It is tempting to believe that people who have achieved great success in their life must be happy people. When that success is joined by money and fame, surely, we think, they must live in a state of perpetual contentment.

See Also: 10 Gruesome Facts About Suicide And Death Cleanup

However, it seems, no amount of money, fame or success can prevent people from getting old, or ill, and, perhaps, success brings pressures of its own that most people will never understand. Whatever the reasons, there are times when those who appear to have it all, can struggle just as much, if not more, than the rest of us.

Here are 10 successful people who decided that life was no longer worth living, and expressed themselves, for the last time, in the form of a suicide note.

10 Clara Blandick

Clara Blandick had a forty-year career in films, although she is most famous for playing Aunt Em in The Wizard of Oz. She retired from films in 1950 and spent the rest of her life living at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where she received few visitors, and appeared to have largely been forgotten.

Her retirement coincided with a marked decline in her health. Her eyesight was failing, and she was in constant pain from her severe arthritis, which affected her mental health. One Sunday in April 1962, she went to church, then began to rearrange her room. She put out her favorite photos, the mementos of her long career, arranging them with care. On her desk, she laid out her resume, and a collection of press clippings and reviews, so that the emergency services would know who she was.

Then she did her hair and make-up, put on her favorite dressing gown, and sat on the couch with a gold blanket over her knees. She must have been quite a sight, although the plastic bag that she asphyxiated herself with probably spoiled the scene a little.

She left behind a note, which read, “I am now about to make the great adventure. I cannot endure this agonizing pain any longer. It is all over my body. Neither can I face the impending blindness. I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen.”^[1]

9 George Eastman

George Eastman had a profound impact on modern life. He was the inventor of the Kodak camera, the first camera that made photography easily accessible to the public, and began the craze for amateur photography that is still going strong today. Cameras had previously been expensive, complicated to operate, and extremely unwieldy. His cameras were small, cheap, and simple to use, and his company became one of the most successful businesses in the world.

Eastman pioneered a number of developments in photography, but his Brownie camera, which cost $1 and could be used by amateurs and children was his most popular invention. It became a favorite of servicemen during World War I because it could be tucked into a kit bag.

George Eastman was endlessly inventive and a great businessman. He was respected by his employees, whom he treated well, and was known to be a generous philanthropist, giving away over $100 million during his lifetime. His health, however, began to degenerate, and he found it difficult to do the activities that he once enjoyed. In 1932, George Eastman committed suicide, with a gunshot wound to his heart.

The note that he left behind was brief but to the point. It seems that Eastman put his practical mind to the problem, and came to his own conclusion. “To my friends: My work is done. Why wait? G. E.”^[2]

8Tony Hancock

Tony Hancock was an actor and comedian who specialized in playing characters who had been treated badly by life. His characters were puffed up with a sense of their own self-worth, and bemused to realize no one else recognized his genius.

Tony Hancock’s alter-ego was, it seems, drawn very closely from life. Hancock was a troubled man who resented anyone stealing his limelight. He disliked his writers, the hugely successful writing team of Galton and Simpson, getting credit for his lines, and disliked his co-star, Sid James, getting any funny lines, which was awkward, since James was also a comedian. Hancock insisted that they drop Sid James from Hancock’s Half Hour, and then he fired his writers, a decision which he later bitterly regretted.

As his career began to falter without his writers, Hancock’s drinking, which had always been problematic, became much worse. In a last-ditch attempt to resurrect his fortunes he agreed to make a series in Australia. But Hancock was not happy, and, believing that the filming was not going well, he killed himself in his hotel room.

His suicide note had an echo of Hancock’s Half Hour and the character who believed that the world is against him. “Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times”, he wrote, not knowing the Australian TV company had already decided to commission a second series.^[3]

7 Vachel Lindsay

Vachel Lindsay was an American poet, who was particularly well known for his performance poetry, which he described as ‘higher vaudeville’. Much of his work is considered culturally insensitive today, particularly for his naive and racist portrayals of African-Americans. Sometimes, for example, he appeared in black face when he read his poem about The Congo, a place he had never visited.

But, it seems, this middle-class white man tried hard to depict small town America in all its vagaries. And, for a while, small town America appreciated his efforts. His patriotic verses were well appreciated throughout World War I, but, when the war was over, his popularity began to wane. His readings were sparsely attended, his income declined, and he was the subject of much mocking for his overly dramatic style.

At the same time, his health problems increased, until, in 1931, broke, ill and depressed, Vachel Lindsay killed himself by drinking a bottle of lye, which was a typically dramatic, but agonising, way to go. He left behind a note, which read, “They tried to get me—I got them first!”

Quite who ‘they’ were was not made clear.^[4]

6 George Sanders

George Sanders was a successful, Oscar winning, actor, but he was never able to enjoy his life. He had been married four times, including to the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor, and then to her sister, Magda. He was known for his rudeness, and even acknowledged it himself, saying, “I am not a sweet person. I am a disagreeable person. I am a hateful person.”

This self-awareness did not seem to enable him to enjoy life more, and neither did his seven psychiatrists. Sanders believed that he was passed over for roles that he wanted, and it seemed to eat away at him. In 1972, at the age of 65, George Sanders downed five bottles of Nembutal in a hotel room in Spain. Typically for Sanders, his suicide note was not one that expressed remorse, or love, but rather, disdain and more than a little contempt, for the whole of humanity.

“Dear World, I am leaving you because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.”^[5]

5 Lupe Valez

Lupe Valez was a young and beautiful Mexican actress, who seemed to epitomize the excitement of the frenetic jazz era the 1920s. She was often cast as the fiery Latin consort to the bad guy, and was nicknamed The Mexican Spitfire. Velez was known in Hollywood circles as a party girl, but she was also a staunch catholic. So, when Velez found herself pregnant, at the age of 36, she would not countenance a visit to the ‘health spas’ that many starlets of that era frequented when they were in the same situation.

