Comments on: A Surprisingly Long List of People Who’ve Attempted Suicide

By: KitKat

KitKat — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:34:49 +0000

I TOTALLY agree with Cynthia’s comments dated 9-5-2007. I recently attempted suicide, and am not a coward, nor am I ignorant. My attempt was out of desperation because I had absolutely NO ONE to help me. I had every intention of being successful, and it definitely was not a cry for help or attention….I wanted to be GONE from here. Life has been so draining. After 38 years of working in a highly stressful career and 10 years of caring for a husband with severe kidney disease, I witnessed him die a horribly excruciating death, which traumatized me deeply. I was left with a huge financial burden and NO ONE to help me move from an expensive house I cannot afford to maintain on my own. My family is very small and highly dysfunctional, and unwilling to help in any way, even to be emotionally supportive. Leaving this world seemed much more preferable than living as a homeless person. It still does. Unfortunately, I am still here, and will have to endure whatever this life holds for the future.

I survived a horrendous childhood filled with domestic violence, alcoholic and mentally unstable parents. Then, a first marriage to a man who was alcoholic and emotionally abusive. My second marriage was to a wonderful man, but one who had a severe genetic kidney disease, and was in and out of the hospital for the last 5 years of his life. Although I loved him deeply, being his only caregiver was the most draining experience I have ever endured. I stayed in the ring fighting and fighting for 56 years. Through it all, I maintained a smile and cheerful attitude. Now I am so exhausted by life, I can’t endure any more. I’ve reached the point of being totally disillusioned with this world and humanity. As I said, I am not a coward. I’ve just been through a tremendous amount of adversity, and I agree with Ben’s comment of 9-6-2007. I am one of those people who now thinks that the pain of death is infinitely less than the pain of life.

By: KitKat

KitKat — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:06:02 +0000

Clever poem by Dorothy Parker! I can relate…..Thanks for sharing it.

By: Helena Davey

Helena Davey — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 21:16:53 +0000

OMFG seriously? wow thats alot!

By: Nunuv Yerbizness

Nunuv Yerbizness — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:08:04 +0000

This brings to mind Dorothy Parker’s poem, “Résumé”:

“Razors pain you,
rivers are damp,
acids stain you,
drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful,
nooses give,
gas smells awful;
you might as well live.”

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 02:13:00 +0000

Wow these people all suck at killing themselves.

By: Gabie

Gabie — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:39:00 +0000

Being severely depressed most of my life and suicidal for large chunks of that, I agree with Alan.

My sister “attempted” suicide. Very light attempts that really wouldn’t have killed her – cutting her wrists with scissors (paper cuts, really. Or scratches. barely bled.) and taking just a few too many pain pills. She was hospitalized. It really all *was* a cry for attention, since she did it when people were home and didn’t try to hide anything.

I knew that if I did it, I would actually do it, not “attempt.” At my lowest point I told people, because I really wanted them to stop me because I truly wanted to die and I knew how selfish it was. I made them make sure there were no medications around me, and that I didn’t go to the balcony on the 9th floor we lived on.

Like Elle, something stopped me and made me tell people. I couldn’t let myself do it, for my younger sister. My older and I were so messed up, I wanted her to have something that resembled a normal childhood. And I couldn’t do that to whoever found me. I couldn’t imagine the pain of finding someone you loved dead (and the mess made by falling 9 stories was to gross to think of.)

But most people can’t be that rational when they’re that depressed. It fogs your thinking, you’re trapped. It gets physically painful and you just want out.

Nothing bad happened to me to cause the depression – it has always been there. The only “happy” memory I had until I was about 21 was when I was 2 years old, at Disneyland. That was the only time I had felt happy until I found good meds and my now husband.

And no, there is no way money helps true depression. It is the most isolated and lonely feeling, and only if you somehow can break through the fog can you even KNOW to get help.

By: airship

airship — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 15:51:00 +0000

“Do, or do not. There is no ‘try.’”- Jedi Master Yoda.

By: BassMan

BassMan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:24:00 +0000

Cynthia, Allison, Mom, and all you others: Thanks for being voices of sense and compassion amid this outpouring of ignorance and hatefulness.
I know there are plenty of people who post on Mental Floss I disagree with, but I had no idea how many there were who are as stupid and mean as some who have posted here. I pity them and the people around them.

By: Elle

Elle — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:25:12 +0000

I didn’t commit suicide because of my dog.

I was ready to do it. I had my plan. I was going to get a hotel room and shoot myself in the shower (that way it wouldn’t be my family who found me and it would be easy to clean up – considerate wasn’t I *wry grin*). I had written the note to my family because I honestly thought I could make them understand why I did it.

Then it occured to me that nobody would ever be able to tell my dog that I wasn’t coming home. She would just sit in the lawn and wait for me to come home. And I couldn’t do that to the faithful companion that was the only bright spot in my life when I was a teenager. I couldn’t just abandon her.

Since then I’ve realized that my family and friends wouldn’t have understood any more than my dog would have. And they would have been just as devastated.

I’ve never told that to anyone before.

By: dontknowanymore

dontknowanymore — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:17:06 +0000

NONVOCATVS , my heart goes out to you. You are a very strong person to have been through all of this and posting it here to help people see it from your point.
I myself have had a couple experiences with suicides. My uncle jumped from a bridge, when I was about 12. No one in my family spoke of it, as my family is one of those who thinks they are perfect. He was a very kind man and seemed very happy. I still to this day have no idea why he did it.
When I was 22, I had a friend shoot himself in the head. Ended his life over a women.
Last June, the best friend I could have ever had, hung himself. He hinted around when he was drunk about doing it and it leaves me with alot of guilt, as I believe I could have done something. He had 4 children. He and I would talk about our depression, and support one another, but in no way did I ever believe, he would do this. He told me one night, that the night before, he was standing on a chair with a rope around his neck but couldn’t do it. Then he would laugh about it, so I never knew that he was being serious.One week later, thats just what he did. I sit here now and cry and try to figure out what I could have done. Could I have forced help on him somehow. He was seeing a therapist and he was on medication. It has been almost a year and I still wait for his morning phone call. At night, I need him, as he was someone like no other. We started out dating and decided to remain friends. We spent some time together every single day. He would take my daughter and I out with him.
He would call me in the middle of the night just to talk about his problems. He was in love with his ex and she didn’t love him back. He never left a goodbye to anyone. He just left his body hanging in his room for his family to find.
To all the people on here who say its to get attention when people talk about it…maybe sometimes that is true, unfortunately in my case, it is not. My best friend is gone and now I sit here and wonder if there was something I could have done.