Medical non sequitur

Just a minor fact....

The movies always show someone hanging themselves like this and immediately dying. Nope.

Falling a few feet with a rope around ones neck will not break the neck, as in an execution. When the neck is broken, death will follow in about a minute, as the neural connection between heart and brain is severed. The pain only lasts momentarily, as the brain shuts down, and the lower body is paralyzed and lacking in feeling. It is a relatively humane way to go, compared to other forms of self-destruction.

But hanging onself from a beam as Martha did accomplishes something different--suffocation. The air passage is irrevocably crushed, and the person "drowns" in an airless environment, thrashing painfully for minutes 'till they turn blue and their capillaries explode. Not a nice way to go.

Within the time period shown in the film, Martha cuold have been cut down and revived. Might be some brain damage, but CPR would do wonders. Even a slight woman such as Karen could run to the kitchen and get a cooking knife, and get her down.

Just a random thought--but parents of depressed teens need to know that time is of the essence when it gets way too quiet in their kid's room.

"When you throw dirt, you lose ground" --old proverb