She was briefly engaged to the father of her child, an Australia actor named Harald Ramond, but the engagement lasted only a few days before they broke up, the week before she died. On the night of her death, she held a dinner party at her home, and, after her friends left, Lupe Valez killed herself with poison, leaving a note which read, “To Harald, may God forgive you and forgive me too but I prefer to take my life away and our baby’s before I bring him with shame or killing him, Lupe.”

Lupe Valez’s death was certainly tragic, but the rumor that she meticulously planned a beautiful death for herself, only to succumb to nausea and die with her head in the toilet, appears to be an urban myth.^[6]

4 Terry Kath

Terry Kath was the lead guitarist in the rock band Chicago, and the musician who Jimi Hendrix called ‘better than me’. Like so many other musicians, Kath was addicted to drink and drugs, and prone to periods of deep depression. He also decided to collect guns as a hobby, which was a dangerous combination.

In 1969, Chicago opened for both Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, and they were riding high. By 1977, however, the band was beginning to fracture, and Terry Kath fell out with several band members. He was taking large amounts of cocaine, and had got himself a new hobby, Russian roulette. He played the game often. Carl Wilson, of The Beach Boys, once knocked a gun out of his hand in alarm and in return, Kath punched him in the face.

On the day of his death, in January 1978, Kath had been snorting cocaine for two days straight. He decided that was this was the right the time to clean his guns, and, after being told to be careful, replied “What do you think I’m gonna do? Blow my brains out?”

He fired the gun directly into his temple. Despite the fact that Kath had removed the clip, the gun still had one bullet in the chamber, and he died instantly. It is not clear whether he intended to shoot himself in that moment, or whether his death was the tragic result of his increasingly dangerous obsession with death, but his last words were horribly prophetic.^[7]

3 Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf was one of the most important writers of the 20th century. Her work received wide recognition, and her marriage was said to have been blissfully happy. However, Woolf had suffered periods of mental illness for the whole of her life, and it is believed that she probably suffered from bi-polar disorder which, at that time, had not been recognized and was untreatable.

Feeling that her mood was changing yet again, Woolf wrote a long and tender suicide note to her husband. “Dearest, I feel certain that I’m going mad again. I feel we can’t go through another of those terrible times. And I shan’t recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can’t concentrate. So, I am doing what seems to be the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don’t think two people could have been happier until this terrible disease came. I can’t fight it any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can’t even write this properly. I can’t read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness in my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me, it would have been you. Everything has gone from me but the certainty of your goodness. I can’t go on spoiling your life any longer. I don’t think two people could have been happier than we have been. V.”

On 28th March 1941, Virginian Woolf filled her pockets with stones and walked into the river near her home, and drowned.^[8]

2 Sid Vicious

Sid Vicious was probably the least talented member of a band which celebrated its lack of talent when it took the world by storm and ushered in the era of Punk Rock. The Sex Pistols were loud, brash, and defiantly aggressive. But it was Sid’s relationship with his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen, that would lead to the destruction of them both.

Sid Vicious had a volatile personality. Occasionally driven to outbursts of violent anger, he was known to have assaulted several journalists and even members of The Sex Pistols’ audience, and he sought refuge in drugs and alcohol. Sid and Nancy both had an escalating heroin habit.

In October 1979, Vicious woke up in his Manhattan hotel, to find his girlfriend dead on the bathroom floor. She had been stabbed in the stomach, and she bled to death. Vicious acknowledged owning the knife, and he was arrested for her murder. Over several interviews he gave conflicting accounts of what happened, sometimes admitting to stabbing her, and sometimes saying that he didn’t remember because of the large amounts of drugs that they had both taken. He was charged with her murder.

After several failed attempts at suicide whilst on remand, Sid Vicious died the night that he made bail. His mother, who discovered his body, claimed that she found a note in his jacket pocket, which read, “We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye.”^[9]

1Hunter S Thompson

Hunter S Thompson, the Gonzo journalist and author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, was a complicated man. Variously described as a southern gentleman and gun-toting anarchist, Thompson was famous for his wildly inventive style of writing, his prolific drug-taking and his love of explosions.

Having spent most of his career chasing, but never finding, The American Dream, Thompson became something of an expert on ‘the underbelly of America’, and his writing influenced a generation.

Thompson himself, however, suffered from a number of health problems, and disliked the process of aging. Counter-culture heroes, it seems, are not meant to grow old. In 2005, he shot himself in the kitchen of Owl Farm, in Woody Creek, Colorado, the home where he had lived for many years. He had written a note a few weeks earlier, which read, “No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax This won’t hurt.”

His prediction was not quite accurate. After his death, his friend, Johnny Depp, arranged for his ashes to be shot from a canon into space, in one last, very large, bomb.^[10]

Dying
Is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I’ve a call.
— From “Lady Lazarus”, by Sylvia Plath

If You Need Help: If you or a loved one needs to talk to someone due to suicidal thoughts or actions, there are resources dedicated to helping you:

• United States National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
• Canada Suicide Prevention Service: 1-833-456-4566
• United Kingdom Samaritans Helpline: 116 123

Other countries’ suicide prevention numbers are available here.

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN, aka the “suicide disease”) is considered to be the worst pain known to man and medicine. People with this rare condition experience excruciating pain to their fifth cranial nerve.

Some treatment options are available, but the condition is progressive and incurable. Although it is not a widely known disease, even non-sufferers will find certain facts about TN interesting and unsettling.

10 A Long History

Discussions about facial torture (tortura oris) can be traced back to the ancient Greek physicians Galen and Aretaeus of Cappadocia in the first century and Avicenna in the 11th century. Even Hippocrates found versions of this facial pain a notable mystery in his writings.

The next reports of the condition appear in Somerset, England, in the 13th century. At the tomb of Bishop Button, one can see wall carvings of people depicted as suffering severe facial agony.

Historians suggest that this was a reference to what we now know as trigeminal neuralgia and not just toothaches. Button’s skeleton was later exhumed, and it possessed a set of nearly perfect teeth. Nevertheless, Button had been canonized and travelers came to give offerings at his grave in the hopes that the saint would relieve their toothaches.

