suicide by jumping from height

Survivors of falls from hazardous heights are often left with major injuries and permanent disabilities from the impact-related injuries.{{cite web|title=Attempted Suicide Horrors|url=http://www.suicide.org/attempted-suicide-horrors.html|access-date=2010-12-17|publisher=Suicide.org!}} A frequent scenario is that the jumper will sit on an elevated highway or building-ledge as police attempt to talk them down. Observers sometimes encourage potential jumpers to jump, an effect known as "suicide baiting".{{cite journal|author=Mann, L.|date=1981|title=The baiting crowd in episodes of threatened suicide|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=41|issue=4|pages=703–9|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.41.4.703|pmid=7288565}} Almost all falls from beyond about 10 stories are fatal,{{Cite journal|last1=Weckbach|first1=Sebastian|last2=Flierl|first2=Michael A|last3=Blei|first3=Michael|last4=Burlew|first4=Clay Cothren|last5=Moore|first5=Ernest E|last6=Stahel|first6=Philip F|date=October 25, 2011|title=Survival following a vertical free fall from 300 feet: The crucial role of body position to impact surface|journal=Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine|volume=19|pages=63|doi=10.1186/1757-7241-19-63|pmc=3212924|pmid=22027092 |doi-access=free }} although people have survived much higher falls than this, even onto hard surfaces. For example, one suicidal jumper has survived a fall from the 39th story of a building,{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Paul|date=September 1, 2010|title=Man survives after 400ft jump by landing on car|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7976593/Man-survives-after-400ft-jump-by-landing-on-car.html|website=Telegraph}} as has a non-suicidal window washer who accidentally fell from the 47th floor.{{Cite web|last=Parke|first=Caleb|date=April 22, 2019|title='Thank God for the miracle:' Man who survived 47-story fall from NYC skyscraper recounts story|url=https://www.foxnews.com/faith-values/thank-god-for-the-miracle-man-who-survived-500-ft-fall-from-nyc-skyscraper-recounts-story|website=Fox News}} Suicidal jumpers have sometimes injured or even killed people on the ground on whom they land.{{Cite web|date=April 2, 2019|title=Teen Dies After Jumping From 7th Floor of Parking Structure at Americana, Landing on Father With Children: Glendale PD|url=https://ktla.com/news/local-news/man-hospitalized-after-jumping-from-roof-of-americana-landing-on-victim-with-child-glendale-police/|website=KTLA}}{{Cite web|date=May 19, 2017|title=Man who survived woman falling on him from 11th story LA hotel room talks about ordeal|url=https://abc7.com/crowne-plaza-hotel-lax-woman-lands-on-man-falls/2009998/|website=ABC7 Los Angeles|accessdate=November 29, 2021}}{{Cite web|date=November 6, 2017|title=S. Korea 'suicide' jumper kills man on landing|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2017/11/06/s-korea-suicide-jumper-kills-man-on-landing|website=Thestar.com.my}}{{Cite news|date=June 4, 2016|title=Father killed after suicidal student lands on him|newspaper=The Independent|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/father-killed-after-student-who-jumped-to-his-death-lands-on-him-a7065561.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/father-killed-after-student-who-jumped-to-his-death-lands-on-him-a7065561.html |archive-date=2022-05-25 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{Cite web|title=Family Stunned by Boy's Suicide Attempt That Killed Driver|url=http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Police-Suicide-Attempt-by-Boy-Jumping-From-Overpass-Kills-Driver-Below-453994753.html|website=NBC Washington|date=29 October 2017 }}

There is limited information surrounding the demographics of those who die by jumping. However, some studies find differences between those who jump from high-rise residential buildings and those who jump from a suicide bridge. There is some evidence to suggest that younger males are overrepresented in those who jump from bridges, while age is not a notable factor in suicides from high-rise residential buildings.{{Cite web |title=APA PsycNet |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2007-13949-009.pdf |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=psycnet.apa.org |language=en}} However, other studies have not found the same patterns.{{Cite journal |last1=Gunnell |first1=D. |last2=Nowers |first2=M. |date=July 1997 |title=Suicide by jumping |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1997.tb09897.x |journal=Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica |language=en |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=1–6 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0447.1997.tb09897.x |pmid=9259217 |issn=0001-690X|url-access=subscription }}

The highest documented suicide jump was by skydiver Charles "Nish" Bruce,{{cite news|author=Allison, Rebecca|date=21 June 2002|title=Suicide Verdict – Depressed pilot leapt to death|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jun/21/military.rebeccaallison}} who killed himself by leaping without a parachute from an airplane, at an altitude of over {{convert|5000|ft}}.{{cite news|date=10 January 2002|title=SAS Soldier dies in plane plunge|work=CNN World News|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/01/10/britain.cessna/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130407233435/http://articles.cnn.com/2002-01-10/world/britain.cessna_1_plane-light-aircraft-sas?_s=PM:WORLD|archive-date=7 April 2013}}

{{anchor|Self-defenestration_(jumping_out_of_a_window)}}

Autodefenestration (or self-defenestration) is the term used for the act of jumping, propelling oneself, or causing oneself to fall, out of a window. This phenomenon played a notable role in such events as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire of 1911, the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, and other disasters. It is also a method of suicide. In the United States, self-defenestration is among the least common methods of dying by suicide (less than 2% of all reported suicides in the United States for 2005).

