David Lester (Stockton University, USA) & Ahmed M. Abdel-Khalek (University of Alexandria, Egypt)
George Sanders (1906-1972) became a famous film actor in the United States. Sanders predicted back in 1937 that he would die by suicide using an overdose. In 1970, his third wife died and, in the same year, his mother and brother died. Sanders became depressed and reclusive. He lost money in a failed investment and had a minor stroke. Sanders died by suicide on April 25th, 1972, from an overdose. He left two suicide notes, one of which read:
Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.
The relationship between boredom and suicidal behavior has been largely ignored. On PsycInfo, suicid* plus boredom elicits two articles. Maltsberger (2000) presented the case of a 30-year-old who attempted suicide and who felt that life was boring, a purposeless burden, and without meaning.
A more meaningful discussion of boredom and suicide was presented by Ros Velasco (2024) who noted that “dying of boredom” is treated as a joke rather than as a serious issue.[1] Boredom can kill through agency and passivity. Helplessness in the face of boredom can result in psychache (mental pain) and suicidal ideation, and this was noted by Seneca, Kant, Gustav Flaubert and Émile Durkheim. Baudelaire, who attempted suicide at the age of 26, left a suicide noted for his mother that read: I kill myself because I find the tedium of going to sleep and the tedium of getting up unbearable.
Ros Velasco presented several cases of suicide in young people motivated by boredom, but noted that boredom can result in suicidal behavior also in the elderly. “Boredom […] is the breeding ground for both physical and mental problems that affect the development of life. Their suffering leads to states of anger, irritation and frustration, agitation and nervousness, sleep disorders, eating disorders, a decrease in functional abilities and perceived health, a feeling of loneliness, disinterest in the world, depressive symptoms, increased alcohol consumption and medication, episodes of violence and suicidal ideation, among many others. This rises exponentially in those who are institutionalized” (p. 99).
Recently, Lester and Abdel-Khalek (2026), in a sample of 181 Egyptian university students, found that scores on a boredom proneness scale were strongly associated with scores on a depression scale (r=0.65, two-tailed p<.001). Boredom was also associated with past week suicidal ideation (r=0.21, p<.01) but, in a multiple regression, only depression predicted suicidal ideation.
There are, of course two possibilities. It may be that boredom leads to depression or that depression results in boredom or, perhaps, both pathways exist.
References
Lester, D., & Abdel-Khalek, A. M. (2026). Boredom, depression and suicidal ideation. Suicide Studies, 7(3), 2-6.
Maltsberger, J. T. (2000). Case consultation: Mansur Zaskar: A man almost bored to death. Sucide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 30, 83-90.
Ros Velasco, J. (2021). ¿Puede uno morirse de aburrimiento? https://dependencia.info/noticia/4141/opinion/puede-uno-morirse-de-aburrimiento.html.
Ros Velasco, J. (2024). Can one die of boredom? Suicide Studies, 5(3), 98-100.
[1] This article originally appeared in Spanish (Ros Velasco, 2021). https://dependencia.info/noticia/4141/opinion/puede-uno-morirse-de-aburrimiento.html.