Trigeminal neuralgia hit the mainstream medical world when famous physician John Locke described it in 1677. It received its first medical term, tic douloureux, from Nicolas Andre in 1756. Shortly after Andre’s study, John Fothergill wrote the first comprehensive description and understanding of the condition, and it was dubbed “Fothergill’s disease.”^[1]

Fothergill identified it as a neurological condition rather than pains caused by the teeth, mouth, or tongue. Modern neurology now classifies it as trigeminal neuralgia, a reference to neuropathy of the fifth cranial nerve (the trigeminal nerve).

9 A Disease Of Many Names

One can’t deny the shock value of trigeminal neuralgia’s most famous and chilling colloquial name—the “suicide disease.” Many sufferers are dismayed to learn the term when they are newly diagnosed, although they are likely to relate to the gravity and seriousness of it.

Trigeminal neuralgia produces excruciating pain for the sufferer and is known as the worst pain a person can experience. Effective treatments have only recently been discovered.^[2]

With no way to escape the world’s most unimaginable pain, more than 50 percent of sufferers were believed to have committed suicide. However, sufferers (and their loved ones) will be comforted to know that there is no substantial evidence or statistic to support this claim.

Less worrisome monikers for trigeminal neuralgia include tic douloureux, Fothergill’s disease, prosoplasia, and trifacial neuralgia. The most common term used by sufferers and those who treat trigeminal neuralgia is simply “TN.”

8 Trigger-Happy Pain

So what triggers the facial spasms and electric-like bolts in a TN sufferer’s face? A better question might be: What doesn’t?

Those who suffer from this condition report a wide array of triggers. Commonly reported culprits include smiling, touching your face, brushing your teeth, brushing your hair, wind, eating and drinking, changes in temperature, shaving, putting on makeup, certain foods, loud noises, and kissing.

The list goes on, and sufferers often report that just the fear of triggering an episode can cause them to withdraw from their daily activities.^[3]

7 The Dental Connection

“Yank ’em all out!”

This is likely the battle cry of most new TN sufferers before proper diagnosis. Like the shrine of Bishop Button, TN patients look like people who are suffering from dreadful toothaches. Their first course of action is to see a dentist to remove the offending teeth, not knowing that it is actually facial nerve pain as it radiates to the nerve endings in the jaw.

Many TN patients unnecessarily have teeth removed. They think that it’s the cause of their pain, and dentists can acquiesce to their demands if they aren’t familiar with the condition or given a proper diagnosis.

This can be a sad, frustrating process for both patient and doctor as they learn that the pain persists despite the onward march to a full set of dentures before age 50. Unfortunately, this is a common warning tale among veteran TNers when counseling new patients.^[4]

The dental connection is not totally misguided, however, as research has shown that dental problems can often be the cause (rather than the effect) of TN facial pain.

Accidental or iatrogenic dental trauma is found to be the cause of nearly 40 percent of all cases of trigeminal neuralgia. When combined with trigger-inducing standard dental work and the ongoing perception of tooth pain, this can give new meaning to having a “dental phobia.”

6 Treating The Incurable

Given the long history of trigeminal neuralgia, it is surprising that viable treatment options for the condition have only been discovered within the last century. Once the disorder was linked to neurological origins, doctors were able to more effectively develop medical interventions.

Since it is a nerve condition, traditional painkillers like NSAIDs and opioids do not touch the pain. Anticonvulsant and seizure medications like gabapentin and Trileptal are the first line of defense.

They work in about 80 percent of the cases. However, patients report difficult side effects and often have to increase their doses over time to maintain the efficacy of the drugs. Other pharmaceutical options include Lamictal and Baclofen to augment the effects of the anticonvulsants.

When the medication doesn’t work on its own (and it often doesn’t), TN patients have a number of surgical options. The most common is microvascular decompression (MVD) surgery. This procedure was developed by Walter Dandy in 1925 and has quickly come to be the most popular of the TN surgical options.^[5]

MVD is a brain surgery that involves separating the root of the trigeminal nerve from a compressing artery that is aggravating the nerve. This procedure is often quite successful for patients with Type 1 TN whose MRI images show that compression is the main culprit.

Long-term results of MVD are varied, with some patients reporting full relief but only for a limited time. This can mean multiple surgeries and the risk of debilitating surgical side effects such as anesthesia dolorosa.

For those patients with Type 2 TN or another condition called atypical face pain, MVD may not be the prescribed intervention. Other surgical options exist, such as rhizotomy, glycerol injections, and balloon compressions.

So where do all these options leave us?

At the same place we started. TN is an enigmatic and fierce foe to the neurological sciences. Some treatments work—but only for some and only for so long. Managing a treatment plan for TN is a full-time job. It takes a lot of trial and error, perseverance, and commitment from both doctor and patient.

The research is happening. So with some good luck (and a few good scientists), a cure or at least a long-term, reliable treatment may be just around the corner.

5 Triple Whammy

Trigeminal neuralgia is known to coexist with a few other dastardly houseguests. As if the feeling of your face being pierced by ice picks and electrocuted by lightning while your teeth feel weighted down by 10-ton dumbbells isn’t enough, now you’ve got to throw in the extra perks of a down-and-out trigeminal nerve.

The most commonly known comorbidity with TN is multiple sclerosis.^[6] Scientists have yet to determine the nature of the connection or which comes first—the proverbial chicken or the egg. (However, it is noteworthy that 1–2 percent of MS patients have TN as their first symptom.)

Researchers have identified a chilling rate: 18 percent of women with TN also have a diagnosis of MS, and 2 percent of all MS patients have TN. To make it even worse, 5 percent of all TN–MS patients suffer from bilateral facial pain, a rare type of TN as it usually only makes its home on one side of the face.

Another problem for TN sufferers is migraines and cluster headaches. These three tend to travel in groups, although one is not thought to cause the others. Some doctors theorize that this may be due to the proximity between migraines and cluster headaches with the trigeminal nerve itself, resulting in an interconnected web of aggravation, pain, and secondary symptoms.

