Suicide

[evil_blonde]

Apparently it's a good idea to spread this around :confused:

SUICIDE

Throughout the world, about 2000 people kill themselves each day. That's about 80 per hour, three quarters of a million a year. In the U.S., there are more than 80 deaths from suicide every day, 30,000 every year. This is the equivalent of a fully loaded jumbo jet crash every fifth day. From another perspective, you are more likely to kill yourself than be killed by someone else.

"...without knowledge of proper dosages and methods, suicide attempts are often bungled, leaving the victim worse off than before. Many intended suicides by gunshot leave the person alive but brain-damaged; drug overdoses that are not fatal may have the same effect. One eighty-three-year-old woman obtained an insufficient number of pills and lost consciousness but did not die; her daughter ended up smothering her with a plastic bag."

The number of suicide attempts is also subject to dispute. Based on a range of studies, there are probably between 10-20 attempts for every suicide, or roughly 300,000 to 600,000 attempts per year in the U.S. Yet more than half of suiciders kill themselves on their first try.

The overall 4:1 male-to-female suicide ratio in the U.S. is reversed for suicide attempts. Between 70% and 90% (studies differ) of suicide attempts are by medicine/drug overdoses, roughly 15% by wrist cuts.

If you play Russian roulette with a six-shooter, your odds of dying are one in six; if you climb Mt. Everest they're also about one in six. The former is a generally-condemned form of suicide; what, then, is the latter?

Teenagers attempt suicide roughly 10 times more frequently than adults, although their fatality rate of 11.1 per 100,000 people is about the same as adults'. This is the third leading cause of death among 15-19 year-olds. For this age group, there were 5,174 motor-vehicle deaths in 1994, compared to 1,948 suicides.

About four times more girls than boys make suicide attempts, but boys are much more likely to die: about 11% of (reported) males' attempts were fatal, compared to 0.1% of females', a ratio of more than 100:1. This also gives a ballpark average of about 50 attempts for every fatality in this age group.

Compared to those of older people, adolescents' suicide-attempt statistics show two significant differences. First the fatality rate for boys is a hundred times that of girls, a much greater gender difference than with any other age group. The immediate reason is clear enough: most teenage girls use relatively low-lethality methods like drugs and wrist cuts, while a substantial number of boys use guns and hanging. The reasons behind these choices are not known.

There is no suicidal type, but the presence of the following factors make it more likely that a teen will have suicidal feelings:

previous suicide attempt
low self-esteem
helplessness or hopelessness
in trouble
abused or neglected
perfectionistic
gay/lesbian
a traumatic event
recent loss
abuse of alcohol and other drugs
disabled
loner - socially isolated
recent suicide of family member or friend

A case will be made that people shouldn't commit suicide and that, therefore, a manual telling them how to go about it is pernicious. This is like one of the arguments against sex education: "If they know how, they'll do it." Well, they do it anyway. Thirty thousand suicide deaths a year in the U.S. should make this clear.

That is the reality. And the methods people use all too often leave them neither dead nor fully recovered, but maimed and permanently injured: paralyzed from jumps, brain-damaged from gunshots, comatose from drugs.

One young woman took a drug overdose, expecting that her housemates would return soon. They were delayed. I would like to believe that, had she known about less lethal methods, she would be alive today.

The best way to find out whether a person is contemplating suicide is simply to ask him or her directly. Are you thinking of killing yourself? This does not put ideas into their head, but it does free them to talk about what is really going on and to reach out for help.

If the answer is yes.....

Ask them:
What method have you thought of using to kill yourself?
When do you think you'll do this?
Do you have the means (guns, pills etc)?

The more lethal the means, the more available the means and the more definite the time frame, the greater the risk.

Do not ever agree to keep someone's suicidal intentions a secret. Find out who or what they fear and attempt to agree on who can be trusted with this information, but do not wait to notify the appropriate individuals. Better to anger someone by revealing their secret, than to see them dead because you didn't tell someone who could help them.

If, based on your evaluation of the risk (lethal means + availability of means + time frame) the person is in imminent danger of attempting suicide, do not leave them alone. Stay with them until help arrives.

People who talk about suicide do it. About 80% of the time, people who kill themselves have given out definite signals or talked about it to someone.

People who are suicidal don't want to die. Most suicidal people are ambivalent about dying, they just want to stop the pain.

