I can't imagine they have a death wish. They don't want to die but to gain a thrill from doing something very dangerous and frightening.
So-called "extreme sports" certainly do not attract me. I would not have the nerve. I do not regard the most hazardous as sports anyway, just "stunts" based loosely on existing sports and pursuits.
I don't know their origins but suspect one might be a reaction against an increasingly molly-coddled society that does not understand the nature of risk and does not know the difference between risk and hazard.
Another factor might be the growth of commercial adventure holidays and centres. These do not offer "extreme sports", far from it, but I think they reduce genuine interest in the real pursuits they use, to an off-the-shelf, quick holiday, "Today's Tuesday -must be kayaking" mentality.
In either case, a minority might think, "This is tame! Let's try kayaking round the bows of a container ship!" mentality; desperate to find a challenge and thrill in something that's merely foohardy, until the novelty wears off.
Some people are basically "andrenaline junkies" for whom following any genuine but intrinsically hazardous sport or outdoor activity is just not enough. It is too tame for them because it teaches handling the hazards as safely as possible, not taking needless chances. "Today's Tuesday - let's go kayking round a container-ship doing 20knots in a heavy swell."
Honey Dew 