It is also important to note that a common side effect of TN medications is headache. Sometimes, the TN anticonvulsant therapies can help prevent migraines and other headaches, but many times, the migraines and headaches must be treated with their own therapies and interventions.

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to assume that a person’s mental health and well-being would be gravely affected by the ravages of this condition. Depression is a frequent companion of TN patients, and their doctors and caregivers should give attention to and support for this unfortunate outcome.

A person’s life changes drastically when they get trigeminal neuralgia. This includes fear during the process of diagnosis (not knowing what’s happening to them), adjusting to life with chronic pain, loss of ability to do things they normally enjoyed, and an overall loss of hope.

Support groups (online and in person) are available to help with the adjustment and in finding understanding and sympathy for their changing life conditions.

4 Differential Diagnosis

The right diagnosis at the right time can make all the difference in a person’s ability to understand, treat, and cope with trigeminal neuralgia. To avoid the long, frustrating road of misdiagnosis, experts recommend these steps.

First, if you have tooth pain, see a dentist. Ask if he is familiar with trigeminal neuralgia. If he is, encourage a differential diagnosis before getting any teeth extracted. If he isn’t, leave.

Second, make an appointment with a neurologist as soon as possible. These are the folks who understand the condition and how to help you. It may take some time to see one in your area, but you can work on a temporary plan with your primary care physician in the meantime.

Third, if you have to go to the emergency room due to the severity of the pain, be prepared to have your pain questioned. ER docs aren’t TN specialists, so offer what you know about the condition. (Have it on a piece of paper because you’ll likely be in too much pain to talk.)

Also ask if they have a neurological consultant on hand. Remember, typical painkillers and opiates will only help the pain mildly. The first form of emergency intervention is a fosphenytoin IV (otherwise known as Dilantin). Ask the doctors about it. (Again, having the information on hand will really help you out when you’re in extreme pain.)

After you get a full workup from your neurologist, you can ask him to write an emergency care plan to bring to the ER with you to avoid any questions or confusion about what you need.

Finally, you may be able to diagnose yourself. A leading international researcher and neurologist on trigeminal neuralgia has created a self-diagnosis tool. He believes that it can guide anyone through a reasonably accurate diagnosis of face pain.^[7] It is available here.

Once you’ve come up with your likely diagnosis, take it with you to doctor appointments. With any luck, it will help the diagnosis journey go more smoothly and you will feel empowered.

3 Famous Faces

Trigeminal neuralgia is indeed rare, but it has still affected some current celebrities and historical figures.

Social activist and writer Gloria Steinem has spoken out about her challenges with trigeminal neuralgia. Steinem describes the condition as excruciating. When it flares, it renders her speechless and unable to walk.

HR, the singer of famed rasta band Bad Brains, underwent his own “bad brain” surgery to deal with his TN. Using GoFundMe, HR and his family raised $16,000 for the surgery and have reported that he is doing well now.^[8]

In 2011, Bollywood actor Salman Khan announced that he had trigeminal neuralgia and had flown to the United States to receive treatment. Khan used his position as a celebrity to spread awareness about the disease. He stated, “If there was a choice to give this pain to my worst enemy, I would not give it. They wouldn’t be able to take it.”

In 2015, Member of Parliament Andrea Jenkyns was chided by the media for being unable to finish the words in a public speech. Jenkyns spoke out against the reports by citing trigeminal neuralgia as the cause of her difficulty. She described the disorder as “excruciating” and “sporadic.”

2 Gaining Recognition

The facial pain and TN societies have fought long and hard for advanced research into and increased awareness of trigeminal neuralgia. On October 5, 2017, the United States House of Representatives passed House Resolution 558 which recognizes October 7 as National Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day. It also expresses the government’s commitment and support toward finding an end to the disease.

The facial pain network is also seeking international recognition of October 7 as International Trigeminal Neuralgia Awareness Day through the World Health Organization. This proposal was submitted on July 1, 2017.^[9]

Additionally, TN is gradually gaining more coverage in various news stories, TV shows, and short films. As the condition is put in the spotlight, sufferers will learn that they are not alone, researchers and scientists will be encouraged to search for a cure, those who live or work with TN sufferers will gain a greater understanding of the disorder, and the medical community will become more generally aware of the condition to reduce future misdiagnoses.

1 The Good (Forget The Bad And The Ugly)

It’s hard to believe that there is any good news after all the unsettling facts discussed above. But there is.

If you suffer from TN or know someone who does, there are many resources and “best practices” you can follow to make the journey a bit more bearable and hopeful. Check these out . . . experts say they are well worth it.

Connection: Get involved in the Facial Pain Association,^[10] TNnME, and social media support groups.

Self-Care: Now more than ever, you have to be your No. 1. Know your triggers, and have a plan for dealing with them. Make a plan with your family as to how you will work as a group to deal with episodes. Find ways to relax and self-soothe, and commit to them.

Pain Management: Consider seeing a doctor who specializes in pain management. These specialists have alternative approaches to managing and coping with pain that many TN patients have found quite helpful.

Be Your Own Advocate: Know your condition from top to bottom—your exact diagnoses, your test results, your medications, your ER visits, and your doctors. Keep a file of all relevant medical information, and take it with you to all doctor and ER visits. Be the master of your medical records, and advocate for yourself!

Sometimes, Michael likes to write.

Officially known as the Aokigahara Forest, one of the most mysterious places on the planet is better known as the Suicide Forest. As the name suggests, this is because of the sheer number of people who have taken their own lives there. Literally, hundreds of people commit suicide in this most chilling stretch of woodland each year.

Perhaps the forest attracts people who wish to take their own lives due to its own grim history of suicides – almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or perhaps there really is something truly evil that twists peoples’ minds and thoughts. Or might we find that magnetic anomalies have such a macabre effect? Here are ten reasons that the Suicide Forest is a truly disturbing place.

