Has anyone ever contemplated committing suicide at any point in their lives?

[...of J.Temperance]

Poll question: Has anyone ever contemplated committing suicide at any point in their lives?

This below thread made me think of this, and also how suicide is greatly misunderstood, and how I think more funds need to be put into suicide prevention programs, to get a better understanding of the social, environmental and mental health issues that often contribute to people thinking of ending their lives.

I believe that suicides CAN be prevented, by giving people hope and a REASON to live.

To me whats more important than putting a suicide net at the Golden Gate Bridge, is to INCREASE funding for suicide prevention programs.

Here's the thread that made me think about posting this poll:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4422175

[...of J.Temperance]

1. I should add, Mods if this poll is considered out of order or whatever

Then feel free to delete it....I posted this poll with the best of intentions, so I would hope that people won't be offended or whatever.

[TahitiNut]

29. It's a touchy question ... and a serious one. However ...

... I think it needs more specificity. The vast majority of folks have 'contemplated' suicide, at lest in the abstract or cathartic sense. Life brings suffering.

To gain greater insight it might be of more interest to distinguish between (1) Attempted and failed (either because it was insufficient or due to intervention/rescue), (2) Made all preparations and didn't carry it through, (3) Seriously considered it at most, (4) A passing thought, dismissed, and (5) Heavens no.

I'd start the poll myself, but it's a topic I'd rather avoid initiating.

[...of J.Temperance]

55. It does need more specificity, but I wasn't sure

How indepth to be, because as we agree it's a very difficult topic.

I just started this poll, because that Golden Gate thread immediately reminded me of my planned last date with the Golden Gate bridge.

As I commented down thread, I had planned, researched and was minutes away from completing my journey to the Other Side....so as a suicide surviver, I was just curious, which is why I posted the poll, but left the questions as straightforward as possible, as I feared going too indepth with them, in case it might upset people or whatever.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. No, I've had some pretty rough times in my life

but experience has shown me that they always pass.

[...of J.Temperance]

In the past I have thought about suicide, I will admit

And about 10 years ago, I literally was MINUTES away from killing myself....then someone intervened and they gave me hope.

Hope is a very powerful and wonderful thing.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. You are right.

It's the hope that has kept me going all these years.

ed. I'm reminded of this quote from a recent Shannyn Moore blog, a letter she wrote to her father encouraging him to vote for Obama http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2008/11/03/family-values-family-votes-dear-pop/ (This is well worth reading in its entirety.)

Years of sitting through church sermons-how many have I heard? Your sermon on the power of hope is the one I remember. It was powerful to hear you say the “greatest of these is love” was wrong. You disagreed with Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, saying it didn’t matter how much you loved if you didn’t have hope. You related something so private as the suicide of grandpa, saying it happened because of a lack of hope, not love. I realized that day what a hope deficit could rob me of, what it already had taken from you.

[...of J.Temperance]

16. I planned my suicide weeks in advance, I researched methods of suicide and everything

And my method was to jump from a great height, and I chose the Golden Gate Bridge, 98% chance of a one-way ticket according to my research.

A relative of mine had jumped years before from that bridge.

I was on the bridge, and I can tell you it is a LONG way down....hope came to me from a little kid, about 8 years-old and he said "don't jump, because I won't like it"

And we just stood there talking, and after about 20 minutes I realised, that choosing life meant more to me than choosing death.

That quote from Shannon Moore is a wonderful quote.

On Edit: Dammit spelling error

[renate]

49. wow

:hug:

[...of J.Temperance]

52. Aw

Thank you :hug:

[Ladyhawk]

50. My attempt left me with the opposite impression of people and hope.

I'm hoping that someday I can leave it all behind me. The people around me showed me exactly how low we can all sink.

[...of J.Temperance]

53. Sounds like you need a

:hug: as well.

[Ladyhawk]

57. Thanks. I am getting gun shy about sharing anything online,

but let's just say that about a gazillion things went so wrong that at the time (and for a long time afterward) I wished I had succeeded. One nurse in particular needed to be fired and didn't even get a slap on the wrist. I'd rather die than go back to that hospital.

