One day several years ago, a 14-year-old boy got off the bus and walked to the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge. Some things were troubling him, and he put his leg up over the railing, preparing to jump. Then he took his leg down, caught the bus home, and told his mother, who sought help immediately. He’s fine now.
Without that pause to reconsider, this boy’s life may have ended in a tragedy that has claimed the lives of more than 1,600 people known to have jumped to their deaths from the iconic but deadly landmark.
There’s long been talk of a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. At last there is action: Earlier this summer, the bridge district directors committed the final $76 million needed for safety nets to deter jumpers. The barrier will be operational in three years.
It’s been a long time coming. The most potent opposition has rested on a widespread misconception: many wrongly believe that people stopped from jumping will just go on to find another way to kill themselves.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Although some who are intent on suicide will find a way to die no matter what, fewer than 10 percent of those pulled from the bridge later take their own lives.
Ninety percent go on living—that’s a phenomenal success rate.
The most lethal means of suicide—death by firearms and jumping—are often chosen not by those who have carefully planned their own demise, but by those acting impulsively in a moment of upset. Young people are particularly susceptible to impulsivity; teens account for more than 10 percent of those who make the fatal plunge.
It only takes a moment—to go over the edge of the alluringly low railing, or to pull back from it. A moment that means life or death.
Buying time is the essence of suicide prevention. Time allows impulses to pass, moods to shift, circumstances to improve. Would-be jumpers who are thwarted by a barrier gain precious time to change their mind.
That’s time those who go over the railing probably wish they had. Kevin Hines is one of the very few who made the leap and lived to tell about it. Here’s what he said in an interview with a New York Times reporter: “I’ll tell you what I can’t get out of my head. It’s watching my hands come off that railing and thinking to myself, My God, what have I just done? Because I know that almost everyone else who’s gone off that bridge, they had that exact same thought at that moment. All of a sudden, they didn’t want to die, but it was too late.”
As the saying goes, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. With the Golden Gate Bridge barrier in place, we will have a much better permanent solution to the temporary problem of suicidal impulses.
It’s about time.
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For further information:
“The Urge to End it All,” by Scott Anderson. New York Times Magazine, July 6, 2008.
The Final Leap, by John Bateson (publication date 2015).
Myths about Suicide, by Thomas Joiner (2011).
Bridge Rail Foundation: http://www.bridgerail.org/
24/7 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255