Here We are Now Don’t Imitate UsKurt Cobain died of a single gunshot wound to the head on April 5, 1994. The month before he survived a drug and alcohol induced coma brought on by the deadly combination of Rohypnol and champagne. The list of the famous who commit suicide is a long and diverse one – George Eastman, Hart Crane, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Freddie Prinze, Vachel Lindsey, Wendy O. Williams, Virginia Woolf, Phil Ochs, Brian Epstein, Sigmund Freud, Van Gogh, Ernest Hemingway, Abbie Hoffman, Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath, to name a bunch. Single people it seems are more likely to commit suicide than married individuals, Protestants more likely than Catholics, urban residents more likely than rural folks. Musicians as a group have a lower suicide rate than literary and visual artists, but creative people in general are more vulnerable to depression and suicide, regardless of whether or not they become famous according to some studies. Sociologists don’t really know why creative individuals commit suicide. But many believe that artistic occupations by their nature magnify symptoms. Artists, musicians and writers often work alone. When they begin to feel upset or depressed, they don’t have as much support and encouragement as do athletes, scientists and business people who work with others. Psychologists also speculate that mood disorders allow people to think more creatively. People with mood disorders also experience a broad range of deep emotions. This combination of symptoms might lend itself to prolific artistic creativity, but result in higher rates of suicide.
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