A lot of people, presumably Americans, complain that suicide is unreasonably difficult due to laws, inaccessibility of guns, etc.
The irony is that the USA is one of only a dozen countries where firearms are legal. And here’s the funny part. Suicide rates are the highest in countries without guns or assisted suicide. In other words, Americans quit whining, no one else has a problem.
For the record, I’m in America so this is directed at me as much as anyone else.
15 comments
If you’ve been an involuntary hospital patient then you can’t buy firearms legally!! Hell, I complain all the f*cking time. I’ve had this killer fantasy since I was a wee child that I’d live up to this notion that I’d shoot myself to death. And I always thought you know this is my one thing, this is the one thing that I will do. And now, I just can’t go to the store and get a gun? UGH. I couldn’t afford it anyway being dirt poor. But that’s all I ever saved my money for… it sure should be easy to commit using other methods. But this was it, this was the method I chose and relied upon. Now I’ve got to change methods to suit someone else’s fancy? God it’s so pathetic. If I would have known they’d take my rights, I wouldn’t have bought in. But they basically dragged me to the door and forced me to tell this old fat f*ck that I wanted to kill myself. Poof, rights gone. Hospitalization did nothing but horrify me. It was like my 19th birthday. Hell, I had NO F*CKING CLUE
This makes sense. I’m also obsessed with 1 particular method, and (unless something easier comes along) I’m not going to change my plans. It must suck to be in your situation. The mental hospitals definitely do way more harm than good, but I guess it’s always been that way and it will never change.
One shot and done what could work better than that? Holy hell. Sure I could commit another way but even methods that say painless, anything that isn’t instantaneous death will probably be a shit load of not very painless. I hear heroin OD is painless but I don’t even like heroin and don’t even want to die as high as a ************. So my mission is to somehow get a gun otherwise I’m stuck with some lame ass method.
I am going to venture a guess that good access to firearms and a consequently lower suicide rate, though counter-intuitive, could be so. If so, maybe it is due to the fact that we gun owners know that relief can be just a trigger pull away so what the hell, we might as well give ourselves time to regroup, rethink, and reconsider even when we think the breaking point has been reached.
That’s a very insightful thought I’ve never heard before, but it makes a lot of sense. Most suicides seem to be acts of desperation. If you own a gun, that probably takes the “desperation” out of the equation so you end up thinking more rationally.
Less lethal methods, like pill overdoses, cutting or even hanging are probably appealing to desperate minds BECAUSE there’s such a high chance of failure. So it’s easier to just do it. But I imagine feeling a barrel against your head will sober you up in a heartbeat.
Thanks for that insight, I’m not sure how it’ll affect me but it’s something to think about.
For years I was set on a non-violent death. This meant I had to be utterly focused on the mission because even one overlooked detail can turn a complete into an attempt. The near flawless focus and comprehensive knowledge required to succeed by most non-violent means almost lead to success, but for one little mistake I made. That’s when I switched to gun. Now when I hurt, and I often do, I just know to do what the therapist taught me to do to make life bearable until next appointment and/or set another appointment closer in. That gun gives me about a 100% chance of departure so why even bother with it, just ride the storm til I see the therapist.
Wait, but why do they even want to lower suicide rates? The people have brains – if they got nothing to live for they will commit, they aren’t going to jump the gun if they might regret it and have ANYTHING left to live for. I think they ought make it easier for suicides.
Dammit I know I love gunshot to hear but I may as well just jump off a bridge in front of a bus holy fucking shit. Sounds pretty good of a plan, huh?
Agreed. You are looking at this logically.
I often look at suicide as the thing people do when they have no reason not to. But most people will have several reasons not to.
I have a hunch that the reason why suicide is made harder, prevented, etc. is that the survivors are a noisy persuasive grieving group of people pleading with lawmakers and donors to make suicide difficult versus the dead who have no voice at all and the walking dead that dare not mention their suicidal ideation if they value their freedom at the moment.
Along those lines, America is also presented as a land of endless opportunity, which can create indecision. Ever walk into a department store intent on purchasing widgets, only to leave in frustration without making a purchase, due to the abundance of choices? We are bombarded with solutions to all that ails us in media, and so we muddle on trying this diet and that clothing and this data plan and that device, mindlessly groping at empty promises of happiness. Perhaps higher suicide rates outside America are tied to the fewer choices citizens have to go out and purchase their happiness. After all, my tv tells me a thousand times a day that happiness is just a click away, and simple financing is available. When there’s no more toys to buy, maybe then Americans will eat their bullets, long after those outside the country have tied their nooses.
That’s a great point. Perhaps in other countries when the pain reaches critical, the choice is simple: live or die. In America the choice is more like: live, die, try this drug, try that therapist, try this diet fad, buy this gadget, invest in this scheme, etc. Too many flashy distractions keep us from focusing on the hard truth.
I’m from France and I always thought that if I had a gun, I’d have killed myself long ago but who knows, maybe I’d be afraid if I could ever get0p one. The thing is, in France there still are easy ways to kill yourself. The TGV (Train Grande Vitesse) is the most reliable one in my opinion as it can get up to 300kmh (~190mph). Access to rooftops is relatively easy, and as a last resort there’s the highway at 130kmh (~85 mph). These are all painless and quick, so I don’t think the lack of guns is really a problem for those who REALLY want to die (and I say really in caps because usually most people in their subconscious are not really sure if they are willing to die, whether or not they say they are.
Funny you mentioned trains because that’s what I was thinking of when I made this post. I read about a spate of student suicides in India, mostly by train, some by hanging, at least one by burning. Not a gun in sight. You’re right, I think it comes down to who REALLY wants it.
In America we like shooting people! That’s like assisted suicide! 🙂
I really don’t know? I think most people that commit suicide don’t really plan it out and they just use whatever is available at the time, sky scraper, train, razor, bridge, pills.
I’d love someone to shoot me but cops are so damn ugly, I wouldn’t like one of these pigs with their dirt nasty attitude to be the cause of my death. Some damn gross ass looking cops we got here. Mostly they are fat, angry and spiteful.