[DireStrike]

3. I find it hard to believe there are people who have not. -nt-

[wake.up.america]

4. Most people have. I am happy to report I was highly unsuccessful...

in my attempts.:grouphug:

[...of J.Temperance]

7. I'm glad you were highly unsuccessful

:)

It's a serious issue that needs addressing more, I read that 18 people an hour commit suicide every day, I genuinely believe with greater understanding of the causes behind suicide, society can save a number of those people.

As the Bible says "I am my brothers keeper"

We need to pay more attention to suicide.

[liberalmuse]

5. My dad and my brother both have...

and I've tried (long ago), but I have a daughter now, and a nephew, and we don't need another close family member adding to the statistics that they will be more likely to commit suicide than other members of the population. Besides, I'm too chickenshit.

[MuseRider]

6. Yes

Delete

[cboy4]

17. .....

:(

I am so happy you're on this earth. :hug:

[MuseRider]

30. Thank you.

Lowest point of my life right now but it will pass. Thanks. I feel the same about you :)

[Zuiderelle]

9. Yes, several times during my childhood.

[Bucky]

10. Thank you for asking. We should do everything to break the taboo of talking about this topic

Getting it out in the open is the best preventative measure there is.

[...of J.Temperance]

19. If I was President I would put for starters $500 million into suicide prevention programs

Those programs are greatly underfunded, it's imperative that the funding is increased.

Suicide is one of the last taboo's of society, NOT talking about it and NOT recognizing it, doesn't mean it's going away, it only means that it'll get worse.

[marlakay]

11. I had a tough second marriage and felt stuck

like no way out for awhile and had serious thoughts of wishing it were all gone, but I would never do it because i was a single mom and my first husband their father was out of the picture.

I finally got strength and kicked #2 out...best thing I did and that was in 95...

My girls are fine and both married happily and I am semi retired in the mountains happily married for a third time to a guy who treats me good...third time is a charm!

I also didn't know it at the time but I had early menopause in my mid 30's and by 37 had no monthly cycle. What I thought was mood swings from the relationship was really my hormones gone amuck. Back then I went to the doctor and they refused to even test me until I was 40 because that just doesn't happen!

Mostly helping people feel like they have a choice in their life and are not stuck will help a lot.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

13. "Mostly helping people feel like they have a choice in their life and are not stuck will help a lot"

Yes. What's remarkable is not that there are so many suicides (and people with suicidal ideation) but there aren't a lot more, considering how toxic, dysfunctional, unfair, and inhumane so many people's environments are.

[XRubicon]

12. Watched The Bridge last night on IFC

Man, it was eye opening and brutal. 24 people jumped off the golden gate in 2004. They had footage of at least 5 jumping. I could never do that.

[saltpoint]

14. Perhaps this is neither here nor there, but this passage came to

mind on reading your post and the corresponding news story:

- - -

"Albert Camus wrote that the only serious question is whether to kill yourself or not.

Tom Robbins wrote that the only serious question is whether time has a beginning and an end.

Camus clearly got up on the wrong side of bed, and Robbins must have forgotten to set the alarm.

There is only one serious question. And that is:

Who knows how to make love stay?

Answer me that and I will tell you whether or not to kill yourself."

— Tom Robbins (Still Life with Woodpecker)

- - -

[cboy4]

15. What is the actual definition of your question?

Are you asking whether:

1. I have thought it out, including how/the best way to complete the act

OR

2. I have wondered whether I would be better off dead....maybe even fantasized about it, but in reality, I know I would never kill myself.

Two different thought patterns, IMO, although kinda similar.

I voted NO, but I have for sure daydreamed about why people do it and about how it would or would not be beneficial.

[...of J.Temperance]

21. I mean has anyone thought about actually DOING it, going through with it

As opposed to just fantasizing about doing it.

