Suicide & Suicide Attempts

Groups use it as a war tactic. Sometimes in the name of religion. Every day we hear the phrase, “suicide bomber.” Iraq seems to have an endless supply of people willing to die for their cause, or their hatred. It’s been a common practice among terrorists for decades. Before that the U.S. armed forces stationed in Pearl Harbor experienced the novelty of the Japanese kamikaze pilots. Long before that Judas hung himself because of his betrayal against Jesus. Rational minds grapple with the concept.

This morning bright and early Dallas learned that the highest profile professional athlete in town attempted suicide last night by overdosing on pain medication. Terrell Owens.

At this point it appears he overdosed on up to 35 pills of some sort. He broke his hand in the last game, over a week ago. Surgery put him back together. However, all appeared well (as well as it ever does with T.O.’s world). He was on a morning local TV show, spoke at two local high schools and attended the Cowboy’s practice (no, he didn’t practice), then around 7:30 last night a 911 call asked for help. A female made the call saying she had tried to pry his mouth open to retrieve the pills. Dallas Fire & Rescue responded, along with Dallas Police. According to the police report it was an attempted suicide.

Any armchair therapist could tell you this person wasn’t normal. Constantly seeking attention is how he lives his entire life. Everything is about him. So it’s not terribly shocking to me that he’s a troubled soul - assuming the story is true. And even if it’s not, he needs some serious help to deal with whatever motivates him to live in such a chaotic way.

Twice he has busted up professional teams by being so vocally discontent. Immensely talented, you’d think somebody in his life could help him. Sadly, his money probably makes that almost impossible. Those who have a piece of him have their own agenda - and it’s not always his best interest except as it relates to money (because they benefit from that).

How does a person get to a place so dark that suicide seems a reasonable escape? According to one resource, it’s not chosen. It happens when pain outweighs the resources for coping with pain, according to this resource.

Everybody experiences pain - every day. Most of us effectively cope with the pain in our lives. It may not always be the appropriate pain. Maybe we go home and kick the dog. Maybe we go home and yell at our spouse, or kids, or both. Maybe we get in the car and drive fast. Frankly, pain can be so severe that we all do stupid things - irrational things. Perhaps even things that could kill us, unintentionally. Risky behavior can hit any of us at any time. Most of us never contemplate killing ourselves though.

Today, in Dallas suicide is getting top billing. No doubt we’ll hear all about suicide and attempted suicide. I’m sure we’ll be given stats and facts that many of us never knew before. The collective learning will be a good thing. The fact remains that everyday somebody sees suicide as a way to deal with their pain.

UPDATE (11am) - Deion Sanders now says he has talked with Terrell Owens and he’s laughing at the reported story. Owens told Sanders that he suspected he had a reaction with some supplements he takes. Sanders is reporting that Owens did not attempt suicide. We’re supposed to hear from T.O. within the hour. Stay tuned.

On a side note, Owens is quite capable of using this, and all other stories, to his benefit by keeping himself in the news. His call for attention is never ceasing. He needs help even if he didn’t attempt suicide.

UPDATE (12:12pm) - Owens is expected to make a statement at 12:30pm. Supposedly, he’s fine and this story is incorrect. He was reportedly seen leaving Baylor Medical with a smile and thumbs up sign to reporters. He’s home now in his Deep Ellum digs, where he’ll deliver a message to the anxious public. Who but Owens could trump the death of Byron Nelson? He’s a master at self-promotion, that’s for sure. Stay tuned.

UPDATE (12:40pm) - Owens has now announced he will not address the media from his house. He’s going to address the media from the Cowboys facility in Valley Ranch at 2:30pm after coach Parcell’s scheduled press conference at 1:30pm. Fortunately, Bob and Dan are at the Cowboys’ facility where they’ve got the Drew Bledsoe show live. Bledsoe is supposed to (a) address the team in the locker room (not for broadcast or public consumption), or (b) address the media (which will be broadcast and for public consumption) around 2pm. At 2:15pm he’s going to go on the air with Bob and Dan. Then Owens will conduct his press conference at 2:30pm. Stay tuned.

UPDATE (2:15pm) - Bledsoe told BAD (Bob and Dan) radio that he spoke with Owens and this whole deal “got blown out of proportion.” Hoax? Self-promotion campaign? Something else? Who knows. Dallas is accustomed to the spin doctors at Valley Ranch. We’re still waiting to hear directly from Owens. I’m personally waiting to see if we hear from Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Owens. He’s so articulate and forth-coming. NOT.

FINAL UPDATE (2:44pm) - Owens and his publicist appeared. Owens claimed his supplements evidently conflicted with the pain medication. He became unresponsive and his publicist dialed 911. She denies what the police report says - that she told the medical personnel that he was depressed. He denies that he attempted suicide claiming that he wasn’t coherent enough to clearly respond to questions. It would seem ridiculous that he did attempt suicide given the way he talks today - and the fact that he’s already out of the hospital. We’re told that real suicide attempts are required to go through a 72 hour psych evaluation. That certainly didn’t happen with Owens - if indeed he was attempting to kill himself.

There’s something we don’t know. We don’t know what happened last night to cause the 911 call. We don’t know what really happened. We may never know. Here’s what I do know:

- Owens managed to get on the home page of every major media in the country from CNN to Fox News to Yahoo.com.

- Owens managed to stop all the talk of Bryan Nelson’s death yesterday. It’s barely been mentioned today. And Nelson was a Dallas icon for decades with a locally-based tournament bearing his name (the only golf tournament that bears the name of a professional golfer).

- Owens managed to get every major news organization to descend on Valley Ranch. Press conferences that normally have 20-30 people each week ballooned up past 300.

- Owens managed to elevate his already high visibility.

Other than that, like Sgt. Schultz, “I know nothing.” As Richard Nixon would say, “plausible deniability.”