There is an urban legend in the US that many Wall Street investors autodefenestrated during the 1929 stock market crash.{{cite web|date=30 August 2002|title=After the 1929 stock market crash, did investors really jump out of windows?|url=http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2412/after-the-1929-stock-market-crash-did-investors-really-jump-out-of-windows|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321192518/https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2412/after-the-1929-stock-market-crash-did-investors-really-jump-out-of-windows/|archive-date=21 March 2018|access-date=9 May 2018|website=straightdope.com}} After the 2008 financial crisis, this was alluded to by protestors brandishing a sign on Wall Street which said: "Jump, you fuckers!"{{Cite book|last=Linda McQuaig, Neil Brooks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4_HY0QmTp0C|title=Billionaires' Ball: Gluttony and Hubris in an Age of Epic Inequality|date=2012|publisher=Beacon Press|isbn=978-0807003404}}

Jumping only makes up 3% of suicides in the US and Europe, which is a much smaller percentage than is generally perceived by the public. Jumping is surprisingly infrequent because tall buildings are often condo or office buildings not accessible to the general public, and because open-air areas of high buildings (i.e., rooftop restaurants or pools) are often surrounded by high walls that are built precisely to prevent suicides.{{cn|date=June 2023|reason=Unreliable source removed in September 2022 and no new citation added - I don't believe that this explanation about condos and office buildings can be sourced without resorting to original research but don't know about the 3% statistic}} Jumping makes up 20% of suicides in New York City due to the prevalence of publicly accessible skyscrapers.{{Cite web|date=September 7, 2010|title=NYC #1 in Suicidal Building Jumping|url=https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-1-in-suicidal-building-jumping|website=Gothamist|accessdate=November 29, 2021}}

In Hong Kong, jumping (from any location) is the most common method of dying by suicide, accounting for 52% of all reported suicide cases in 2006, and similar rates for the years prior to that.{{cite web|year=2006|title=Method Used in Completed Suicide|url=http://csrp.hku.hk/WEB/eng/statistics.asp#3|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090910011320/http://csrp.hku.hk/web/eng/statistics.asp#3|archive-date=2009-09-10|access-date=2009-09-10|publisher=HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention, University of Hong Kong}} The Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of the University of Hong Kong believes that it may be due to the abundance of easily accessible high-rise buildings in Hong Kong (implying that much of the jumping is out of windows or from roof tops).{{Cite news|author1=周志鴻|author2=譚健文|date=9 August 2009|title=遭家人責罵：掛住上網媾女唔讀書 成績跌出三甲 中四生跳樓亡|newspaper=Apple Daily|url=http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20090809&sec_id=4104&subsec=12731&art_id=13078710|url-status=live|access-date=2009-09-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315133757/http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/template/apple/art_main.php?iss_id=20090809&sec_id=4104&subsec=12731&art_id=13078710|archive-date=15 March 2010}}

Multiple intervention strategies have been applied for these types of suicides. Some of these strategies take physical forms, such as installing barriers to restrict access at suicide sites or by adding a safety net. In 1996, safety barriers were removed from the Grafton Bridge in Auckland, New Zealand. After their removal, there was a five-fold increase in the number of suicides from the bridge.{{Cite journal |last1=Beautrais |first1=Annette L. |last2=Gibb |first2=Sheree J. |last3=Fergusson |first3=David M. |last4=Horwood |first4=L. John |last5=Larkin |first5=Gregory Luke |date=June 2009 |title=Removing Bridge Barriers Stimulates Suicides: An Unfortunate Natural Experiment |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/00048670902873714 |journal=Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry |language=en |volume=43 |issue=6 |pages=495–497 |doi=10.1080/00048670902873714 |pmid=19440879 |issn=0004-8674|url-access=subscription }} Other sites have installed signs containing telephone hotline numbers or incorporated surveillance measures such as patrols and trained gatekeepers.{{Cite journal |last=Beautrais |first=Annette |date=January 2007 |title=Suicide by Jumping: A Review of Research and Prevention Strategies |url=https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/10.1027/0227-5910.28.S1.58 |journal=Crisis |language=en |volume=28 |issue=S1 |pages=58–63 |doi=10.1027/0227-5910.28.S1.58 |issn=0227-5910|url-access=subscription }}