[DireStrike]

23. Ah ok that's different.

I thought you meant "considered whether it might be better to not live anymore."

So the standard "plan" definition then? I can see how there are people that never reach the planning stage, as opposed to people who have never considered whether life is worth it.

[...of J.Temperance]

25. I will amend my OP to clarify it

n/t

[cboy4]

24. Koo. Thanks for the clarification.

So no.

But I know more than just a few families who are suffering because of that split section decision in the end. :cry:

It's gut wrenching.

[TomInTib]

18. Yep.

Thank heavens I am the world's worst procrastinator.

[prayin4rain]

20. World's BEST procrastinator :)

Two cheers for procrastination ...hip, hip.. (i should be doing school work right now)

[...of J.Temperance]

28. I'm glad you changed your mind Mr Tom

:)

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. Yep. But, I just had to stick around to see how the drama turned out.

[...of J.Temperance]

27. Lol!

Typical!

[TahitiNut]

31. That can be a Catch-22, can't it?

:rofl:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

33. Well, only crazy people keep flying the missions.

So far, the plane has made it back to Pianosa despite the damage inflicted by just stumbling through life.

[Lyric]

26. Tried it once and spent a month in the hospital.

I've considered it a few times since then--only when the despair hits too hard for me to take. Thank goodness I have my child--he's something to live for when everything else seems hopeless. :(

[cherokeeprogressive]

32. Tried. Failed.

Booze and pills. Fell asleep on my stomach and woke up vomiting. Now I have to explain to every doctor I visit why my liver and kidney function isn't what it should be.

I was a twenty-something Sailor and had reconstructive knee surgery because of an on duty accident. They decided they didn't need me any longer and put me on track to be discharged for medical reasons. When my active duty fiance found out about that, she dumped me, but not before telling my Division Officer that I smoked pot because of the pain. I lost the life-long benefits due me, was given an General Discharge under Honorable Conditions (NOT the Honorable Discharge that I had earned), lost my house, my car, and the woman I thought was my soulmate.

I wouldn't do it again under ANY circumstances. Pretty ashamed actually, that I could have been so wrapped up in myself that I didn't see how it would have hurt my family and friends. I didn't even leave a note.

[RichardRay]

34. I don't think anyone alive can answer that question.

I've put a loaded gun to my head and taken up the trigger slack, and at that point all I felt was a mild curiosity. As I didn't actually fire the gun I guess it wasn't a suicide attempt, although it was kind of scary after the fact. I now take medication for depression, and will every day for the rest of my life. I know I don't have to, but it takes just about every clock tick of every day to avoid the abyss without the drugs. With the medication I have a functional agreement with reality that supports not wanting to kill myself and even an experience of equanimity.

Absent a chemical imbalance, my currently working hypothesis is that actually killing oneself is very similar to actually killing someone else - it's something that people think about, and may even think they're close to doing, but the final decision to do either is categorically different than all the thinking that goes before it.

That said, my response to the question is orthogonal to an answer, so I'll just recuse myself :-).

[Obamarama]

35. I've been through some pretty deep valleys in my life, but I never seriously considered suicide.

I had a HS classmate that committed suicide and it was drilled into us that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary situation/problem. I am very thankful that I am not prone to the type of brain chemistry that predisposes some people to become suicidal.

[Frosty1]

36. An interesting fact

There is a positive correlation between people who actually attempt suicide and people who have been victims of child abuse.

[Deja Q]

46. By whom; parents, clergy, or others in their age group (peers?)

I'm not denying the correlation at all; it's a statistic I'm stuck in. Well, both suicide and child abuse...

[Frosty1]

51. If you are asking who perpetrated the abuse

I don't think it matters. Simply the fact that a child is abused makes it more likely that child will someday attempt suicide.

