Are ''genuine'' suicidal people actually very uncommon?

[victimofGM]

Originally Posted by JrzDefector

Colorado has a pretty high suicide rate. I attribute it to the fact that we are in one of the most isolated areas of the country. People don't see as many options for themselves. When I lived in Jersey, there were so many options! If you had $50 in your pocket, you could hop a bus and be in a new major city in an hour or so. Colorado isn't like that - it's harder to escape.

A close friend lost two of her family members to suicide last year. It was horrific.

I sometimes see suicide as a logical choice. I went through a bout of severe depression and anxiety last year and it really screwed me up. I couldn't pull myself out of it. Eventually, I decided that if there was no improvement I could not bear to live this way, so I formulated a plan. Here's the thing though - I was giving myself a couple of years for that improvement to occur - I knew I had a lot of other routes to try. I mentioned to two of my closest friends that I had had a "plan" for dealing with how I was feeling but had no intention of doing anything about it for at least a couple years and that it was a last-resort option. They were still horrified and upset, which really made me regret telling them due to the distress it caused them. I didn't think of it as a bad thing to have a plan for ending things if they became truly unbearable. In fact, I think it was a huge motivation for me to get to the source of the problem - it ended up being a severe Vitamin D deficiency that was soon corrected. I knew I would cause my loved ones grief if I ended up choosing that route, so I doubled down getting to the bottom of my misery.

Then there’s the “chicken and the egg” question regarding narcotic drug use. Was the isolation depression what led to the drug use or did the drug use while in isolation lead to depression? I have an uncle who used illegal drugs and was also an alcoholic. He tried to kill himself twice, though not a serious attempt. Perhaps his drug and alcohol use was a form of self medicating his personal demons or did he abuse one or more drugs leading him to his mental illness? Since his last attempt his wife divorced him and his kids stay away from him. The rest of the family are scared to having interactions with him. His last attempt involved setting the family home on fire and then going out to the front porch for a cigarette. When the fire department arrived they asked what was going on. He told them he was killing himself by setting the house on fire. They asked then why was he outside.

My uncles are the main reason why I’ve never tried illegal drugs and why I quit drinking. I didn’t want to end up like them. Instead when my own depression got to a point I sought help. Though not perfectly fine, I am married (12 years now) and still employed (18 years at the same company). None of my uncles held the same job for more than 5 years at one time unless working directly for a relative or self employed (painter, mechanic, carpet/flooring installed).

[Serious Conversation]

Originally Posted by victimofGM

Then there’s the “chicken and the egg” question regarding narcotic drug use. Was the isolation depression what led to the drug use or did the drug use while in isolation lead to depression? I have an uncle who used illegal drugs and was also an alcoholic. He tried to kill himself twice, though not a serious attempt. Perhaps his drug and alcohol use was a form of self medicating his personal demons or did he abuse one or more drugs leading him to his mental illness? Since his last attempt his wife divorced him and his kids stay away from him. The rest of the family are scared to having interactions with him. His last attempt involved setting the family home on fire and then going out to the front porch for a cigarette. When the fire department arrived they asked what was going on. He told them he was killing himself by setting the house on fire. They asked then why was he outside.

My uncles are the main reason why I’ve never tried illegal drugs and why I quit drinking. I didn’t want to end up like them. Instead when my own depression got to a point I sought help. Though not perfectly fine, I am married (12 years now) and still employed (18 years at the same company). None of my uncles held the same job for more than 5 years at one time unless working directly for a relative or self employed (painter, mechanic, carpet/flooring installed).

My best friend was in a similar situation.

We were always "odd" growing up, but he got into something that was hallucinogenic when he was in college. The only thing he remembers is waking up in a bathtub at the friend's house he was doing the drugs at. She said that he appeared to have a seizure during the drug use.

From that point on, he went downhill with mental illness and drug use. You really couldn't tell which one led to the other, and where one ended and one began. After a series of halfhearted suicide attempts, he eventually finished the job by jumping off a low bridge (about ten feet high) into a lake with a backpack full of bricks on. I think he intended to live, as he was an Eagle Scout who could swim well, and the impact from that fall wouldn't even hurt, much less kill someone. There are bridges near there where the impact alone would be fatal.

I saw him the day before he died. He was wanting vodka, but didn't have any ID on him. I wouldn't buy him any vodka, but we did split a 12 pack of PBR. Nothing seemed any more amiss than it ever was for him.

I'm not sure if I would call him truly suicidal or just mentally ill, but he may have very well been drunk or high when it killed himself.