In addition to these measures, there has been a push to more closely monitor media coverage of suicide, especially suicides from well known sites, which typically involve suicide by jumping. Numerous studies have researched the impact of media coverage on suicide rates.{{Cite journal |last=Stack |first=S. |date=2003-04-01 |title=Media coverage as a risk factor in suicide |url=https://jech.bmj.com/content/57/4/238 |journal=Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health |language=en |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=238–240 |doi=10.1136/jech.57.4.238 |issn=0143-005X |pmid=12646535|pmc=1732435 }} Guidelines for media sources on how to cover the topic, such as the "Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide" (developed in collaboration with organizations such as the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the National Institute of Mental Health, and several schools of journalism) attempt to reduce the risk of suicide contagion via responsible reporting, informing on the complexities of suicide, and publicizing resources and stories of hope.{{Cite web |title=Recommendations |url=https://reportingonsuicide.org/recommendations/ |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Reporting on Suicide |language=en-US}}

Constructing barriers is not the only option, and it can be expensive.{{Citation |last=International Parking & Mobility Institute |title=Suicide in Parking Facilities: Prevention, Response, and Recovery |url=https://www.parking-mobility.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/0416_IPMI-Suicide-in-Garages_2019_Final.pdf |year=2019}} Other method-specific prevention actions include making staff members visible in high-risk areas, using closed-circuit television cameras to identify people in inappropriate places or behaving abnormally (e.g., lingering in a place that people normally spend little time in), and installing awnings and soft-looking landscaping, which deters suicide attempts by making the place look ineffective.

Another factor in reducing jumping deaths is to avoid suggesting in news articles, signs, or other communication that a high-risk place is a common, appropriate, or effective place for dying by jumping from. The efficacy of signage is uncertain, and may depend on whether the wording is simple and appropriate.

In the United States, jumper is a term used by the police and media organizations for a person who plans to fall or jump (or already has fallen or jumped) from a potentially deadly height, sometimes with the intention to die by suicide, at other times to escape conditions inside (e.g. a burning building).{{cite news|author=Kemp, Joe|date=March 20, 2011|title=Miracle mom who survived horrific 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire was 'one in a million'|work=New York Daily News|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/miracle-mom-survived-horrific-1911-triangle-shirtwaist-factory-fire-million-article-1.122140}} It includes all those who jump, regardless of motivation or consequences. That is, it includes people making sincere suicide attempts, those making parasuicidal gestures, people BASE jumping from a building illegally, and those attempting to escape conditions that they perceive as posing greater risk than would the fall from a jump, and it applies whether or not the fall is fatal.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

The term was brought to prominence in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, in which two hijacked airliners―American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175―were deliberately crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, trapping hundreds in the upper floors of both buildings and setting the impacted floors ablaze. As a direct consequence, more than 200 people plummeted to their deaths from the burning skyscrapers, primarily from the North Tower with only 3 spotted from the South.{{Cite news |last1=Flynn |first1=Kevin |last2=Dwyer |first2=Jim |date=2004-09-10 |title=Falling Bodies, a 9/11 Image Etched in Pain |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/10/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/falling-bodies-a-911-image-etched-in-pain.html |access-date=2023-11-18 |issn=0362-4331}} Most of these people―especially those in the North Tower―deliberately made the decision to die by jumping as a quicker alternative to burning alive or dying from smoke inhalation; however, a small percentage of these deaths were not jumpers but people who accidentally fell. Many of these victims were inadvertently captured on both television and amateur footage, even though television networks reporting on the tragedy attempted to avoid showing people falling to avoid further traumatizing viewers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-02-jumper_x.htm |title=Desperation forced a horrific decision|publisher=USAToday |date=September 2, 2002|author=Cauchon, Dennis and Martha Moore |access-date=February 1, 2023|archive-date=September 1, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901152537/http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-02-jumper_x.htm |url-status=live }}

• The Bridge (2006), documentary film about jumpers on the Golden Gate Bridge
• The Falling Man, iconic photograph of one of the hundreds of casualties of the September 11 attack victims who fell or jumped from the burning World Trade Center{{Cite web|last1=Koopman|first1=John|last2=Writer|first2=Chronicle Staff|date=November 2, 2005|title=LETHAL BEAUTY / No easy death: Suicide by bridge is gruesome, and death is almost certain. The fourth in a seven-part series on the Golden Gate Bridge barrier debate.|url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-suicide-lethal-beauty-2562269.php|website=SFGate}}
• Lover's Leap, nickname for many scenic heights with the risk of a fatal fall and the possibility of a deliberate jump
• Suicide barrier, access-control fence erected at certain high places to deter jumpers
• Suicide bridge, particular bridges favored by jumpers
• :Category:Suicides by jumping

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Category:Suicide by jumping