IF Tim ended his life by suicide drowning, my thoughts are that it was impulsive - - triggered by him being angry and upset that he was not selected for the Branch Chief job. I dont think he had mental illness or depression.
http://www.allianceofhope.org/blog_/2012/05/why-impulsive-suicide.html
Why? Impulsive Suicide
05/20/2012
If you've spent time on the Alliance of Hope for Suicide Survivors community forum, you've probably seen posts about two types of suicides. The first is the type that most people recognize. The person who completed suicide had a history of mental illness, had made prior attempts, and exhibited many of the so-called warning signs.
The second type that people don't know as much about is the impulsive suicide. The person who completes this type of suicide may not have put any thought into the matter at all. There is usually no history of depression and no warning signs that can be identified, even in retrospect.
Impulsive suicides usually involve a triggering event--which others may not even recognize as significant--and immediate access to a way to end one's own life.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06suicide-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
The Urge to End It All
JULY 6, 2008
The National Institute of Mental Health says that 90 percent of all suicide completers display some form of diagnosable mental disorder.
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The very fact that someone kills himself we regard as proof of intent and of mental illness; the actual method used, we assume, is of minor importance.
But is it?
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What makes looking at jumping suicides potentially instructive is that it is a method associated with a very high degree of impulsivity, and its victims often display few of the classic warning signs associated with suicidal behavior. In fact, jumpers have a lower history of prior suicide attempts, diagnosed mental illness (with the exception of schizophrenia) or drug and alcohol abuse than is found among those who die by less lethal methods, like taking pills or poison. Instead, many who choose this method seem to be drawn by a set of environmental cues that, together, offer three crucial ingredients: ease, speed and the certainty of death.
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You've brought up some important research. I agree. All suicides are not motivated in the same way.
However, speaking from my own experience of working so closely with the mentally ill on a locked psychiatric unit for 15 years, I believe anyone who commits suicide
is mentally ill.
It's not normal to try to kill one's self. They may not have a specific diagnosis but there are no 'mentally healthy' categories into which into that behavior will fit.
There are degrees of mental illness too. Impulsive suicidal people may not have a prior diagnosis, but that doesn't mean they're doing just fine, and one day just grab a gun and shoot themselves. It may appear that way to other people but something is not right.
In my experience they fit into two categories. Sudden psychotic break ( loss of contact with reality, hearing voices, etc. ) or drug/alcohol impairment coupled with a sudden triggering event.
The attempts are not thought out ahead of time which is why they are so dangerous. The person could be dead before they even realized what they were doing. If they had been sober, that triggering event may have been taken in stride.
That's what they would often tell me the next day, after they were sober. "Can't believe I did that! How stupid. She wasn't worth me getting that upset about." They may realize then just how serious their attempt really was.
I'm convinced that many impulsive suicide attempts have undiagnosed Bipolar Disorder as well. One of the defining characteristics of it...
We don't know whether Timothy did kill himself, and if so, whether it was planned/unplanned.
It appears he was experiencing much emotional turmoil, but it would just be a guess as to exactly what motivated his actions. His death could have been entirely accidental.
A real tragedy, no matter what happened! I know I have hugged all my loved ones just a bit tighter since his death...
JMO
