Research Responses To A Survey On Suicidality

[sun seeker]

1. "Why do you believe people commit suicide? It has to be an honest answer to you personally, not just researching the topic and repeating what the articles say."

I'm answering this question before reading the replies you posted, to keep my answer unaffected by those of others. It's such a big topic I was thinking about how to distill it to a usable form as opposed to a rant, and this is what I came up with:

Suicide is caused by a combination of two factors: intolerable emotional pain and a sense of powerlessness to do anything to alleviate this pain, now or in the future.

Healthy people do go through difficult times and strong emotions; they are part of life. The difference is they assume they will be able to get through it and better times will come. A person who ends up committing suicide has no such assumption. They have tried everything they can think of and have run out of resources, so the pain feels like a life sentence. The hope is that whatever comes after death will be better, though by the time they have arrived at that decision their thinking may be too clouded to have any rational idea of what will come later; there is just a desperate need for relief.

The above refers to suicide caused by depression, which I gather is your topic. There are other reasons for suicide including intractable physical pain in a terminal illness, and mind control, for instance in cults.

Do you also want my answer to your second question? I ask because of the way you phrased it. I can't speculate on what it is like to be depressed, but I can answer what it is like from way too much personal experience.

 

[Matilda]

@sun seeker the reason I worded the question as such is because many of the people I've interviewed did not indicate they had personal experience with depression, but you're absolutely free to answer what it has been like for you. I'm so much more interested in the reality of depression rather than the speculation because the speculation can be so far from the truth at times.

 

[Matilda]

I gotta say I believe in a strong distinction between suicide and suicidality. You have asked people why they thought about it or why they tried it and I commend you for your approach and positive intent.

A large portion of the studied group is unstudiable. the data has departed before it could be collected!

As I delve further into the study, the more my questions are evolving and how I look at the topic. You're completely correct. Suicide and suicidal ideation are two completely different topics, but not many realize that. Now I'll begin to focus this study more on suicidal ideation rather than why people do commit suicide because as you said (and I believe this is what you meant) that only people who can give true insight into the subject are already gone. I'm also focusing this more on suicide caused by depression because there are just so many other factors which I can't even condense into one essay. But if any of you have other experiences then please feel free to share them as well.

 

[anthony]

This is very unusual posting and it makes me feel uncomfortable to be reading information that was provided to you by third persons.

The majority of studies anonymise data and publish it within their results. Otherwise, studies would be meaningless, regardless what you could deem to be a study.

 

[Lucycat]

The majority of studies anonymise data and publish it within their results

Yes, I entirely get that and do read research studies myself. It just struck me as odd to have such an informal means of 'publication', if it is a serious study. As long as all the participants to the 'survey' are happy, as the OP and others say, then fine so be it.

 

[anthony]

Not all studies here are formal... there is no such rule. Anyone can study something by asking others relevant Q&A's... could be for homework, assignment, some research they're performing, any range of possible options. People need to stop always thinking formal...

 

[digger]

Now I'll begin to focus this study more on suicidal ideation rather than why people do commit suicide because as you said (and I believe this is what you meant) that only people who can give true insight into the subject are already gone

Actually, I'd say that those who have made actual attempts on their life, rather than 'just' thought about it, (and I'm not using 'just' there to be in any way minimising), would be able to give you true insight on that. I'm sure there are quite a few of us here who fall in that category.

Personally, I don't think it would be healthy for me to do so at present, but there may be others here who are willing to share that insight.

 

[user27357]

As a witness to the aftermath of many suicides I do have some insite on the subject. I am also a sufferer and have ideation thoughts daily.

I am a person that thinks about it and I know that. And I know the difference between thinkers and doers. If I was a doer this laptop would belong to someone else and there wouldn't be anyone in this chair. I think about it and I think about what it would do to my kids and my wife and my friends and my enemies and my pets and my home and my neighbors and the poor EMT that had to lift me on a stretcher and the coroner and the county clerk and even the person that would have to counsel my wife as she decided what to do with me after all of it was over. If I think about it it doesn't happen. If I don't think about it, this forum membership sits unnused for a very long time and no one here knows for sure why.

thats the difference, in my mind.

 

[user27357]

Been thinking about it an hour now and guess what? I am still here. Not a doer.

 

[Matilda]

I'm stuck. I'm at a loss for words.
This project started because I had to cover a topic that is very misunderstood, so I chose suicidality because it felt so personal to me. But, then it began to expand into depression as well. I never expected the responses I heard from so many people that I know, some of which I just don't even want to put up on this thread.

It's just I wake up every day trying to find a new reason to live. Just small things each day that I can look forward to. I was told by my therapist that I needed to stop focussing on the negative thoughts of the past and look forward to a bright future, and I try. I try every single morning, but something always happens to bring back the negative. Triggers, work, my father trying to contact me, really crappy friends, family that just doesn't understand. And all of these small issues that wouldn't be that difficult to handle without the depression just accumulates and can make life unbearable.

I keep trying to think of how others can help the depressed and those considering suicide. What do we really want to hear? What would really help blow these dark clouds away? That's where I'm at a loss for words because no response every seems to really suffice. The only answer I can muster so far is this: I want to be told that I am brave and that I am strong. I need the acknowledgment that what I am going through is incredibly difficult, but I am strong because I am trying every day to live.

I am coping with life, depression is an illness, I control my emotions to the best of my abilities every day, and I'm far from a quitter. I'm just exhausted, so very exhausted. God, I had to force myself out of bed 5 minutes ago just to write this post and afterwards I'm going to work where I have to put that mask back on. If someone can read this post and repeat to me what Lynn said, then they are the blind ones.

We go through incredibly difficult things and our motivations should be that we have people surrounding us that love us. In my situation, I know there are people who love me, but the things they have done. Their apathy or their lack of understanding has made me love them less. If you're dealing with a loved one who is depressed and who is considering suicide, then please, please try understanding what they are going through before you say anything. Read a book, watch a movie, read our stories and our reactions, and most of all really really listen to them: because all situations are unique.

 

[anthony]

so I chose suicidality because it felt so personal to me. But, then it began to expand into depression as well

Unfortunately you were misguided to begin with, because they go hand in hand those two subjects. It is the exception, not the rule, that someone would kill themselves without depression being present.