A Few Words About Suicide

Suicide is a dark horse that all too often runs through so many survivors heads. We think if we just swallow that handfull of pills, drink that poison, or what have you, it will all be over, and we will be free of our agony.

That couldn't be further from the truth. Suicide is a very permanent solution to a temporary problem. We deny ourselves our strength, we deny ourselves the opportunity to see ourselves well and whole. And if you should choose to lay down and die right now, you will not have the deathbed priviledge to point to an hour, a day, a week, month, or year, with some measure of joy and happiness, and say, "I remember!" And that is perhaps in many ways, much more tragic than any rape, any beating, any failure hurt, or disappointment.

I remember all my attempts...especially the last one. There is no allure to being strapped to a stretcher, a paramedic trying to keep you from flipping out. Doctors asking loads of questions, debating whether you should be hospitalized. It's a very scary and demeaning thing, so I can't imagine why so many are so attracted to it.

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Here are some suicide statistics:

• Suicide took the lives of 30,622 people in 2001 (CDC 2004).
  
• Suicide rates are generally higher than the national average in the western states and lower in the eastern and midwestern states (CDC 1997).
  
• In 2002, 132,353 individuals were hospitalized following suicide attempts; 116,639 were treated in emergency departments and released (CDC 2004).
  
• In 2001, 55% of suicides were committed with a firearm (Anderson and Smith 2003).
  
• Suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all U.S. men (Anderson and Smith 2003).
  
• Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females (CDC 2004).
  
• Suicide rates are highest among Whites and second highest among American Indian and Native Alaskan men (CDC 2004).
  
• Of the 24,672 suicide deaths reported among men in 2001, 60% involved the use of a firearm (Anderson and Smith 2003).
  
• Women report attempting suicide during their lifetime about three times as often as men (Krug et al. 2002).
  

Source:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/suifacts.htm

[So do you think you're still alone? Suicide is a devastating act that ends the life of the person...a treasured life. Despite what pain and brutality you've endured at the hands of others, someone out there treasures you! And they would be heartbroken to lose you. Your heart would break if you could know what healing was possible, and how you will now never live that life because you ended it all. Just think. Don't do anything drastic right now!]

As Waters Passing By > A Few Thoughts on Suicide