The suicide of former Enron Corp. Vice Chairman J. Clifford Baxter on Friday showed that the unfolding Enron debacle is taking far more than a financial toll, mental health experts said.
They said that stress and in some cases shame may push others to the breaking point and urged those involved in the Enron saga to seek help if needed.
"We've got reports coming through police of people who are considering suicide and (others with) all kinds of emotional and psychological trauma," said Pastor James Dixon of the Community of Faith Baptist Church in Houston.
"There's a state of shock. We don't know what's going to happen next," Enron employee Liz Rivera said.
Baxter's death was confirmed as a suicide on Saturday by the Harris County Medical Examiner's office.
About 5,000 workers have been laid off since the Houston-based energy trading giant plunged into bankruptcy in December. They lost their incomes and in many cases their savings, which were tied up in Enron stock that is now virtually worthless.
The 19,000 people still employed by the company are getting paychecks, but they must cope with the almost daily revelations about alleged Enron misdeeds and a growing sense of dread about the company's future.
Baxter, 43, was found in his black Mercedes Benz with a gunshot wound to the head in what police believe was a suicide. He left a note that supposedly made reference to Enron, from which he resigned in May, but investigators would not disclose its contents.
Prior to his resignation, Baxter had complained about the murky transactions that ultimately ruined Enron. Congressional investigators sought to interview him last week, congressional committee sources told Reuters on Friday.
'WE'VE GOT TO HOLD ON'
US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, speaking at a Friday rally for laid-off workers, urged them to take heart and get help if needed.
"We've got to hold on. In the darkest hours the stars shine most clearly," said Jackson, who is pushing for a government bailout of the employees.
"Do not delve into the isolation and desolation of death and suicide," Jackson Lee, the Houston-area Democratic congresswoman warned. "This community must come together and lift these people who are desolate and distraught."
Laid-off employees attending the rally said they were not surprised by Baxter's death because the financial and emotional pressures of Enron were getting to everyone.
"Something like this was bound to happen," said Debbie Perrotta.
Mental health experts said Baxter's apparent suicide may have been motivated primarily by a sense of shame that is likely shared by many top-level Enron executives for the way they managed the company.
Shame along with fear of criminal investigations, congressional probes and public humiliation make for a psychologically terrifying situation, they said.
"There are some people who get caught up in scandals or difficult situations that can't deal with the shame of it. Everything they worked for is going to come crashing down and they're going to lose their standing in the world," said psychiatrist David Yamins.
Paul Baard, an organizational psychologist at Fordham University, said Baxter's death may serve as a tragic reminder to other Enron people that there are alternatives to suicide.
"When people stop and realize what has happened, it could sober them up and make them say, 'Wait a minute,'" he said.
Laid-off employee Lewis Allen disagreed. "This is the first step right here, Cliff Baxter."
He cited his own situation, saying, "My life has really been devastated."
(China Daily January 27, 2002)
