Why do people commit suicide?

[monkspider]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
I've just always thought it ironic how busted up people are in situation where it seems like the "tragic victim" was basically ignored or mistreated during their lives. If we showed even a glimmer more of how much we supposedly care for each other, there'd be a lot less suicides.

Five thumbs-up, my most prestigous rating. I could not agree with you more.

[SuperSneak]

Thanks...my father is basically dying right in front of my eyes right now, so the theme of "caring while you can" is pretty major for me...it's just amazing to me how cruel and negative we are so much of the time and how we hunger for a little love from others.
I don't know why people are like this--I'm just as guilty at times--but the feeling of isolation and aloneness with no transcendant moments is obviously too much for some people. They have my utmost sympathy.

[red_jon]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
Thanks...my father is basically dying right in front of my eyes right now, so the theme of "caring while you can" is pretty major for me

Sorry to hear about that

[SuperSneak]

Yeah...thanks...it's pretty tough watching a man who was, at one time, extremely virile and intimidating, reduced to this...I had to rush over to my parents house on the 4th of July because he had gotten trapped in the bath tub...he's too weak to get himself around like he used to, on oxygen 24/7, lost a bunch of weight, etc.
Our dynamic was atypically "distant father/placating son" growing up, and now it has changed completely. Seeing your dad naked and tremoring, trapped in a bathtub and humiliated is very difficult.
I wrote him a long sort of "farewell" letter for Father's Day, but I can't help but shake the feeling I should be doing or saying something important and momentous right now while we've still got a little time.

Uh...sorry for the threadjack.

[red_jon]

[Az]

Damn, I feel your pain, Supersneak. My father has dodged a bullet, but still had a major operation...

What happened to your father?

[SuperSneak]

My father has had lung problems his whole life (collapsed in high school and college) and smoked, which led to him getting one lung removed @ 10 years ago (a miracle he's made it this long, really). Basically, his remaining lung is wearing down and he's got emphysema...so there is no recovery (barring miraculous new developments I guess) from his illness. Of course, no one else in the family is discussing the inevitabilities, but it is fairly obvious what is happening, as he is a shadow of his former self and cannot exert himself much more than a shuffle without taxing his body to the extreme.
They even got him one of those scooters, which just adds to the indignity and jarring image.

Don't smoke!!!!

[Jon Miller]

yah

caring is very important, you never know when someone might no longer be with you

Jon Miller

[Az]

Isn't there a way to transplant lungs? (for the record, my father is a liver transplantee, a transplantation that saved his life from Hepatatis B. should've used protection in his wild ventures in India, I guess. )

[SuperSneak]

You lost your father recently, didn't you Jon?
I just know that if we all took a moment to think about how big a void people leave when they are gone, and strive to let them know that we appreciate them here and now, the world would be a significantly improved place.

[Elok]

Umm, has anybody who responded to this thread had real, unmedicated depression? I have. It's kinda like having to listen to "paint it black" every waking second of your life, day in and day out. No real reason, nothing to justify bad feeling, you just feel immense hatred for everything in general. Eventually it gets so overwhelming that I could see committing suicide just to stop the craziness. I got prozac before I got anywhere near that far, so now I'm pretty much eternally content, but I can imagine things getting so bad you feel like you have to go nownownownowNOW! The idea of taking others with you probably stems from a sense of the injustice of it all-"dammit, if I'm gonna hurt, somebody else better hurt with me." I doubt that feelings of power have anything to do with it. Typically the depressed deliberately tell themselves how hopeless their situations are just to rationalize otherwise inexplicable bad feeling. I remember thinking a "C" in tenth-grade English meant my life was ruined, literally. I'd never get into college and I would therefore die a loveless wino on the street and blahblahblah...depressed people aren't even remotely rational; at least, I sure as hell wasn't. I just retained enough intelligence and awareness to realize I was being stupid, and got help.

[Dis]

Originally posted by ADG
I've heard many stories about why people are doing suicide, but none of them makes much sense... the neverending story: "My girl left me, I don't want to live anymore, and she shouldn't either, so I go kill her, then kill myself"

Most people who makes suicide, actually has a much better life as me (Well... it's diffecult to get a such low life, as I have), but still I have never thought about doing suicide, and never will... My life sucks, and I probably don't have much chance to get a good future, but still I'm seing the positive side of everything, that has a positive side...

hey your life doesn't suck as much as mine, so there!

[Dis]

Originally posted by Elok
Umm, has anybody who responded to this thread had real, unmedicated depression? I have. It's kinda like having to listen to "paint it black" every waking second of your life, day in and day out. No real reason, nothing to justify bad feeling, you just feel immense hatred for everything in general. Eventually it gets so overwhelming that I could see committing suicide just to stop the craziness. I got prozac before I got anywhere near that far, so now I'm pretty much eternally content, but I can imagine things getting so bad you feel like you have to go nownownownowNOW! The idea of taking others with you probably stems from a sense of the injustice of it all-"dammit, if I'm gonna hurt, somebody else better hurt with me." I doubt that feelings of power have anything to do with it. Typically the depressed deliberately tell themselves how hopeless their situations are just to rationalize otherwise inexplicable bad feeling. I remember thinking a "C" in tenth-grade English meant my life was ruined, literally. I'd never get into college and I would therefore die a loveless wino on the street and blahblahblah...depressed people aren't even remotely rational; at least, I sure as hell wasn't. I just retained enough intelligence and awareness to realize I was being stupid, and got help.

yes I have had depression. That was the only point in my life I was seriously contenplating suicide. although another part of the problem I was drinking too much. my drinking problem really hurt my naval career- not that I cared at the time. i just wanted to die.

since then, I've had much, much shorter episodes of depression. often it only lasts a few hours. You could say I have mood swings

[Dis]

Originally posted by SuperSneak
You lost your father recently, didn't you Jon?
I just know that if we all took a moment to think about how big a void people leave when they are gone, and strive to let them know that we appreciate them here and now, the world would be a significantly improved place.

losing your father that way is very difficult. My father basically drank himself to death. In a way, it was a form of suicide- slow suicide. But that was due to addiction. He had diabetes- and heavy drinking with diabetes isn't a good thing. but his body basically shut down.

I didn't witness my fathers demise that much. I was in the military and only saw him like once a year when I came home. For a while he had no place to stay and lived in his vehicle. I felt really guilty about that. I always feel like I could have done more for my father. He died when I was in the Persian gulf.

[Berzerker]

Supersneak, I went through what you're now going through almost 2 years ago. It is sad, but all you can do is have alot of patience and help whenever possible to reduce the stress on your mom if she's alive. We were actually somewhat relieved when he passed, he was in alot of pain and refused hospital and rest home care and just would not exercise enough even with me pushing and helping, so he signed onto dying and wouldn't help us help him. It was better he went before doctors had to start removing his limbs because of diabetes...