10 Unsettling Real-Life Stories That Will Haunt You

10 The Place Is Littered With Ribbons

If you venture into the Suicide Forest one of the first things you will notice will be ribbons. And while that doesn’t sound very chilling in itself, the backstory to them is. Each one essentially represents someone who at the very least went into the forest with the aim of killing themselves. However, many people would take a long piece of colored ribbon with them. They would tie it to a tree upon entering the forest. The reason for this was in case the person changed their minds and then could find their way back out again.

Quite often, though, if you were to follow these ribbons, you will often discover a dead body at the end of them. Quite often hanging from one of the trees. It is truly a grim reminder, for the all the other visual beauty of the region, that many people come here and never leave.^[1]

9 Personal Items Are Scattered Everywhere

Another harrowing discovery you should expect to find in the Suicide Forest are many personal items. Such things as mobile phones, notebooks, and even items of clothing. Sometimes these items will be discovered in small piles. Almost as if multiple people at different times have stopped in these spots to go over their thoughts. Perhaps for a final time.

You might also discover empty drinks bottles alongside boxes and packets of prescription drugs. Most people who take their own life here do so by hanging themselves. Some of the people who enter, though, opt to overdose on such medication.

Once more, what makes all of these items all the more chilling is the realization that each is connected to a once living person. A person who felt such despair that they took their own life here. And just to hammer that point home further, they very likely did so near the spot where the items are found.^[2]

8 The Ghosts Of The Dead “Encourage” Suicide

As we might imagine there are numerous tales of ghosts and spirits residing within the forest. However, some legends suggest that these spirits even encourage people to take their own lives as they roam through the trees.

It is a widespread belief in Japanese folklore that when a person dies a sudden or violent death, this will cause them to become a Yurei. These ghostly spirits are said to transfer their rage and anger on to those who wonder their way. Many people, for example, often speak of how they feel suddenly anxious with no reason. Or how waves of fear or panic overcome them without warning. Imagine, then, having these feelings while already dealing with genuine suicidal thoughts.

We might also note that there are several other locations around the Earth where people speak of suddenly experiencing intense negative emotions. As we will examine further in our last entry, the reason for this might one day prove to geological as opposed to paranormal.^[3]

7 Warning Signs Are Everywhere Discouraging Suicide

If any of the above doesn’t hammer home the sheer number of people who have taken their own lives in the Suicide Forest, then the numerous warning signs dotted around warning people specifically NOT to commit suicide perhaps will. And these signs can be found everywhere throughout the forest.

Not only do these signs contain the warnings attempting to convince people to change their minds against suicide, but they also advertise multiple phone numbers of organizations who attempt to assist people in such a dark frame of mind.

Whether these signs do make a difference to those who enter the forest with thoughts of taking their own lives or not is perhaps open to debate. The fact that authorities have taken these measures, however, perhaps demonstrates how seriously they take the problem. And when we view our next point, it is easy to see why they would do so.^[4]

6 Around 100 Bodies A Year Are Found In The Forest

It is thought that around 100 dead bodies each year are removed from the macabre forest. And what’s more, there are many more that remain there for years before discovery.

Special groups venture into the forest. If they find any dead bodies, they immediately notify the police. One member of the group – usually an older member – will usually remain at the scene so as to ensure nothing is disturbed. If by chance they discover someone alive and possibly still contemplating taking their own life, they will escort that person back to “safe houses” near the forest. Once there, they are strongly encouraged to accept the help they need to return from the dark place in which they find themselves. It is not hard to imagine why those who perform these grim duties grow tired of “tourists” visiting the forest and treating it as a spectacle.

However, as we will explore in our next point, we can’t be absolutely sure of these figures as Japanese authorities no longer publish them.^[5]

10 Creepy Tales About Well-Known Mountains

5 Official Numbers Are No Longer Given

In a further effort to halt the sheer number of people arriving at the Suicide Forest to take their own lives, authorities would take the decision to stop publishing official numbers. And as well as those who succeed in taking their own lives, there are also hundreds of other attempts that for various reasons, perhaps they were talked out of it or simply thought better of their planned action, that are not successful.

Not only were the numbers appearing to attract the attention of the Japanese population, but even filmmakers would set their stories there, usually revolving around the protagonist committing suicide or entertaining thoughts thereof. Perhaps one of the best examples would the Gus Van Sant film Sea of Trees from 2015.

Once more, this is perhaps a great demonstration of just how serious a problem the suicides actually are. Whether this action has achieved a drop in suicides in the forest remains to be seen.^[6]

4 Camping Overnight Is Frowned Upon And Discouraged

For those looking to pitch a tent and camp in the Suicide Forest you will be strongly discouraged from doing so. And even then, you must really stay on the official trail paths. Ultimately, such ambitions are seen as disrespectful by many of Japanese. Perhaps because of this, those looking for grim adventure often take themselves deep into the forest away from the trails and watching eyes. This often leads to people becoming lost and disorientated.

What’s more, the temperatures often drop to freezing at night, which has the potential to cause further problems for those looking to stay in the forest overnight.

The main reason for this, though, is to discourage people to stay in the forest for a prolonged period of time. Especially if they are harboring thoughts of suicide. And when we move on to our next point, it is more than easy to see why.^[7]

3 Many Believe An “Evil Energy” Resides In The Forest

In a similar way to the legends about ghostly apparitions many legends revolve around the idea of the Suicide Forest simply being a place of pure evil. Whether due to spirits or simply an evil energy, some people subscribe to the theory that bad things happen there because of a supernatural force.

If we believe that evil manifests from past events, then the fact that so many people have taken their lives in this spot would certainly contribute to that. However, even before the spate of suicides in the late 20th century, the forest had a grim past. A good example of this would be the practice in the 1800s when many families would bring their elderly to the forest and leave them so they “could die with dignity” in the woodland.

It is certainly an intriguing if gloomy thought. However, for our next point we will turn to the history of the forest and how it came into being. And ultimately, why it might have such a dark spiritual nature.^[8]

2 Eruption Of Mount Fuji

The creation of the forest was down to an eruption from Mount Fuji in 864. The result of this was 12 square miles of lava being spread over where the forest now stands. Once the lava hardened nature took back the region as trees and hemlock grew in abundance. In the centuries that followed the Japanese worshiped Mount Fuji as a god. Furthermore, a great spiritual attachment was formed between the populace and the region.

