London, 11 February 1963. The American poet Sylvia Plath committed suicide at the age of 30. He committed suicide by putting his head in the oven and breathing in the urban gas. Among other things, Canadian journalist and speaker Malcolm Gladwell discusses the case of Plath in his book Talking to Strangers (2019) and, on the excuse of this case, proposes the theory that the expansion of natural gas caused a decrease in the number of suicides.

Urban gas contained hydrogen, methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and carbon monoxide. Natural gas, on the other hand, contains little carbon monoxide. So urban gas allowed people to die at home without using weapons, without spilling blood and without pain, not natural gas. In England, in the 1960s, natural gas gradually replaced urban gas – the changes required for the renovation of household appliances and replacement was not carried out overnight. A graph by Gladwell clearly shows that during that decade suicides decreased in England, while in the United States they did not because natural gas did not expand there. The same graph shows an increase in the number of crimes of the head in the 1920s and especially in 1930. The journalist attributes this increase to the expansion of urban gas.

Like other theories by Gladwell, it is also questioned because some, considering it excessively categorical, do not take into account other factors, such as the effect of the economic crisis that occurred in 1929 on the rise of the 1930s. But what Gladwell means by his theory is that those who tend to commit suicide, if they “hinder” the choices, are given the opportunity to reverse the time and the situation. We will never know what would have happened if Sylvia Plath had installed natural gas in his rented house in London. On two other occasions he attempted suicide, taking medication and causing a car accident, and when he died he was on treatment. Would you do that by trying another method? Would you gain time to continue treatment or other more appropriate treatment?

The taboo of suicide

The case of Plath also calls into question the Werther effect. According to this theory, when a known person commits suicide and the media report it, the number of suicides increases by imitation. The cases of Marilyn Monroe, Kurt Cobain and the Japanese singer Okada de Yuki are examples. Several studies support this idea and encourage the media to silence information about suicides. But there are also those who say that that only increases the taboo around suicide.

Sylvia Plath was known when he committed suicide. The media reported his death and the BBC dedicated a comprehensive report to the case a few days later. And apparently, there was no imitation effect. During her life she spoke and openly wrote about her mental problems, her treatments, and her suicide attempts. Some experts believe that this does cause a certain imitation effect, which leads those who think they commit suicide to talk about the issue and seek solutions. And so Plath, though he didn't manage to save himself, helped save others.