About Suicide

Understanding your Own Feelings About Suicide

In order to intervene effectively with someone who is depressed or suicidal, it is helpful to be clear about your own feelings and attitudes regarding suicide. Take a moment to consider these questions:

1. Who do you know that has died by suicide?
   
   
2. How has that person's life and death affected you?
   
   
3. What questions arise from that person's situation and solution?
   
   
4. Who do you know that has attempted suicide? How has it affected your relationship to that person?
   
   
5. Have you yourself ever considered suicide? What were the circumstances? Who or what deterred you?
   
   
6. The issue of suicide often produces strong emotions of fear, anger and denial. People who don’t understand their own feelings about suicide may be insensitive and find themselves responding inappropriately to a person in crisis:
   • Come on, it's not that big a deal. You'll get over it.
   • I can't believe you'd talk that way! You wouldn't really kill yourself.
   • I can think of more productive ways to get attention, if that's what you want.
   • Your parents/family/friends are going to be so mad when they find out!
   • What? You have got to go to the emergency room right now!
   • I know, I know, life sucks. Let's just have a few beers and forget about it.
   • Okay, if you're so desperate, go ahead and kill yourself.
     
     
   If you were feeling hopeless or deeply depressed, what effect would any of the above comments have on you?
   
   What emotions or attitudes are revealed in comments like these?