This eruption also led to the formations of strange cave systems and caverns within the forest. Many of these are unexplored and often have myths and legends attached to them. This itself adds more layers of intrigue to the mysterious woodland.

Whether this beginning to the forest has a connection to its dark nature is speculative and up for debate. For our last point, though, we will turn to science and recent discoveries that might shed light on way the Aokigahara Forest seemingly causes, or at least, amplifies dark thoughts.^[9]

1 Might Magnetic Anomalies Cause The Suicides?

In recent years some researchers have suggested that geomagnetic anomalies might induce such dark thoughts in people. Especially those who are already suicidal anyway. It is the thought of some researchers that these geomagnetic anomalies take place under the ground where the forest resides. And given that these disturbances change all the time, that might show us why the suicide rate seemingly shot up in recent decades in the macabre forest.

The team who conducted the research also looked at other records of geomagnetic activity over the years in other countries. They would find that these often resulted an increase in suicides. And these, in turn, decreased when such geomagnetic anomalies ceased.

Perhaps one particularly interesting conclusion of the study was that these geomagnetic disturbances seemingly affected men much more than women. While more research and study is required on this theory, it is certainly an intriguing one.^[10]

10 Shockingly Simple Things That Save Lives

Cyanide, in its various forms, is a fast-acting poison that has taken millions of lives, most notably claiming the lives of 909 of Jim Jones’s followers at Jonestown. Even worse, cyanide was employed in the Nazi death chambers during World War II through the use of Zyklon-B, a cyanide-based pesticide.^[1] The gas would claim countless lives.

In an ironic twist of fate, many notable Nazis would later die by the very poison they so heavily utilized, administering the agent themselves as the war unraveled and their lives fell apart. Staring down the barrel of the Allied invasion, these Nazis knew their time was up and opted to take their own lives.

Twisted irony? The easy way out? Or did they finally get a rightfully deserved taste of their own medicine? Either way, the Nazis handed these cyanide capsules out like candy, leaving many to die from a taste of their own medicine. Here are ten notable Nazis who died by cyanide poisoning.

10 Hermann Goering

Herman Goering was a Nazi leader and was very active in many of the most horrible, fascist events which took place over the decades between the time the Nazis first began to gain early traction until the climax of World War II. He even survived to see the Nuremberg trials. Goering famously created the Gestapo, which enforced the party’s domination.

In 1934, Hitler had feared that there were too many political figures who had gained too much power among his ranks. From June 30 to July 2, a purge of those he felt were political threats, called the Night of the Long Knives, was carried out. This purge was, of course, done in part by none other than Goering’s Gestapo secret police. In all, at least 85 people who posed a threat Hitler’s power were assassinated. Goering would also go on to help plan and invent the Nazi concentration camps, where Zyklon-B would take so many lives.

Goering lived to see the end of the war and the Nuremberg trials, where figures of the Nazi party were to be held accountable for war crimes. He was convicted and sentenced to hang for his actions. He begged the court for a bullet to the head, but they steadfastly refused. On October 15, 1946, the night before he was to be hanged, Goering took a cyanide capsule in his cell. He was found dead, having been poisoned by the substance.^[2]

9 Odilo Globocnik

One of the lesser-known, though equally terrifying, figures of the Nazi Party was a man by the name of Odilo Globocnik, an Austrian Nazi who had a hand in coming up with the plans to exterminate the Jews of Europe. Keeping it a secret, the Nazis named this project Aktion Reinhardt, and this monster was involved every step of the way.

Before the Nazis took hold of his native Austria, Globocnik was very active in building local support for the movement—that is to say, Globocnik was a Nazi by choice, not through force, without a doubt. His responsibility for the deaths of millions of people, especially in Poland, is undeniable, but eventually fate would have its way with him.

Captured in Austria by the Allies in a 4:00 AM raid on May 31, 1945, Globicnik chose to end his own life than face justice. He placed a cyanide suicide capsule under his tongue that he would hold there, allegedly for several hours, before ingesting it around 11:25 AM. He died within minutes.^[3]

8 Joseph Goebbels’s Children

The date was May 1, 1945, and Hitler and Eva Braun had already taken their own lives as the Soviet war machine moved in on Berlin. The Nazi empire they had dreamed of was falling apart into literal rubble, buildings collapsing everywhere, with major party members trembling in fear at the thought of facing the Soviets. Those with enough status were able to hide in bunkers, including the propaganda minister himself, Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels had six young children at the time, and rather than see them have a chance at life under the Allies, he chose to administer poison to them in the final days of the Nazis.^[4]

Initially, they had called upon a Nazi doctor, a dentist originally from the Panzer division called Death’s Head named Helmut Kunz, but he was unable to bring himself to carry out the murder of six innocent children. Another physician, Ludwig Stumpfegger, would end up carrying out the deed by rendering the children unconscious and placing a 0.5-cc cyanide capsule between each of their teeth and crushing it.

7 Richard Glucks

The Allied invasion, as it toppled the Nazi war machine, resulted in many cowardly Nazi suicides, as they knew that their trials for war crimes would not treat them kindly. Was it possible that actual guilt drove them to suicide? Or was it shame and primal fear? We may never know. Another among the Nazis to do so in the end was a man named Richard Glucks.

Glucks was a soldier before the rise of the Nazi Party, like many others, and would quickly move up the ranks to concentration camp inspector. He inspected the death camps and was the man who would often make the sickening decision of how many people would be executed and how many would stay alive.^[5] This man even made a joint decision with Himmler that the hair of the victims of the concentration camps would be used for yarn for the Nazi soldiers. He deserved every bit of fate he received.

After being shell-shocked in an Allied bombing, Glucks was laid up in a hospital, when he, too, swallowed a suicide capsule filled with cyanide. (There has been some speculation that he was killed by Jews as revenge for his role in the Holocaust.)

