Why do people put pistols in their mouth to kill themselves?
I’m remembering a scene from Fight Club and Possessor where the main characters put pistols in their mouth in an attempt to “kill themselves” (plus other movies I’ve seen).
In Fight Club, Tyler misses (I guess on purpose), and in Possessor, the main character needs to do it after completing a contract (to leave the body she possessed).
In Possessor, the angle suggests she might miss her brain entirely.
I can understand something like a shotgun; it’s not exactly something you can hold to your temple, but why put a pistol in your mouth?
Is it more effective somehow? Does it hit a part of your brain where firing from the side might otherwise leave you alive, yet disabled?
I’m sure you could argue it’s just more dramatic from a movie critic perspective, but I’m sure people have really done this, and it maybe be a case of art imitating life, but I believe it would be the other way around.
Way I had it explained to me is it has a good chance of severing the brain stem, supposedly killing you quicker than a hole through multiple parts of your brain matter which is a way some people survive the attempt. Also, suicide by gun is a lot quicker and easier than something like taking a knife to one of your veins, either the “results” way or the “attention” way.
That said, sometimes it’s a moment of none thinking. Some people see a quick out and take it. I was once told an annecdote from a client I met at work about a friend of his who everyone thought was fine right until he was cutting fire wood one day and opted to throw his throat on a running chainsaw. Anyone thinking for more than a couple of seconds realises that’s an extraordinarily horrible way to go out, but sometimes that 1 is all it takes.
That might even just be the “call of the void.” Throw in some very minor extras, like alcohol or a bad day at work, and it’s easy to see someone heeding that call.
Having experienced it personally before now, yup. Very easy.
It’s why I’m afraid of heights. My brain freaks me out sometimes. I’m by no means suicidal but when I see off a high place I wonder what it would be like to fall. I almost feel compelled by the rush of it.
Reminds me of a line from a Jim Carrey stand-up. On the subject of that little voice in the back of your head “Turning the vehicle into on-coming traffic would be COUNTERPRODUCTIVE”
I had a friend with a lake house, and it was five stories from the deck to the lake. We spent about an hour jumping off, running up the stairs and jumping again.
You’d think it would have helped my call of the void, especially around heights, but it made it worse. Ah well, it was fun.
I work at heights daily, climbing 100m towers. I’m also scared of heights. I’ve done some cliff dives into deep water as another way to face that fear. It takes a force of will for me to jump off more than about 10m. Sure wish I enjoyed that thrill.