What Would You Do: If You Saw Someone About To Commit Suicide?

[SavageTaker]

Welcome to the third installment of this new series which I created. Before I introduce this week’s topic, I’d like to thank everyone that posted in my two previous threads and I hope I continue to get such great responses.

Now that I got that out of the way, what would you do if you someone about to commit suicide? There are times when people think they’ve tried every solution to fix their problems, and once those problems can’t be fixed…they turn to ending them all by ending their lives. I think that committing suicide is never the answer.

So what I would do is try to do everything to stop that person. I don’t care if I have to talk them out of killing themselves or if I have to physically stop them. Yes, things may be bad, but why take you live away if those things can still be resolved with hard work?

Also, if I let the person die, then it would be extremely hard for me to deal with. Knowing that I could have stopped them and allowed them to continue living to the fullest…but I didn’t is something that would be on my mind and I would ask myself the question ‘What if...’ So that’s the reason why I would stop them by any means necessary because I think that suicide is never the answer for anything…and I honestly think that some people who do end it like that are just *****es.

What are your thoughts?

 

[lordslix0129]

I agree. There have been times where I stayed up the entire night, talking to a good friend out of committing suicide. He literally was about to consume a very dangerous amount of sleeping pills, which would have stopped his heart from functioning. At first, I was talking to him on the phone, but after I realized how serious he was, I drove down to his house (he lived down the street from me) and forced him to open the door. We ended up spending the entire night talking about his issues, his wife had cheated on him and was now seeking custody of the children, which crushed him and brought him down to a very self-destructive level. Luckily, I was able to convince him to chill out for the night and realize how bad it would be for the children if they never grew up to know their father. He had personal demons and I knew that one talk one night wasn't going to prevent him in the long run from doing something stupid. So I persuaded him to start attending support groups, and I even accompanied him to most of them too. This all happened 2 1/2 years ago, and I am very fortunate to say that he's now engaged to another girl, and he gets to see his children of the weekends.

I guess the point of my story is I will do anything in my power to help anybody out when it comes to suicide. If I have to pay for them to attend support group meetings or therapy, that's fine with me. If I have to stay up all night talking to them, I will. Anything to help someone out, even if I'm not very fond of them. There's an old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

edit: What I think is very important to point out, is that a lot of people who feel suicidal, just need someone close to them that cares about them and supports them.

 

[antfarm612]

The only way I would stop it is if it was someone I knew. If it was a stranger, I wouldn't feel it was my place.

 

[HBK-aholic]

I'd attempt to stop them, no matter who it was. It's still a life, and when people are suffering from depression to the extent it causes them to become suicidal, they don't realise that there is help out there, and things can get better. While I may not be a professional who can help them gain control of their life, I'd do whatever I could to make them see that there are people out there who can help. I'd probably be unsuccessful, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I did nothing.

 

[TLC]

I agree with what everyone has been saying so far and I would try my best to stop them from going through with it. Suicide is not the way too deal with problems, its just the easy way too to deal with things. Its a permanent solution too a temporary problem. Also there is no way I could have it on my conscience, someone dieing and me knowing I could of done something to stop it, i'm not sure whether or not i'd be able to stop them but knowing I tried would be a whole lot easier too deal with than doing nothing at all.

 

[theviolentmessiah]

I'm going to have to ask for more information, how well do I know the person?
I'm not very good at empathy, so I'm told, but I'd have to give a different opinion for whether they were close or just walking past a stranger.
If it were a stranger I wouldn't want to get involved, I'd watch them drop/hang/bleed fairly unaffected, it may be angry that they'd been driven to that but I dont know what pain they are in and it's not my decision to stop them. I would leave it completely alone, hopefully they will see what they have in live but it's not for me to point it out to them because I could be wrong. I could be sending them in for more suffering. It's their choice, and ultimately, it doesn't affect my life.

Selfishly, it differs with people I know because it does affect my life. If it was someone I loved I would go as far as physically restraining them provided I knew they had something to live for, as in it wasn't euthanasia-esque.

 

[NSL]

Honestly, it would all depend on who, and how. If it's a very close friend or family member, then it doesn't matter what is going on, I'd do everything in ym power to stop it, and get them help.

If it was someone I'm only acquainted with, or a total stranger, it would be difficult to decide. If they're popping pills, or threatening to slit their wrist, then it's a bit easier to step in and do something. If they have a gun to their head, or are about jump out a window, then you're only putting yourself in danger to stop them.

 

[VKO]

Its hard to say what you would do until put in the situation. I've never been in the situation where I needed to step in and stop a close friend or family member from committing suicide. But I have had the shoe on the other foot and asked a friend for help when I felt suicidal and she helped me through that just by listening and talking when necessary. To this day i'm still grateful.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

In all honesty, I'd stop them, but end up not knowing how to deal with them. Suicide isn't an easy way out, it's actually quite hard. You'd have to be in a real case of absolute despair to be able to go through with it successfully. Otherwise? The act can be petrifying. And, it depends on the person's reasons as to why one would want to end it. Some people just don't want to live, while others are aware that what they want/need can't be achieved, despite hard efforts. You'd really have to be in some of these people's shoes to know where they're coming from and seeking help isn't really something that appeals to their minds when everything else is telling them opposite. Last, but not least, it's the person's right whether or not they want to live. Unless you can aid in what's befitting of the person's needs, it's really not something that can be controlled so easily. Somewhere down the road, it has the potential to happen again. You just don't know what people are really thinking, and saying things like 'everyone's got problems, not just you' doesn't ease the pain -- it just makes more reason for them to go through with their 'solution.'