Suicide - Why Certain Methods Are Used

@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
December 15, 2010 4:58pm CST
I don't approach the subject of suicide lightly as my brother tried to take his own life some years ago. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful but I am acutely aware that some people succeed and I am trying to be as sensitive as I can about that. If I upset anyone I apologise in advance. So, anyway..here goes. I've often wondered why some people try to take their own lives in drastic ways as opposed to taking pills with lots of booze (the method my brother tried) and I have come to this macabre conclusion. If you take your own life by doing something drastic like throwing yourself under a train or off a high building..or hanging yourself..chances are it's going to work, right? Taking loads of paracetamol isn't always going to work and I actually came across one such young woman in a hospital ward I was in a few months back. Like my brother she wanted to get away from the hospital with her Mum, as soon as possible. She was embarrassed to find herself there and wanted out, so she signed herself out without anyone getting to the bottom of why she ended up there in the first place..rather like my brother. He was offered counselling but refused and decided..some years later, to give up the booze instead. Going the pills route is laborious and time-consuming as you can only buy a few at a time, so to take your life this way, you would have to visit many chemists to make sure you had enough to do the job..plus the alcohol from various Off Licenses, of course. Other methods of committing suicide are instant, there is no going back once that decision has been made. Having said that, though, a friend of mine..his Dad tried hanging himself and was discovered "just in time" and now has no short-term memory. In fact, he can hardly speak at all and wanders off. My friend has to be with him, virtually all the time now. It's a Death Sentence for them both. So, which is worse, surviving a suicide attempt and not knowing much about it or leaving behind loved-ones who keep asking the question "why?" over and over again. It's something that I think about a lot but please do not think I am contemplating suicide..no way. I'm just interested in finding out why people do the things they do and the logic behind their decisions.
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2 responses
@webearn99 (1742)
• India
16 Dec 10
Interestingly people who decide to take their own lives are cowards who cannot face life and their own shortcomings. They are too desensitized to the aftermath, with their sense foreboding. The incompetent among them fail. Surprisingly some of those who survive find competence in life after this experience. Competent among them want an instant paring and so usually go the extreme way. Gulping down a couple quarts with a fist full of pills may fail as they can be discovered and "pulled" back. The process may be agonizingly slow. They don't want to face this, remember they are cowards? Standing in front of a speeding train is instantaneous parting of life. The cowards choose methods on their merits.
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@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
17 Dec 10
for some people the attempts are just cries for help with problems they are having trouble coping with, for others that do more serious attempts its because they can't see past their problems and just want them to end - not thinking of what it will do to those who remain both are quite selfish
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