Hatred is depressing—it is of course depressing to be hated, but it is also depressing to hate. The erosion of the social safety net means that more and more people are at a sudden breaking point, and there are few messages of authentic comfort to offer them in these pitiless times. One is done in by disease, by isolation and despair, and by life c

Knew I’d never see my twenty-fifth birthday. Am early for once. The lovelorn, the cry-for-helpers, all mawkish tragedians who give suicide a bad name are the idiots who rush it, like amateur conductors. A true suicide is a paced, disciplined certainty. People pontificate, “Suicide is selfishness.” Career churchmen like Pater go a step further and c

An atmosphere of general catastrophe always alleviates individual catastrophe – that’s probably why suicides are so rare in wartime

act. In late modernity, what pushes someone into suicidal ideation has largely shifted. Most often it’s not the feeling of a failed bold action but rather a sense that none of your actions matter at all, that any action you take is meaningless.