The intersection of suicide and homicide…In Bruges

I recently wrote a post called the Shortened Life Index in which I argued that both suicide and homicide are highly cultural. In some cultures homicide is common, as in the Caribbean for example, and in others suicide is common, as in Japan. If you consider suicide violence or ultimately murder against yourself it is more dangerous to live in Switzerland than in my native Argentina. Or in Japan than in Spain as in both countries the suicide rates are extremely high. And personally I considered both suicide and homicide a similar phenomenom and created an index that showed country per country what happens when you add the suicide and homicide rates. I called it the Shortened Life Index but I am opened to any other sugestions as far as the right name for it. The point though is that you can be more dangerous than any other person when it gets to calculating the risk of a shortened life. You probably heard that you are much more likely to get murdered by somebody you know than by a stranger, well this is the same point taken to an extreme.

Now it so happens that I just saw a film that argued exactly the same point. It´s called In Bruges. It´s pretty good. And without spoiling it, as I recommend seeing it, this movie makes the point that there is an intersection between suicide and homicide. All its main characters alternate between suicidal and homicidal moments.

Interestingly though, most people don´t see suicide as self murder.