Ok so Deborah Jeane Palfrey, aka “The DC Madam” chose to hang herself rather than serve 55 years in prison, what does that say about her?  Prostitution racket aside, and ignoring the fact that she serviced many of the DC power players of her time, this is a big decision to make.  Having served jail-time before for prostitution she knew to some extent what she was getting into.  My first question is if she knew the consequences, why take the chance, I guess the lure of money, power and sex were worth chancing another stint in prison or in this case taking her own life.  My next questions is this, assuming that suicide is the cowardly way out of problems and is never the answer, what drives someone to choose that option as an alternative?  I have heard the expression that suicide is a permanent answer to a temporary problem, how bad must the problem be to choose suicide?  Assuming, once again, that the person is in a competent mental state, what circumstances must be present to drive someone to suicide, and by hanging themselves?  What is the thought process like , what does the ratio of cons versus pros have to be in order to choose death and more in this case what does it say about our prison system?  If an individual can run a high class escort service, deal with high profile individuals and manage the insanity, how do they then decide to take their own life, was this also a calculated business decision?  I think the answer is no, suicide is never the answer and no circumstances could make it so.  This is a desperate woman, in a desperate situation making a desperate decision.  Desperation is a terrible thing, life is a precious thing.