First a radio station...now a car dealership. Man commits suicide after

[Horse with no Name]

being sleep deprived. Family claims temporary insanity.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/012707dntexhardbody.16c8abc.html

Family members of an East Texas man who committed suicide after competing for a "Hardbody Truck" are suing the dealership that sponsored the contest, alleging it allowed unsafe conditions leading to mental instability and death.

The annual "Hands on a Hardbody" contest by Patterson Nissan of Longview was popularized in a 1998 documentary film by the same name, but it was canceled following the suicide of Richard Thomas Vega II in 2005.

In the contest, whoever lasted the longest won a Nissan truck and other prizes. Vega was competing on Sept. 15, 2005, when he walked away, broke into a nearby store, took a shotgun and killed himself. The lawsuit contends Vega became temporarily insane after standing for 48 hours with his hand on the truck without much sleep and consuming the high energy drinks contest organizers provided.

"The term 'brainwashing' is best known from the techniques used by the Communist Army to break down, (or induce insanity), American troops ... This technique was simply sleep deprivation and stress – the very techniques used in this contest," according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Longview.

[Bonobo]

1. Just natural selection at work. I don't see the problem.

[Horse with no Name]

5. I don't necessarily like the term "natural selection"

but I would think that someone who was in a contest like this would have had someone with them to take them home BECAUSE of the sleep deprivation.

[bananas]

6. Then you don't have a problem with the Iraq war, either? nt

[Change has come]

13. *sigh*

by the way...I LOVE that picture. :bounce:

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Horse with no Name]

3. Maybe you should learn the rules of the board

before trying your "political antics" here.

[LoZoccolo]

4. Sounds like someone else needs some sleep too. n/t

[cynatnite]

7. That is horrible...

My cousin is a retired pilot. He flew jets in the 70s and 80s. He told me about part of their training was to be able to withstand torture techniques. Sleep deprivation was one of those. He and some of his buddies were captured and put in a camp where they endured all kinds of things. He wouldn't say what all they were, but he did tell me how debilitating sleep deprivation can be on someone.

He was trained and they had him awake for over 36 hours. The pilots also had the mental conditioning by that time so most could deal with it.

There is nothing simple about it. This dealership will wind up either losing in court or settling out of court.

[Nikki Stone1]

10. There was an episode of "The Unit" about this kind of training

It looked pretty awful

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. Some people have no compassion for desperate people in any situation.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. This was the subject of a classic piece on "This American Life"

Only in Texas!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

11. Totally Disagree.

Temporary insanity my ass.

What it was, is him having 48 hours to think about all sorts of things in his life in which he considered himself a failure or unsatisfied with, and after finally thinking about it hard enough made the impulsive choice that he just didn't want to live anymore.

Had nothing to do with temporary insanity due to the contest. Had all to do with reflecting just a bit too deeply and making a tragic choice. But he must've already had some deep dissatisfaction with himself to begin with, and must've contemplated doing such an act in the past already.

Regardless, this was still a tragedy and I feel for his family.

[roody]

12. Which Communist Army is this?