The one question everyone has asked without exception, is simply, why?
Why did their friend, child, parent, spouse, or sibling take their
own life? Even when a note explaining the reasons is found, lingering
questions usually remain: yes, they felt enough despair to want to die,
but why did they feel that? A person’s suicide often takes the people it
leaves behind by surprise.
People who’ve survived suicide attempts have reported wanting not so
much to die as to stop living, a strange view point, but a valid one
nevertheless. If some in-between state existed, some other alternative
to death, I suspect many suicidal people would take it. For the sake of
all those reading this who might have been left behind by someone’s
suicide, i am writing from my view point!
In general, people try to kill themselves for six reasons:
1. They’re depressed. This is without question the
most common reason people commit suicide. Severe depression is always
accompanied by a pervasive sense of suffering as well as the belief that
escape from it is hopeless. The pain of existence often becomes too
much for severely depressed people to bear. The state of depression
warps their thinking, allowing ideas like “Everyone would all be better
off without me” to make rational sense. They shouldn’t be blamed for
falling prey to such distorted thoughts any more than a heart patient
should be blamed for experiencing chest pain: it’s simply the nature of
their disease.
2. They’re psychotic. Malevolent inner voices often
command self-destruction for unintelligible reasons. Psychosis is much
harder to mask than depression — and arguably even more tragic. The
worldwide incidence of schizophrenia is 1% and often strikes otherwise
healthy, high-performing individuals, whose lives, though manageable
with medication, never fulfill their original promise.
3. They’re impulsive. Often related to drugs and
alcohol, some people become maudlin and impulsively attempt to end their
own lives. Once sobered and calmed, these people usually feel
emphatically ashamed. The remorse is usually genuine, and whether or not
they’ll ever attempt suicide again is unpredictable. They may try it
again the very next time they become drunk or high, or never again in
their lifetime. Hospital admission is therefore not usually indicated.
Substance abuse and the underlying reasons for it are generally a
greater concern in these people and should be addressed as aggressively
as possible.
4. They’re crying out for help, and don’t know how else to get it.
These people don’t usually want to die but do want to alert those
around them that something is seriously wrong. They often don’t believe
they will die, frequently choosing methods they don’t think can kill
them in order to strike out at someone who’s hurt them—but are sometimes
tragically misinformed. The prototypical example of this is a young
teenage girl suffering genuine angst because of a relationship, either
with a friend, boyfriend, or parent who swallows a bottle of Tylenol—not
realizing that in high enough doses Tylenol causes irreversible liver
damage. ( I use to be a Toxicologist and saw this first hand many times).
I find suicide a permanent solution to a temporary problem. The Bible reads at Job chapter 3 verse 11, Why did I not die at birth? Does that mean he was ready to throw it all away? You decide, but consider how his life turned out after his circumstances changed. I suggest that people seek help from a trusted friend, family member or professional. It is often difficult to climb out of a deep hole alone. I know personally don't like asking for and sometimes accepting help from others, but it does help.
I keep reading stories on Twitter and Facebook detailing how people detail their deaths. I can't imagine how to even begin to attmept suicide, but I do understand despair.
I look forward to the day when no one will taste or desire death anymore Rev 21:4
I am Ward.....
