Last week I got a phone call giving me the very bad news that a friend of mine had tried to hang herself. She was discovered and cut free while still alive, but she had had suffered brain damage bad enough to send her into a coma. She may never wake up, and even if she does, her doctor says she will only have about 20 per cent of her brain function left. She will probably not be able to see, or hear, or speak. It is a savage, staggering tragedy. My friend had everything to live for. She was young, attractive, happily married, well-off. She had a bright career as a film producer. I put the phone down and was weeping and cursing. Sadly, I didn’t have to ask why she had done it.