# Suicide jumpers always take off their glasses -- really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411 "2003-01-28T04:20:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Shemem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@Shemem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shemem)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/21 "2003-01-30T04:13:54Z")
I can’t think of where it was, but I saw this idea of “suicide jumpers take their glasses off” stated as an absolute fact somewhere else in addition to CSI. And as a glasses-wearer from the age of 8, I can’t imagine why I would, various explanations given in this thread duly noted. Then again, I think if I decided to do myself in, I’d probably go with poison. ---
**Author:** ![Peregrine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a6a055/32.png) [@Peregrine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peregrine)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/22 "2003-01-30T04:20:17Z")
I saw this very same plot device in an Inspector Morse mystery. Morse explained to his sidekick that suicides take off their glasses because it’s like going to sleep. I have never run into any real-world confirmation, however. ---
**Author:** ![consolid8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@consolid8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/consolid8)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/23 "2003-01-30T04:22:02Z")
Having worn glasses for 37 years now I’d keep 'em on. I don’t even notice them anymore. If I wake up at night and rub my eyes I even push my glasses up first, even though I don’t have them on. They’re that much a part of me. Besides, without them I’d probably miss the ground. I might even jump back onto the bridge by mistake! How embarassing in front of the six o’clock news team! As for reading glasses, if you just needed them for reading why would you have them on in that situation anyhow? It’s not like there’s a manual or sign posted that you need to study. I would, however, always wear clean underwear before jumping. Someone’s gonna see them after you hit. ---
**Author:** ![consolid8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@consolid8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/consolid8)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/24 "2003-01-30T04:25:28Z")
Clark Kent takes his off before he flies… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/25 "2003-01-30T04:36:25Z")
My bet is that, even if it seems unlikely, it is probably true. Shows like CSI pride themselves on the realism of their procedural drama. I image they have loads of consultants to confirm plot points like this and if the glasses clue was no good they would have used something that was true. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/26 "2003-01-30T06:32:38Z")
Please. CSI is a bag of crap from one end to the other. The circumstances are completely unreal, and the basic science is so skewed for television audiences that it bears little resemblance to reality. I have a former forensic chemist working in my lab, and his wife loves that show, Drives him freakin’ nuts (he gets his revenge by commenting on every little thing they get wrong – well, everything he has the breath for). 😃 As for the OP, there are some famous suicide cases where the people left their glasses (and other personal belongings) behind, and others who had their glasses in their pockets, but I suspect this nonsense was based on the anecdotal musings of a background consultant. ---
**Author:** ![Mort\_Furd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mort\_Furd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mort_Furd)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/27 "2003-01-30T09:20:39Z")
Me, I’d take my glasses off. I wouldn’t want to see the ground as I plummet towards it. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2003, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/28 "2003-01-30T11:17:45Z")
Hm, after all of these replies, I think I have to stand by my original statement. The popular sentiment seems to be 60/40 against taking them off, but then, no one posting here (I presume and hope) is 10 seconds from ending their life by self-defenestration. As noted by myself, slipster, and others, there is a definite skewing of rationality involved in depression in general and suicide in particular, and I’ve always felt that the “going to bed” metaphor is a fair approximation. Adding to that the fact that suicides happen for a wide variety of reasons with varying levels of planning and forethought, and occasional substance abuse, you will never get a “always” and likely not even a “most of the time” statistic. There are cultural backgrounds, self-imagery, attatchment to the objects involved (in this case, glasses), impulse decisions, and losing nerves or being absent-minded about mundane things (which can work either way - automatically taking them off as if preparing for bed or forgetting about them) to consider. As for it ruling out murder, I hope that no detective would make such an asinine presumption. There are a hundred reasons someone would take off glasses, including a physical conflict, aggressive discussion or argument, to the stereotypical remove-glasses-and-massage-eyes move from a heated discussion. People can make themselves as comfortable as possible, if planning ahead, staging a scene, or do it as a reaction to shock. Either scenario can go either way. Anyway, the quote from the show you posted doesn’t exactly mention “always,” but instead infers a tendancy. My answer is that it depends on each case and person, and I hope I’ve given some insight into the “why” followup. ---
**Author:** ![Harvard\_10Magna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Harvard\_10Magna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvard_10Magna)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/29 "2015-11-29T01:49:18Z")
> [@Nether](#): > > I saw the same show and wondered the same thing. So I started to do some research in various sites. I could find nothing to back this up so it must be made up to make the show interesting. I saw this on ‘Inspector Morse’, a much older show so it couldn’t have been made p by CSI. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/30 "2015-11-29T02:04:58Z")
Well, sure… you wouldn’t want to break them, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/31 "2015-11-29T03:24:27Z")
**13 yo Zombie thread.** I left my glasses & dentures at home. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/32 "2015-11-29T04:46:23Z")
I wear them. I take them off when I can get away with it. I wouldn’t want to toss it all away while wearing something around my head that’s not me. What were these people thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/33 "2015-11-29T05:14:05Z")
I think it’s the fear that the glasses will get smashed upon impact and the broken glass shards might get jammed into your eyeballs. :eek: Even if you expect to be dead and pulverized a millisecond later, I’ll bet that’s scary. ---
**Author:** ![oara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@oara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oara)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/34 "2015-11-29T06:02:47Z")
> [@slipster](#): > > While I don’t recall anything about eyeglasses, he observed that people very frequently pull away an article of clothing before stabbing themselves, rather than stabbing themselves through it. The point seems to be that suicide is often not a particularly rational act, and people act as though they don’t want to get their shirt sdamaged because they might want to wear them again. If I wanted to stab myself, I feel that I would remove clothing that’s in the way in order to see what I was doing, not having had a lot of practice at that sort of thing. I think the idea of suicide as irrational comes from christianity and it’s thought of as often enough rational in Japan, for instance. As one who wore glasses growing up, I feel sure I’d leave them on if I were to jump. Wouldn’t occur to me to take them off. ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2015, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411/35 "2015-11-29T08:15:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I think it’s the fear that the glasses will get smashed upon impact and the broken glass shards might get jammed into your eyeballs. :eek: Even if you expect to be dead and pulverized a millisecond later, I’ll bet that’s scary. Glass shards? Vast majority of them are made of plastic these days, not glass. Not sure if the material shatter into shards, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suicide-jumpers-always-take-off-their-glasses-really/151411.md?page=1)