[alfredo]

37. I was partially paralyzed, the paralysis was very painful. I was only getting

seven dollars a week for food from welfare. I was starving to death. I shoplifted food to survive. I had the dagger in my left hand, had it pointed toward my heart. I started crying, and like a thunderbolt, I was transported back in time to when I had a immunization at school. My arm was swollen, hurting and I couldn't move it. My parents offered no help, they couldn't handle my pain. I was without help, paralyzed with pain. When I realized that, my paralyzed arm twitched. It was the first time in months. I put the knife away, composed myself and walked to the hospital where they told me there was nothing they could do for me. I told them what happened. They didn't seem to believe me, but put me in physical therapy. I got full use of my arm back. I've not contemplated suicide since then.

[MrSlayer]

38. I love myself way too much for that.

I've never considered it, even at the worst moments.

[cliffordu]

39. You mean today???

[crispini]

40. I agree with you that we should increase funding to prevention programs.

However, I think the net is important as well. There are several posts in that thread that show that scientific studies have proven that barriers to suicides on bridges such as this one have been proven to actually reduce suicides. They don't just "go somewhere else."

[baby_mouse]

41. Took 80 aspirin once. Nearly made it.

But a friend phoned me up out of the blue saying for some reason, she had no idea why, she desperately needed to phone me.

I told her what I'd done and she came round. This was several hours after I took the pills. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't phoned, I was just sitting there staring at the bare light bulb in my room thinking: "I don't feel bad about this at all. I really just don't care anymore. What a strange feeling."

[Blasphemer]

42. Yes... on more than one occasion

I am bipolar and I am finally in treatment for it. I think that the key to prevention is a sustained and active commitment to addressing mental illnesses (and the familial and/or sociological dysfunction that often contributes to it) in the same manner that physical illnesses are addressed. I believe there is a silent majority of people who suffer from mental illness and psychological trauma for which adequate care is not provided. This must be an integral part of any comprehensive universal health care plan.

[live love laugh]

43. Hope is powerful. It means everything. Having been severely depressed

once, the one thing I didn't have was hope. That is a terrible place to be. Fortunately, I found my way back to sanity via groups like Adult Children of Alcoholics and group therapy. It took years and eventually I got tired of going not recognizing that I was less needy and had healed. I was able to move on with my life in a big way.

[easttexaslefty]

44. Something I struggle with every single day

with medication with therapy. I lost the will to live with the suicide of my son a little over a year ago.

[bigwillq]

45. No

But a few friends of mine have attempted it. Very scary stuff. I hope anyone who has these thoughts gets the help they need. :hug:

[Papagoose]

47. I had real plans

...wrote the notes to my family and had the date marked on a calender when I would be alone for several days and not discovered for a long enough time for the pharmaceuticals of choice to do their thing. The day of the 'event' my grandmother who I hadn't talked to in several years called out of the blue. She looked my number up to call me because she was worried about my mother and wanted to make sure I was taking care of her. I felt so ashamed thinking of my mother finding me dead. I did see a professional, worked through that episode and have not had a serious suicidal thought since then. I knww some other people who weren't as fortunate as me though. Suicide is a strange kind of monster.

[TripleKatPad]

48. I've thought about it since...forever.

I don't look at it as a bad thing, nor something in my immediate future. My life or death is a destiny I intend to control. If and when I become terminally ill or unable to support myself or just cannot continue going on in the world as it unfolds...that's an option I hold open.

[southernleftylady]

54. yes two years ago..

I was attacked .. attempted rape at knife point.. I was very down.. thinking that my family would be better off without me.. it was a very dark part of my life :(... but I made it thru with family and friends :)

[...of J.Temperance]

56. It's one of the mysteries of life how

Some people can be so cruel :(

I'm glad you made it through, also those little kids in those photographs are so cute :)

[Ladyhawk]

58. A guy on another forum I frequent just killed himself. :(

I didn't know him very well, but I understand he had a lot of health problems.

[Juche]

59. Yes

I've had bouts with mental illness and severe humiliation which have driven me pretty close to the brink. But for the most part I'm pretty stable now. I get depressed now and then, but nothing like it used to be. At least not at the time being.