HOW TO PREVENT SUICIDE OF A FRIEND

Suicide prevention is not a last minute activity. All textbooks on depression say it should be reached as soon as possible. Unfortunately, suicidal people are afraid that trying to get help may bring them more pain: being told they are stupid, foolish, sinful, or manipulative; rejection; punishment; suspension from school or job; written records of their condition; or involuntary commitment. You need to do everything you can to reduce pain, rather than increase or prolong it. Constructively involving yourself on the side of life as early as possible will reduce the risk of suicide.

Give the person every opportunity to unburden his troubles and ventilate his feelings. You don't need to say much and there are no magic words. If you are concerned, your voice and manner will show it. Give him relief from being alone with his pain; let him know you are glad he turned to you. Patience, sympathy, acceptance. Avoid arguments and advice giving.

People already have the idea; suicide is constantly in the news media. If you ask a despairing person this question you are doing a good thing for them: you are showing him that you care about him, that you take him seriously, and that you are willing to let him share his pain with you. You are giving him further opportunity to discharge pent up and painful feelings. If the person is having thoughts of suicide, find out how far along his ideation has progressed.

If the means are present, try to get rid of them. Detoxify the home.

Persistence and patience may be needed to seek, engage and continue with as many options as possible. In any referral situation, let the person know you care and want to maintain contact.

It is the part of the person that is afraid of more pain that says “Don't tell anyone.” It is the part that wants to stay alive that tells you about it. Respond to that part of the person and persistently seek out a mature and compassionate person with whom you can review the situation. (You can get outside help and still protect the person from pain causing breaches of privacy.) Do not try to go it alone. Get help for the person and for yourself. Distributing the anxieties and responsibilities of suicide prevention makes it easier and much more effective.

Most people have suicidal thoughts or feelings at some point in their lives; yet less than 2% of all deaths are suicides. Nearly all suicidal people suffer from conditions that will pass with time or with the assistance of a recovery program. There are hundreds of modest steps we can take to improve our response to the suicidal and to make it easier for them to seek help. Taking these modest steps can save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering.

Suicidal Behavior

-Previous suicide attempts, “mini-attempts”.
-Explicit statements of suicidal ideation or feelings.
-Development of suicidal plan, acquiring the means, “rehearsal” behavior, setting a time for the attempt.
-Self-inflicted injuries, such as cuts, burns, or head banging.
-Reckless behavior. (Besides suicide, other leading causes of death among young people in New York City are homicide, accidents, drug overdose, and AIDS.) Unexplained accidents among children and the elderly.
-Making out a will or giving away favorite possessions.
-Inappropriately saying goodbye.
-Verbal behavior that is ambiguous or indirect: “I'm going away on a real long trip.”, “You won't have to worry about me anymore.”, “I want to go to sleep and never wake up.”, “I'm so depressed, I just can't go on.”, “Does God punish suicides?”, “Voices are telling me to do bad things.”, requests for euthanasia information, inappropriate joking, stories or essays on morbid themes.

A WARNING ABOUT WARNING SIGNS
The majority of the population at any one time does not have many of the warning signs and has a lower suicide risk rate. But a lower rate in a larger population is still a lot of people - and many completed suicides had only a few of the conditions listed above. In a one person to another person situation, all indications of suicidality need to be taken seriously.

Think what you like. *Shrugs* It's not like I wrote it, but I am interested in your opinions.

[Gren the cake]

thats pretty interesting. thE #s r kinda scary

i dunno ive known of a few people who committed suicide and i basically shrugged em off like 'ok thats what they want to do. want to eb psusies, fine' so i really dont givashit about em. i dont feel bad.

i feel bad for the family though

its just like it siad 'if they want to do it they will' or whatever..... i guess its how some people want to go?

we all got to go somehow..

[Sergio]

I'm afraid of death so I guess I'm lucky that way. I often wished myself dead when I was a teen, however me being afraid of death I lacked the resolve to do anything about it. I'm glad I lived on as I never would have experienced so many great things, and met so many awsome people, like Bloodrayne for example. My advice to anyone wanting to become a statistic is get over it and move on. Things always get better, even if they get worse for a while. It's sad to see the numbers that so many people are willing to throw their lives away like that.

[I_Still_Know!]

Originally posted by Gren the cake
thats pretty interesting. thE #s r kinda scary

i dunno ive known of a few people who committed suicide and i basically shrugged em off like 'ok thats what they want to do. want to eb psusies, fine' so i really dont givashit about em. i dont feel bad.

its just like it siad 'if they want to do it they will' or whatever..... i guess its how some people want to go?

I don't think people that commit suicide decide that suicide would be a better way to die than naturally... I don't think that they necessarily "want" to go that way... but instead they feel that there is no other option.

