3 ms·
A long history of depression and some level of intent doesn't mean an attempt wasn't impulsive. That's why the question of whether someone has a specific plan i
by lazyasciiart 5y ago
A long history of depression and some level of intent doesn't mean an attempt wasn't impulsive. That's why the question of whether someone has a specific plan is used to assess risk: there's a huge difference between passive suicidal thoughts and active suicide plans.
This page contains a few studies on how long people think about it before making an attempt - https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/duration/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/durat...
- robocat 5y agoOK, I did a quick Google (uggh, I wonder what adverts I will targeted by now!) There is scientific disagreement over impulsivity, and the distinction between impulsive and planning is so blurry as to be not that useful to a non-specialist. Also my quick skim of the topic was somewhat confusing because there is a different topic about whether impulsive personalities are more likely to suicide (probably not). And my case personally I am middle aged, and my peer group appears more likely to plan, which affects my anecdotal experience. I think my problem is that the word “impulsive” is odd. Someone who has been thinking of committing suicide for months, and then one day “suddenly” decides to go through with it, seems to be considered by the literature to have made an impulsive decision. That definition doesn’t fit my usual meaning of the word impulsive (e.g. I don’t think it makes sense to say: I have been looking at cars to buy for two months and then I impulsively bought one).
- lazyasciiart 5y agoIt might make more sense to you to compare it to midlife crisis actions? E.g that guy has been looking at that car for years and today he impulsively bought it.