and the cratering of the economy will reverberate long after we've come to grips with the wuhan flu. A job represents dignity and purpose. The loss of that job has many ripples. This young man won't be the last of these that we hear about.

Anonymous said...

When faced with suffering, I think it's human nature to try to make sense out of it by figuring out how "you brought this on yourself." This isn't new. Job's friends was sure that he did something horrible to cause his own suffering, and accused him of lying about it when he insisted he had done nothing. When we assign fault to the sufferer, we compound the suffering. That's my $0.02.

Anonymous said...

@9:56AM Keep looking to the government and the "millionaires and billionaires" for answers to your problems and let me know how that goes. What specific millionaire/billionaire took your money, and how?

Did you report it to authorities?

Anonymous said...

17 million unemployed is far more damaging than 23,000 coronavirus deaths.

Anonymous said...

Some really awful comments here. RIP young man.

Anonymous said...

I hope that it is only women commenting how "awful" and "horrible" some comments are for this post. Otherwise, you need to turn in your man card because you are limp wristed Nancy.

Anonymous said...

11:10, A chicken hawk is what I would call 10:24! Never saw combat a day in his life but loves to send other people’s kids to fight and die, bet he has a “support the troops” sticker on his trucks back glass next to the Yeti sticker.

Anonymous said...

Most returning soldiers commit suicide after they realise that their sacrifice was not for their country, but instead as cannon fodder to profit Military Industrial Complex and the Federal Reserve Bank. Just ask any PTSD counselor what the most common question and rage inducing epiphany is for a vet... what was it all for?

Anonymous said...

And, suicide solves what??

Anonymous said...

I have no first hand knowledge but I suspect 3.20 is correct.

The Unsilent Majority said...

28 years old, that’s a sad deal. Passing judgement on decisions or backbone of this kid is wrong on every level. To the guy above saying anyone saying this is awful or horrible is a woman. I don’t have to know who you are to tell you, I’d whip your ass in about 2 seconds. If you think different, post your name. Suicide can only happen when someone has such a distorted view of their reality, that they feel they can never get out of it. There is never such a scenario, talk to someone about your thoughts and feelings, don’t get trapped in your head with these ideas. Rest In Peace dude, thoughts and prayers to his friends and family.



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