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Suicide

raganwald.posterous.com

41–50 of 291 posts

Re: Suicide

#41
post #3

This reminds me of http://www.google.com/search?q=+commit+suicide which returns a help message (generally a phone number to a suicide prevention service in your country).

Ironic that, for me, the first hit after the telephone number (same one raganwald lists) is a Wikipedia article on suicide methods.

Re: Suicide

#42
post #9

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a reference to a meetup that points to a mail list: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech Unfortunately there is no direct link to the message, but here is the pasted header, if someone is interested in looking for it in the archive: Forwarded message From: Mitch Altman Date: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 12:59 PM Subject: [Noisebridge-discuss] Geeks & Depression meetup To:…

The archives are "private" (not sure how private, but I didn't feel like signing up), but I found copy here: http://strangersinthebedroom.blogspot.com/2011/11/you-are-no...

Full text:

  From: Mitch Altman
  Date: Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 12:59 PM
  Subject: [Noisebridge-discuss] Geeks & Depression meetup
  To: NoiseBridge Discuss

  Geeks & Depression meetup
  Tuesday, 6-December, 7:30pm
  No Starch Press, 38 Ringold Street, San Francisco, CA 
  94103
  (near Civic Center BART Station)

  Let's have a meetup where geeks can talk about depression 
  and suicide. You are not alone. Share your story, if you 
  like. Share a friend's story. Or just hang out and 
  listen. Let's make it OK to talk about these things so 
  that we don't feel so alone with our feelings of being 
  alone and depressed or suicidal.

  This is not a support group -- none of us are trained 
  professionals, but we can get together in a safe, 
  confidential space to talk about depression and suicide 
  -- an important part of life for so many of us geeks.
  
  Mitch.
So it's already happened I guess. Anyone know how it went?

Re: Suicide

#43
So what? There are people who'd like to help you. So what? When I have suicidal thoughts, I don't care in the least about other people who could help me. Posts like this are helpful, of course, to raise the awareness of the problem, for other people. But when I, as a person thinks about suicide at the moment, look at this page, I just think: so what? and close the browser tab.

Re: Suicide

#44
post #37

[deleted]

Avner, divorce is terrible but please believe me, you will get through it. Probably you can't imagine how, but life is full of surprises, and despite all the pain and loss you're experiencing now, the mystery of life is that you will end up wiser, stronger and happier. We don't get to see the future, yet it happens.

If you like literature, it might help to try to view your situation as the hero's journey.

Find some things that give you comfort, and just hang in there. For me, it was music that got me through the dark days.

Immerse yourself, escape for small amounts of time, and find things to sustain you -- mentally, emotionally, physically. Reach out to your family and/or friends. Just endure any way you can, and you will come out on the other side of this.

Re: Suicide

#45
I made the following comment on a previous thread about suicide and think it also applies to this discussion:

Both depression/suicide and dietary habits run in families and reoccur over multiple generations.

Low serum cholesterol has been shown to be a suicide risk factor. [1]

Get you cholesterol tested and try adding more good fats to your diet like oily cold-water fish (think salmon and sardines), butter, eggs (including the yolk!), and coconut milk/oil. You should aim for a low LDL and a high HDL number.

[1] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/...

Re: Suicide

#46
post #37

[deleted]

1) family and friends are very important. spend A LOT of time with them.

2) exercise/sports.

3) take a break and go to hawaii or some place you like and have some fun with family and friends.

4) start dating. have fun.

5) if it becomes worse pls. seek professional help.

Re: Suicide

#47
I think that manic-depression is extremely common among startup entrepreneurs. The emotional roller-coaster one goes through when trying to create a company exacerbates any bipolar tendencies that might already be there. The great news is that when one is in the state of hypomania they are often at your most creative and productive. Read this description from a well-known, UK-based charity in the UK:

"When I'm in a manic phase, I feel as though I am capable of anything and everything. This can be an amazing feeling, but I sometimes get frustrated and angry with people. Ideas flow constantly and quickly, as if my brain is on fast-forward. Everything happening in the world has significance in my life. But when I'm depressed, it's as if I'm completely crushed and living in slow motion. I feel capable of nothing. " http://www.mind.org.uk/help/diagnoses_and_conditions/bipolar...

Re: Suicide

#48
post #38
post #6

Wonderful thought and worthwhile effort. And I see that Facebook is also making similar efforts. I'm glad to see that. My meta-thought about this is how do you make this proactive instead of passive? If you don't visit raganwald or Facebook, how will you get any encouragement this Christmas season? I've often thought that some corners of the Internet could benefit from a virtual chaplain who could approach members of…

I don't think it's that easy to tell, especially not on the internet. A better question might be, how do you reach out to people suffering in silence and convince them it is okay to talk? (An anonymous online suicide hotline which doesn't report cases to the authorities might help, but I suspect it would be trolled.) What Facebook effort are you referring to?

I just heard this on NPR this morning, so I may not have the specifics: Apparently, FB will provide a link that somebody can click if one of their friends writes something that friend thinks indicates their friend may be having suicidal thoughts, and their friend will get a message for a real-time chat with someone from a suicide prevention place.

Re: Suicide

#49
Really important stuff. Man, Raganwald, thanks so much for this blog post.

I think one important thing for anyone who's struggling to remember is that however you're feeling, it's not permanent. It's temporary. It will change. It might feel like things are never going to get better, but they will. It might feel like you're never going to feel better, but you will. You just have to hold tight to that fact, and trust it, even if it seems impossible. Then, six months or a year or three years from now, you'll be so glad that you hung on.

I recently learned that a former student of mine committed suicide, and I think about him all the time. I wish I could have told him all this while he was alive.

Thanks again for this post.

Re: Suicide

#50
If you want to talk in private about things, email me. phzbox at gmail.com. I know life is not supposed to be easy, but sometime it helps to be listened to.
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