6 Hans-Georg Von Friedeburg

A navy admiral during the Nazis’ reign of terror, Hans-Georg von Friedeburg was a high-ranking military official who oversaw U-boat operations and commanded the Kriegsmarine. A decorated war leader, Friedeburg would move his way up through the ranks throughout the life of the Nazi Party and would cause Hell on Earth for the Allied forces at sea.^[6]

Unlike the others on this list, its unlikely that Hans was actually a war criminal. In fact, he aided the Allies in drafting the papers of German surrender, though he had heard, true or not, that he would still likely stand trial, probably due to his rank. Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg would commit suicide on May 23, 1945, by the administration of cyanide.

5 Martin Bormann

Martin Bormann was a dark, shadowy figure, even as the head of the chancellery of the Nazi Party, who worked most often directly with Hitler himself. Bormann, with his closeness to Hitler and depth within the party, had a far-reaching influence on decisions throughout the party and the entire country. He pushed hard for the creation of concentration camps and the subsequent use of slaves. Martin Bormann was undoubtedly a monster and nefarious Nazi from the early days of the party’s inception.

Bormann went through great lengths to cover his tracks and flee Germany to escape to South America, where he would hide from the Allies for the rest of his days. For half a century, this was believed to have possibly been Bormann’s fate. However, in 1998, a DNA test confirmed that a postal worker who had claimed to have found the bodies of Martin Bormann and Ludwig Stumpfegger (the man who had killed the Goebbels children) had not been lying. Both men died of cyanide poisoning on May 2, 1945.^[7]

4 Robert Ritter Von Greim

One of the masterminds behind the aerial attacks on England, including the famous Battle of Britain, Robert Ritter von Greim was an airman for the Luftwaffe. He would later move up the ranks to field marshal, where he would continue the German terror from the air upon Allied forces. He was also a major figure in planning Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union.

On May 8, 1945, von Greim was captured in Austria by American soldiers. On May 24, he killed himself while in custody in Salzburg by crushing a cyanide capsule in his mouth.^[8]

3 Heinrich Himmler

One of the most notorious and nefarious figures in Nazi history was Heinrich Himmler. Beginning his tenure with the party in 1923, Himmler was a longtime party loyalist who quickly shot up in the ranks. Himmler would go on to be a leading figure in the Gestapo and various other Nazi-supporting police forces and was the twisted mind from which the infamous SS was born. While other men on this list made their contributions to the Holocaust, Himmler himself planned the extermination of the Jewish people under Nazi Germany. There is no doubt of this man’s long history as a terrifying war criminal.

Himmler became minister of the interior in 1943, and surprisingly, he was actually expelled from the Nazi Party that year, though he wasn’t killed. As the war unraveled and things spiraled out of control for Germany, Himmler knew he would be brought up on war crimes charges. He attempted to flee but was captured by the Allies. On May 23, 1945, to avoid having to stand trial for war crimes at Nuremberg, he took his own life.^[9] His method of choice, of course, was a cyanide suicide capsule.

2 Eva Braun

Any list about notable Nazi suicides would be incomplete without a mention of Eva Braun, Hitler’s longtime mistress and eventual wife. Braun lived a life of quiet desperation, tucked into the underbelly of the Nazi charade while Hitler championed his strange and bizarre visions of the world through the unrelenting force of the Nazi war machine. Braun attempted suicide twice while she was with Hitler. Lonely and despondent, she was definitely dissatisfied with life.

While not part of the war machine itself, Eva Braun was right there at Hitler’s side all the way until the end of both of their lives, when they would die together as the Nazi German world collapsed around them. The Soviets were closing in on Berlin, and Hitler went with Braun into a secret bunker, where she would ingest a glass vial filled with the same cyanide poison that so many Nazis used to die by their own hands.^[10]

1 Adolf Hitler

While it’s no secret that Hitler went out with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, this list must be closed with the man whose face lives on in infamy and terror, the man who had used the cyanide-based Zyklon-B to kill so many people throughout Europe during the Holocaust. Scores had been poisoned by cyanide in the gas chambers of the Nazi death camps, tricked into supposed showers or locked into rooms, only to die from a canister of gas which seeped through the wall. And according to some, Hitler, too, would have a date with cyanide.

In 1968, a Soviet intelligence officer published a book claiming that the USSR had recovered Hitler’s body, identified it, performed an autopsy on it, and found that Hitler had been poisoned with cyanide.^[11] Today, some accounts of Hitler’s suicide only mention the gunshot; others say he took cyanide along with Eva Braun and then shot himself. In a bunker beneath the rubble of the fall of the Third Reich, there will forever be doubt as to what happened on that fateful day of April 30, 1945, but it’s very much within the realm of possibility, considering everyone else on this list, that to absolutely ensure his death, Hitler added in the method of suicide the Nazis favored the most: cyanide.

I like dark stuff, horror, history, the macabre, and philosophy.

Suicide is the 13th leading cause of death world-wide and ranks 3rd in many countries among 10-24 year olds. An estimated 815,000 people commit suicide each year around the world representing one death every 40 seconds. Some who attempt suicide are fortunate enough to receive a second chance at life. This list includes some of the more popular suicide locations along with people that were given another chance to live. Also included in the list are the grim suicide statistics for each destination. It also should be noted that the details from each incident varies depending on the information put forward by the press and the survivors.

Location: Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (Estimated over 30 Suicides)

In 1995 after a failed relationship, 29 year old Connie Mercure from Brooklyn jumped over 200 feet into the Lower New York Bay. Rescuers immediately pulled her from the chilly waters. Mercure survived with a broken leg, extensive internal bleeding and hypothermia.

Location: Throgs Neck Bridge (Estimated over 40 Suicides)

In 2001 26 year old Matthew Sicoli, after a fight with his girlfriend and job woes walked on the pedestrian lane toward the center of the Throgs Neck Bridge. Authorities spotted Sicoli kneeling and then watched in horror as he hopped over a railing and disappeared. Police quickly mounted a rescue effort and saved Sicoli in less than 10 minutes. Matthew survived the 140-foot leap and suffered only bruises to his ribs, stomach and face. It is estimated he went into the East River hitting the water at 64 mph. Sicoli’s 51-year-old mother committed suicide by jumping off the Whitestone Bridge just five years earlier.

