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Suicide

raganwald.posterous.com

51–60 of 291 posts

Re: Suicide

#51
post #37

[deleted]

Marriage creates a very deep and important link between two people, but once one of the two sides no longer want to continue, it is better to look forward: you will not lost all the good things about your marriage, they are inside you, but you can discover that you can be so happy, with a different partner, again.

It happened to me in the past, I felt lost, now I'm happy again with my new partner. Time is an important factor, don't be impatient, and focus again on yourself for a while.

Re: Suicide

#52
post #20

Posts like these are dangerous. If someone feels horrible, seeing "You may feel like you are alone and nobody is as bad a person as you are" just makes the person feel worse. You can't shove detached, inexperienced logic in the face of someone with temporarily broken brain chemistry. For a more thorough understanding see http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4345/is_7_32/ai_n291...

Thank you. What do you suggest?

Probably better to write for friends of a potentially suicidal person, but in a way that a suicidal person reading it gets the right takeaway.

Re: Suicide

#53
post #37

[deleted]

wow. that is very honest of you avner. dude, keep smiling :) and don't fucking check out. i don't care about your responsibilities. you are more important then all of those and then some. i mean, i have no idea what you're going through, besides what was stated, but i do know that you are more important than anything else in your world (unless you have kids) then they come first, then you ;)

if you live in SF, i'd love to take you out for a drink; sometimes the simple pleasures (a drink, a toke) and a complete stranger to talk with can help..

Re: Suicide

#54
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You hit the cause in your third paragraph. Suicidal ideation is a process starting with falling short of expectations then blaming yourself for the shortfall. You start incorrectly rationalizing reasons why everything is your fault and how nothing can get better. Negativity permeates every thought. Your world breaks down into tiny logical blocks and you rationalize why everything is hopeless. The only way out is to b…

> The only way out is to break the chain of elevating mental isolation and negativity. How exactly to do that is the tricky part, though (and not just tricky for individuals, but the subject of much debate in psychiatry). Possibilities include pharmacological intervention, therapy, or some sort of change in circumstances. The latter is a really large set of options, but also poorly understood: there are semi-regular…

> How exactly to do that is the tricky part, though

A good start might be with the book "Learned Optimism" from Martin Seligman — http://www.amazon.com/Learned-Optimism-Change-Your-Mind/dp/0....

He argues that most depression is just severe learned helplessness caused by your own pessimistic inner explanations of why events happened. He makes a good case for it & suggests techniques to build better explanatory habits. I haven't finished the book yet but so far it's quite compelling.

Re: Suicide

#55

This is a good little post, but you actually are branded in the US if you seek paid treatment for depression. See this: http://behavioral.kaiserpapers.org/prozacharm.html

The article doesn't state when it's from, but it does mention a 2001 Georgetown study, which means that it's probably from around 2001-2002. It looks like the health care reform of 2010 prevents insurance companies from denying you coverage due to pre-existing conditions (starting in 2014): http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0324/Health-care-...

Even earlier in some states, too. If I were uninsurable, I'd give serious consideration to moving someplace like Seattle.

Re: Suicide

#57
Let's not forget about the civic duty to call 911 if you suspect that your friend or your neighbor is suicidal. Emergency medicine has experts that can help much more than National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Re: Suicide

#58
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. What do you suggest?

I've never been entirely sure. A while ago I made http://suicidescale.com/ but the wording still feels awkward to me. You have to strike a balance between explaining and understanding without sounding condescending. Explaining the temporary condition can help so people know they aren't alone (knowing you are one of millions who have had the same exact thought processes is a wake up call). Mentioning the processes can…

Thank you so much for making that site. I've never come across such an accurate description of the symptoms of depression. I can relate to a lot of what's written there and it really helps put things into perspective. Meditating, exercising, and spending time with friends has helped me feel a lot better.

Re: Suicide

#60
post #11
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).

for me it doesn't http://i.imgur.com/1d8pK.png

It gives me a US toll-free number. They probably only show it to people for whom it probably wouldn't be an international call, so if you're outside the US or using a proxy, that would explain it.
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