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Perhaps this is a nitpick, but in the interest of raising awareness and diminishing harm I would like to add that not everyone who attempts suicide is in a dark

Perhaps this is a nitpick, but in the interest of raising awareness and diminishing harm I would like to add that not everyone who attempts suicide is in a dark place. I have a close, immediate family member who has attempted suicide on numerous occasions. Sometimes she was in a dark place of depression and despair, for sure, but other times she was high on life and full of energy. Those times it would be a sudden urge that came over her, and not an outcome of despair.

justaj 6y ago
Wouldn't one classify such sudden urges as sudden dark places then?
- klodolph 6y ago
  You could, but it's not a very helpful way to think about things. If you think, "I want to commit suicide, therefore I must be in a dark place," it's putting the cart before the horse, for sure. Most people are under the illusion that suicidal thoughts stem from feelings of depression / sadness, and the reality is that these are three entirely different things: suicidal thoughts, depression, and sadness are three things which are often very different from each other. So you think someone must be sad because they have depression, or they must not be depressed because they aren't sad, and these incorrect beliefs can lead to harm. And you also think that someone who is not acting sad or depressed must not be thinking about suicide, when very often someone who has decided to commit suicide may feel very happy or liberated having made that choice. It can be really enlightening to talk to different people who have experienced or who experience suicidal ideation, because their experiences are varied, and while suicidal ideation is considered a risk factor, it doesn't mean that you're more likely to commit suicide and the people with suicidal ideation are often reluctant to talk about it because of the stigma. Like, "I experience suicidal thoughts, and I want to talk about them, but if I talk about them, people will wrongly think I want to commit suicide, or wrongly think that I am depressed, or wrongly think I am sad, so I am unlikely to get the sympathy or help I need and it is likely that talking about it will have a negative impact on my relationships."
  - PhilosAccnting 6y ago
    As a former suicide-considering person (never attempted), I sincerely believe it's worth separating the action from the desire. We get all sorts of desires. The mind is full of inactive, dormant code. But, when we get one of them, then entertain it long enough, and the environment is just right, people most certainly will do horrible things, including killing themselves and others. I'm not implying that it's all programmable, but more that decisions are the consequence of many variables after the initial temptation.

justaj 6y ago

Wouldn't one classify such sudden urges as sudden dark places then?

klodolph 6y ago
You could, but it's not a very helpful way to think about things. If you think, "I want to commit suicide, therefore I must be in a dark place," it's putting the cart before the horse, for sure. Most people are under the illusion that suicidal thoughts stem from feelings of depression / sadness, and the reality is that these are three entirely different things: suicidal thoughts, depression, and sadness are three things which are often very different from each other. So you think someone must be sad because they have depression, or they must not be depressed because they aren't sad, and these incorrect beliefs can lead to harm. And you also think that someone who is not acting sad or depressed must not be thinking about suicide, when very often someone who has decided to commit suicide may feel very happy or liberated having made that choice. It can be really enlightening to talk to different people who have experienced or who experience suicidal ideation, because their experiences are varied, and while suicidal ideation is considered a risk factor, it doesn't mean that you're more likely to commit suicide and the people with suicidal ideation are often reluctant to talk about it because of the stigma. Like, "I experience suicidal thoughts, and I want to talk about them, but if I talk about them, people will wrongly think I want to commit suicide, or wrongly think that I am depressed, or wrongly think I am sad, so I am unlikely to get the sympathy or help I need and it is likely that talking about it will have a negative impact on my relationships."
- PhilosAccnting 6y ago
  As a former suicide-considering person (never attempted), I sincerely believe it's worth separating the action from the desire. We get all sorts of desires. The mind is full of inactive, dormant code. But, when we get one of them, then entertain it long enough, and the environment is just right, people most certainly will do horrible things, including killing themselves and others. I'm not implying that it's all programmable, but more that decisions are the consequence of many variables after the initial temptation.