Pseudocide is Painless

" It is fairly common for people who disappear to want to make their escape look like a suicide. They could probably just as easily walk out the door into a new identity, but for some reason they want people to think they have died.

Perhaps they believe it will keep people from searching for them, or that it will be easier for their families to cope with death than with disappearance. 

Then again, it may be a scam to collect on life insurance. 

Dr. Richard Seiden of the University of California, an internationally known authority on suicide, has coined a new word for such fake deaths: Pseudocide.

Pseudocide

Di. Seidel investigated 100 cases of apparent suicide from the Golden Gate Bridge in which no body was recovered. 

Of the 100, he easily found 26 that were alive and well and enjoying the finer side of life. 

His investigative techniques were not very sophisticated either, so it is likely that many of the remaining 74 "victims" are out walking the streets somewhere.

The very first suicide from the San Francisco Bay Bridge was actually a pseudocide. The person in question was a San Francisco Supervisor, similar to a councilman or alderman, who was embroiled in a little dispute with the accounting types over the disposal of some official funds.

When the situation got serious he took the easy way out and was written off the books as bridge suicide though his remains were never located. Sometime later he was discovered selling Bibles door-to-door down in Texas. "

Through early morning fog I see

Visions of the things to be

The pains that are withheld for me

I realize and I can see

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

I try to find a way to make

All our little joys relate

Without that ever-present hate

But now I know that it's too late, and

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

The game of life is hard to play

I'm gonna lose it anyway

The losing card I'll someday lay

So this is all I have to say

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

The only way to win is cheat

And lay it down before I'm beat

And to another give my seat

For that's the only painless feat

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

The sword of time will pierce our skins

It doesn't hurt when it begins

But as it works its way on in

The pain grows stronger watch it grin, but

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

A brave man once requested me

To answer questions that are key

Is it to be or not to be

And I replied 'Oh, why ask me?'

That suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

'Cause suicide is painless

It brings on many changes

And I can take or leave it if I please

And you can do the same thing if you please.