As published for The Washington Post on March 3rd, 2010:

Americans, always fascinated by celebrity suicides, have a number of recent excuses for sympathetic voyeurism.Andrew Koenig, 41-year-old son of actor Walter Koenig, hanged himself in a Vancouver park after leaving a despondent note. Days later, Michael Blosil, the 18-year-old son of singer Marie Osmond, jumped from his eighth-floor apartment after writing that his depression had left him feeling friendless.

A few years ago, Brad Delp, lead singer for the band Boston, killed himself after writing, “I am a lonely soul.” South Korean supermodel Daul Kim wrote before her suicide last year, “The more I gain, the more lonely it is. . . . I know I’m like a ghost.”

People seem naturally interested in news indicating that the famous share our struggles. In this case, it is true. Suicides outnumber homicides in America, making self-hatred more lethal than violence by others. In 2009, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported that 1.1 million Americans had attempted suicide during the previous year. By one estimate, “successful” suicides have left behind 4.5 million family survivors, who live with ghosts each day.

Read the full article here