Introduction

Abstract

In 2005, Richard Cullen of Bath, England was found behind the wheel of his car, asphyxiated by carbon monoxide from the running engine. Although the coroner’s report called it suicide, the press coverage implied a kind of foul play, depicting Mr Cullen as the victim of an emerging cultural pathology they dubbed ‘debt related suicide’ (Ronson, 16 July 2005). They explained that Mr Cullen was an ordinary man in every way; his troubles started with an innocent loan to pay for a private hospital operation for his wife. As the illness progressed, Mr Cullen had to take time off work to care for her. This loss of income quickly drained his savings and made him dependent on his credit cards. He began to miss bill payments, discovering he could only pay for his wife’s treatment by juggling a mountain of debt, which grew to £130,000 by the time he sought to escape the only way he knew how.