And it was probably people not giving a shit about these people in life, that contributed to them wanting to 'check out'.... for good.

[Gren the cake]

Originally posted by I_Still_Know!
I don't think people that commit suicide decide that suicide would be a better way to die than naturally... I don't think that they necessarily "want" to go that way... but instead they feel that there is no other option.

And it was probably people not giving a shit about these people in life, that contributed to them wanting to 'check out'.... for good.

there is no other option as in what? as in, 'theres nothing i can do, i should die. even tohugh itll hurt my family and friends so bad, so long as im not hurting anymore thats all that matters'

the 2 people i knew.. had families that loved them, were going to school, money, cars.. PLENTY of friends, really popular...2 guys, and why did they kill themselves? becuz they broke up with thier girlfriends. and they both had girls all over them as well.

hmmmmmmm. that is what im going off of. i give everyone a chance, but if thats what they want to do then im through with it. theres plenty of people in the world that arent constnatly feeling sorry for themselves, that arent incredibly self centered and selfish, that will take the time to actually think, than to act completely irratoinally... that i can spend time with, instead im goign to waste time on these people? not a chance in hell

[I_Still_Know!]

I said that they 'feel' there is no other option. For whatever reason you feel that you need to commit suicide, I would say it is because you can't think of the steps you need to take in order to get yourself out of that state of depression at that point in your life.

I can only speak for myself, but I know if I ever did it (and I ain't) I know that hurting my family would be the last thing that I would ever want to do. Sometimes family and friends and the relationships you have with them can not compare to the 24 hour a day, 7 day a week battle that happens in peoples heads. Telling them that this world is shit, and it's not worth being here.

I have also known a couple of people that have killed themselves (friends of friends) and I didn't dismiss them and say 'whateva' I couldn't help but think - I wonder what shit was going on in their heads.

[urgeok]

some people simply arent wired right to handle certain things life throws at them.

the one thing that seems to be constand it it is usually a suprise.
Anyone who lets you know they want to do it are usually looking for attention.
If they eventually go through with it it will be to spite the people who didnt think they'd do it.

the people who go through with it - well, you never see it coming.
hard to help people if they hide their problems.

not only that sometimes its a spur of the moment thing ..in a dark mood.


I always said that if i ever got to the point where i wanted to kill myself, i'd kill the person who made me feel that way ...
I'm wired fine, i have no chemical imbalances.
I always thing that no matter how bad it gets, i can ride it out and it'll get better.

there's a lot to see and do out there ... if your situation is bad .. radically change it .. what do you have to lose ? the risk of more suffering ? you'll get hurt ?
well, maybe not .. take the chance .. move to another country - work with people 100X worse off than yourself.

This might help some borderline depressives .. but people with the real deal ... they are sick .. mental illness isnt something you can reason with ..

[ShankS]

Originally posted by evil_blonde
Apparently it's a good idea to spread this around :confused:

SUICIDE

Throughout the world, about 2000 people kill themselves each day. That's about 80 per hour, three quarters of a million a year. In the U.S., there are more than 80 deaths from suicide every day, 30,000 every year. This is the equivalent of a fully loaded............................................ ......................


.................................................. ...............had only a few of the conditions listed above. In a one person to another person situation, all indications of suicidality need to be taken seriously.

Think what you like. *Shrugs* It's not like I wrote it, but I am interested in your opinions.

I'm gona print loads of these out, and sell them on ebay listed as 'DIY Suicide Manual' .......$35.00 a piece.

[taylorsmommy]

It's a little strange for me that this thread has come up at this time. The day before New Year's Eve, I had to take my nephew to the hospital because he was acting very strange, very irrational and delusional. He's been in the psychiatric ward since last Thursday. He's doing much better, but obviously still needs some help with things. He's one of those people that keeps everything bottled up inside and doesn't talk about things that are bothering him, which I've always told him is a bad idea. With therapy and meds he's doing a lot better, I just hope it continues and he doesn't keep things bottled up anymore.

[Hate_Breeder]

Originally posted by taylorsmommy
It's a little strange for me that this thread has come up at this time. The day before New Year's Eve, I had to take my nephew to the hospital because he was acting very strange, very irrational and delusional. He's been in the psychiatric ward since last Thursday. He's doing much better, but obviously still needs some help with things. He's one of those people that keeps everything bottled up inside and doesn't talk about things that are bothering him, which I've always told him is a bad idea. With therapy and meds he's doing a lot better, I just hope it continues and he doesn't keep things bottled up anymore.

Sounds like me.....well besides the hospital part..