From reddit/pessimism
Nick Vujicic and Victor Staudt
How many times have you come across a story about Nick Vujicic? A motivational speaker, born without arms and legs, who attempted to commit suicide by drowning himself, but was saved. A Christian evangelist, who´s now in his early 40s, and a father to four children, Vujicic is opposed to abortion.
In 2021 he co-founded ProLifeBank.
Now, how many times have you heard of Victor Staudt?
Victor Staudt, born in 1969, was a Dutch jurist who suffered from depression since he was a child. Later he was also diagnosed with borderline disorder. In 1999,he attempted suicide by jumping in front of a train, but survived and lost both his legs.
After that, he became a motivational speaker and was active in the prevention of suicides. He wrote books, did TV shows and TED talks, saying that his suicide attempt was a mistake. He gave speeches at numerous events and tried to convince suicidal people that suicide is never the answer. He was in favor of using the Papageno effect to prevent further suicides. This is an effect of mass media deterring people from suicide by promoting stories of people who regretted their suicide attempts, in contrast to those who didn´t.
In 2019, at the age of 50, Victor committed suicide. A man who spent 20 years of his life, telling people to choose life, made the opposite choice.
The proponent of the Papageno effect served as its living example.