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I worked with someone whose son committed suicide.
The son( 27ish) has recently purchased a house in an up and coming part of a large Midwest capital city. He had been promoted to head up part of the IT system for a big 10 school, had a steady girlfriend etc. Nice young man to talk to. Nothing seemed out of place.
I worked with someone whose son committed suicide.
The son( 27ish) has recently purchased a house in an up and coming part of a large Midwest capital city. He had been promoted to head up part of the IT system for a big 10 school, had a steady girlfriend etc. Nice young man to talk to. Nothing seemed out of place.
Then one evening--- shotgun to the mouth.
Who knows?
Similar situation with a friend of mine. Not one warning sign. Left a wife and two small boys and jumped off a cliff one day. Left his family psychologically broken, bankrupt, and bitter.
Suicide is NOT a sign of cowardice: it is a sign that a person's life has become too painful (either physically or psychologically) to bear, and they have lost hope that things will improve in the future (generally, during depression).
The post starting this thread so cruel that it makes me wonder what caused the author to write it. Perhaps the person lost a friend to suicide and is venting his anger and frustration? Or maybe just a troll, trying to feel better about himself by degrading others. In any case, it's a good opportunity to discuss suicide and present information that could stop someone in the future from making a terrible--and irreversible--mistake.
Point 1: Suicide is a permanent answer to a temporary problem. In the vast majority of cases, things will get better: everything is constantly changing due to events beyond our control, and individuals have vast power to initiate changes when they are unhappy with a situation (even if you have to wait a while before the changes actually occur). During the darkest periods of my life, when I knew the situation would not change for a period of years and I was too young to change anything at all, just the knowledge that things could be changed in the future was enough to get me through.
Point 2: Depression is a causal factor in the vast majority of suicides, and medication can help with depression (a biochemical imbalance in the brain that not only makes you feel terrible, but also distorts your thinking). Unfortunately, this medication requires a psychiatrist's prescription, which can be a problem since it requires initiative, which depression destroys. It also requires the person to get over the natural tendency to resist going to a psychiatrist in the first place, since there is still social stigma associated with "needing" to visit a Psychiatrist. Plus, it takes several weeks for any antidepressant to have any beneficial effect (if it works at all), and often a bunch of different antidepressants must be tried before one finally works--but on the good side, depression tends to wax and wane even without intervention, so simply letting time pass may be enough to past the crisis period.
I lost one of my oldest friends to suicide this summer. He was a veteran - gave his entire late teens through mid twenties to the military serving multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He watched friends, his brothers, be blown up or shot in front of him. Finally, he was injured on the job and medically discharged only to find that he had no transferable skills in the real world.
He struggled for several years with both his mental and physical health and his employment situation. He joined the military to get the hell out of Alaska, and he ended right back in the trailer park he grew up in working overnights in a Walmart. PTSD and TBI (minor, but enough to seriously impact his abilities) made it hard to build a career, but he was able to shift into working with the elderly and was trying to make a difference in the world. But the whole time, the specter of depression was on his back.
In June, just before his 31st birthday, he committed suicide. He posted a note on Facebook seconds before pulling the trigger. Despite being the light of so many peoples' lives - always supportive, saying and posting positive messages, and just being a delight to be around - he was never able to see the good in himself. He tried to get help every step of the way, but his depression was terminal. Until the day he died, he had nightmares every single night of watching his friends die around him.
You really want to say that he was weak? That his parents raised a weak person? Bull****.
Suicide is NOT a sign of cowardice: it is a sign that a person's life has become too painful (either physically or psychologically) to bear, and they have lost hope that things will improve in the future (generally, during depression).
The post starting this thread so cruel that it makes me wonder what caused the author to write it. Perhaps the person lost a friend to suicide and is venting his anger and frustration? Or maybe just a troll, trying to feel better about himself by degrading others. In any case, it's a good opportunity to discuss suicide and present information that could stop someone in the future from making a terrible--and irreversible--mistake.
This was my thought when I read the OP. He/she would not be the first person that I've seen take such a critical and angry tone on the topic. I have seen people go even further in their grief.
If you don't understand mental illness, it's best to just keep quiet. The average person doesn't pretend to be an expert on cardiology or neurology, but for some reason they feel the need to judge everyone who is depressed.
That's not what I said. At all. My God, you are such a creative little thing. Shutting down free speech? What a huge stretch!
My point is that people offended by the thread title who then go on to not only read the thread, but also complain about it and yet still go on to also participate in it are suckers for punishment and don't deserve apology from the OP for having a different opinion on a topic.
When normal people are truly offended by something they remove themselves from the situation that is unpleasant to them ... they don't proceed to wallow and bathe in it.
If you were offended by your child dropping the F-bomb, would you ignore it? Or would you point out the error of his ways?
If you had strangers coming up to you in the street and spit in your face - or worse, the face of your children, or parents, or siblings, or friends - would you ignore it?
If you were offended by your dog crapping on the rug, would you ignore it? Or teach it that that kind of behavior is wrong?
If you were offended by your child dropping the F-bomb, would you ignore it? Or would you point out the error of his ways?
If you had strangers coming up to you in the street and spit in your face - or worse, the face of your children, or parents, or siblings, or friends - would you ignore it?
If you were offended by your dog crapping on the rug, would you ignore it? Or teach it that that kind of behavior is wrong?
I'm offended at that type of oblivious attitude.
I don't care. Go on and be offended. Spend the next ten pages telling me how offended you are. Get a little angrier with each post. Keep really drilling it in how offended you are. Never cease to inform others when they have offended you. It's your right!
Similar situation with a friend of mine. Not one warning sign. Left a wife and two small boys and jumped off a cliff one day. Left his family psychologically broken, bankrupt, and bitter.
I have often mused the age old question of "what comes after physical death?---is there a god--- etc?" Sometimes wondered if suicide isn't the way they seek the answer to the question particularly for those who seemingly have the world awaiting them. It becomes a means to answer a lingering question.
I had a major bout of depression after my dad died.
I was his legal guardian and he was my 82 year old elementary school acting "ol guy". We had a lot of fun together and other days not so fun. Even with this major bout of depression-- the momentary thought of suicide was quickly dispelled enough to get me to the Dr and some meds etc.
I don't care. Go on and be offended. Spend the next ten pages telling me how offended you are. Get a little angrier with each post. Keep really drilling it in how offended you are. Never cease to inform others when they have offended you. It's your right!
I notice you didn't answer my question....
I notice there was no actual logical, rational, common-sense response to my pointing out the error of your thinking....
So, I guess we all know what that means...
Ironically, the only response to which your post refers is to a tongue-in-cheek statement, a concept that obviously went right over your head.
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