Location: Sunshine Skyway Bridge: (Over 120 Suicides)

On May of 2001, 35 year old artist and inventor Hanns Jones was despondent over business pressures. After heavy drinking and a horrible fight with his wife, Jones drove his pickup to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to end his life. Right after Jones jumped he said he knew it was a big mistake. Jones described the jump as “You just accelerate and accelerate so fast and then it stops, but when you stop you don’t feel like you hit water, you feel like you hit concrete”. The force of the impact ripped Jones’s clothes off. Despite multiple rib fractures, internal bleeding and a collapsed lung, he was able to swim to the rocks near one of the pylons. He was sitting there naked when rescuers arrived, and then spent weeks in the hospital recovering. Jones says he’s fine and happy today, and he often wonders why he survived when so many others didn’t.

Location: Jacques Cartier Bridge (Over 140 Suicides)

Did Bélizaire had an addiction to gambling which started when he was 17 years old. In 2003 at the age of 36, he had another losing night playing the video lottery terminals at the nearby Casino de Montréal. Bélizaire found himself deep in a hole and called his girlfriend on his cell phone, asked for her blessing and ended the call without telling her what he was about to do. Bélizaire then jumped off the Jacques Cartier Bridge into the St. Lawrence River. Bélizaire survived the jump and was unable to force himself to drown because his survival instincts took over. The jump cost Bélizaire the use of his legs and is now a paraplegic. Bélizaire is quoted saying “Once I was a strapping 6-foot-7 basketball and football player and now I’m a 3 foot 3 inches in a wheelchair”. Bélizaire takes every opportunity he can to tell young people his story and sound the alarm against compulsive gambling.

Location: Brooklyn Bridge (Estimated suicides are in the hundreds)

In June of 2008, a 34 year-old woman identified as “Michelle” decided to end her life by jumping off the pedestrian walkway of the Brooklyn Bridge. After her 10 story leap into the East River several witnesses called 911 and the woman was quickly plucked from the chilly waters. Paramedics were amazed that she came out of it with no broken bones and hardly a scratch. She was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where she was admitted for having water in her lungs.

Location: Humber Bridge (Over 200 Suicides)

28 year old Angela Schuman was going through a custody battle with her ex- husband over their daughter. She wrote several letters, including one saying:” I can be with my daughter all the time. I can be free and far away where no Julio (her husband) of this world can reach us and separate us. And I can be with my daughter on her birthday.” In the fall of 2005 Angela jumped off Humber Bridge (3 days prior to her daughters 2nd birthday) holding on to her daughter all the way down. The little girl was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary where she was found to be hypothermic, but five days later was able to go home. Angela Schumann spent almost two months in hospital for treatment to lower body fractures. In the hospital, Schumann was found to have faded writing on her stomach saying: “Cause of death Julio”. The mother and daughter are two of only five to have ever survived a fall from Humber Bridge.

Location: Aurora Bridge (Over 220 Suicides)

John Dittmann felt suicidal, blaming it on a daily regiment of taking tranquilizers to treat mental illness and drinking alcohol to offset the pills. Dittmann often would stare at the Aurora Bridge from his Wallingford halfway house and in 1979 at the age of 22 he decided to end his life with a leap off the bridge. After jumping Dittmann had a change of heart and decided he didn’t want to die. He then frantically threw his arms back and fought to keep his body from pitching forward and tried to keep his feet extended as he plunged 174 feet. He hit Lake Union at 70 mph with a crack and struggled to swim meekly to shore. Dittmann fractured his back and injured his lungs, but survived. The Seattle man is one of about 30 people who have survived a leap from the landmark bridge.

Location: Clifton Bridge (Over 500 Suicides)

This miraculous escape from death happened over 120 years ago. 22 year old Sarah Henley received a letter from her fiancé breaking up their engagement. In a state of despair she rushed to end her life by the jumping off the Clifton Suspension Bridge. That particular morning there was a slight wind blowing and Sarah’s skirt was inflated (acting like a parachute) and considerably slowed down her decent. The wind also prevented her falling straight into the water. Sarah lived a full life and died in 1948. Her incredible luck gave her an extra 62 years of life. Sarah Henley’s jump has become legend and is recorded in the official history of the Suspension Bridge.

Location: Beachy Head (Over 500 Suicides known)

In June of 1995, 15 year old Martin Hinchcliffe had a fight with his girlfriend’s parents. After writing a note to his mother saying he would kill himself he walked to Sugar Lump cliff on Beachy Head and jumped. 35 feet into his fall he was caught by some extending rocks and was completely hidden from view in a deep crevasse. After spending 72 hours holding on to the cliffs, his cries were finally heard by a man walking on the beach below. Coastguard, police and firefighters went to the scene and were able to rescue Hinchcliffe who suffered a broken leg and cracked several ribs. Hinchcliffe said he sucked on rocks during the 72 hours to avoid dehydration.

Location: Golden Gate Bridge (Over 1500 Suicides)

At the age of 19 Kevin Hines battle with bipolar disorder became so intense that he finally decided to end his life. In the year 2000 he attended his first class at school, and then took a bus to the Golden Gate Bridge, crying all the way. Hines picked his spot and stood there for 40 minutes. No one approached him to ask what was wrong and when a tourist came up and asked whether he could take her photo, Hines thought that was clear proof that no one cared. He took the picture, and then jumped. Instantly he realized he had made a mistake and thought to himself “God save me”. As he was falling Hines came up with a plan to save his life, and threw his head back and tried to hit feet first. Hines was hurtled 40 feet underwater but miraculously survived. Hines endured arduous physical rehabilitation after his near-death experience, but said dealing with his bipolar disorder had been far more difficult. He now lives by a strict schedule, and has found a combination of drugs and therapy that allows him to regulate his manic highs and depressions. Currently, Hines works with several mental health groups and suicide prevention hot lines.