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This was probably the worst day I've had in a while. Came home, read a friend's blog, where he left a suicide note. For those of you especially worried, he hasn't done it and doesn't expect to right now at least. Called friends who know him a little, one even offered some helpful advice to try to find out enough about him to call his dad or someone, actually he couldn't give much advice, but he's what you might call an expert and he had my try and get in touch with someone else he trained in information-digging. So that was good, about an hour after I found out and had sat down crying and praying over it... A bit later I see he's online at the board I know him from, send him a PM, eventually he responded just saying he was fine, I clarified with him that he wasn't going to do anything at least right now, so I'm pretty relieved, but bracing myself in case it ever comes up again. That was the biggest scare I've had in a very long time... OK, now getting to the moral of the story I guess...

Don't any of you ever let things get that bad. Talk it out with someone. Life's rough, but I've never met anyone who didn't have problems. You can talk to me, or I'm sure many other people here. I don't want to have to see my friends (which I consider I think everyone here my friends) in such dire straights they don't think they can get out. *hugs entire board*

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wow Lion... glad things turned out ok in the end! I am sure he is relieved to know someone was concerned enough to look after his wellbeing!

Sorry you had such a rough day!

I'm if you need me~

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"it's the neck, it creaks under the weight of too much heavy thinking."

Is he depressed or bipolar or anything? That might have something to do with it

It's not always that life's rough and things are all going wrong or whatever the case may or may not be. I have a relatively comfortable life without too many problems... but I'm clinically depressed and have attempted suicide, and I think I can say that it rather sucks

I hope everything turns out alright

He could be, but not diagnosed I don't think (I believe he is diagnosed with ADD though)... He has issues with his dad (his mom died when he was 9), and he doesn't really have many good friends from what I gather, and his closest one was a missing person recently... she came back and he yelled at her then felt really bad about that... and he doesn't feel like he deserves anything, including her friendship, and so on along those lines...

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Ouch, sounds like he really has had it rough

A bit of councelling may help, I dunno...

I hope everything works out...

Good luck

You can't force someone but if this is a close friend you should have a serious talk-discussion, not speech-about him getting help. A good doctor, diagnosis, meds if necessary, counsellor or therapist.

I really can't emphasize enough a correct diagnosis and meds. I saw my first psych a year ago who quickly labelled my BP2 and gave me 2 prescriptions. I had 'med checks' every two months or so. I thought everything was fine until I had one breakdown last Nov and another-worse-last month which put me in the hospital. After working with a lot of drs it was determined that I'm actually depressed with severe anxiety/panic disorder. And that I was on the wrong meds. And that one of the meds I was on can cause liver problem and should've been having blood work done monthly. Oh and another of the meds is absolutely hated by many drs and patients alike because going off of it has terrible, terrible side effects...so bad that some people can never get off of it.

Sorry for the sermon but I take these things very seriously.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Sorry for the sermon but I take these things very seriously.

Well of course you take it seriously, it's a matter of life and death. As one of my friends said "we can't afford not to take this seriously".

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That's a good way to think. Too often people will respond to something like this by saying oh he/she is just looking for attention. Attention, asking for help, reaching...whatever you want to call it, it's not something to be ignored.


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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

That's a really tough situation to be in, and i agree not one to be taken lightly. One of my closest friends went through a period where his entire personality changed over about a year. Near the end of this time, we didn't see or hear from him for quite a few months, but as he lived more than an hour away we didn't worry too much, we barely even noticed the time passing and so didn't make any real attempts to contact him ourselves. Anyway, he called us one day and told us where he'd been all that time - in a mental institution, recovering from a suicide attempt from which he was only barely saved by his grandparents. I was shocked, not because he did it - like I said, his personality had completely changed and i long suspected that there was something wrong with him - but just by the very idea of how very nearly I lost one of my closest friends. And of course i felt guilty for not contacting him more in that time, although I'm not sure if it would have helped as he was so lost in his own mind. He was basically given a second chance, he's been through therapy and medication and is almost completely back to his old self. Basically, he had to hit rock bottom before he could come back up again. I still worry about him, I'm not sure if he'll ever shake off his demons and sometimes I see that part of himself creeping up again, all I can do is hope that he never runs down that path again and be as good a friend as I can be in the meantime.

I hope your friend works through his problems before he takes them to an extreme. Having friends like you in his life should hopefully make that easier.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

Most people have suicidal thoughts and ideas at some point in their life, and I believe that's perfectly normal. I don't agree with the medication thing, my working experiences of psychiatric medicine have demonstrated just how much of it is using a sledgehammer to fix a tiny piece of soldering.

All you can do is offer him what support he may want. But dont be afraid to withdraw if it sucks you in too much. It's something that's often lost when discussing suicide -
in first aid, the first thing you are taught is that you should never put yourself in danger to save the casualty. Suicidal thoughts are the same, ofer what help you can but do not follow the person to a point at which you endanger yourself!

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Thanks for the support guys. Don't worry too much about me. I have a lot of good friends here to lean on. Sure is a good thing, because this week has been terrible and it's only Tuesday.

There's not much I can do for this kid besides talk with him, pray, and hope he doesn't think I'm being too nosy (a fine line). I'm not close enough to literally be there with him, much less suggest counselling or anything (his attitude is so far against it suggesting it would only serve to push him away farther). It is a walking-on-eggshells situation, so we'll see how it turns out.

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The real cure for depression id probably not having to work, being adored by the opposite sex, to be free to do as you wish, and have several million quid, and a cause to follow.

Failing that all you can do is be a friend when he needs one, and dont for a second think its your fault or responsibility.Things do get that bad and its not a question of letting them, but sometimes knowing you have a friend makes a difference.

Sorry to burst your bubble, git, but that probably wouldn't cure depression... it'd probably only make it worse

It's a chemical imbalance... once that balance is corrected and STAYS corrected, yer good...

If you just make life easier, a depressed person will just find more stuff to be depressed about. Trust me on this'n... it doesn't work, I've tried it

But on the other hand, depression cannot be cured by drugs alone, and requires some life-changing to address the initial cause of the chemical imbalance

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

True... it takes a combination of the two

A chicken and the egg situation, which comes first a chemical inbalance or sustained misery? Depression can be an entirely mental process for some people, a psychological problem rather than a chemical one. There are dozens of kinds of depression. Personally Ive never seen anyone just take the drugs and get better, and thats including myself.The ones I have seen recover well generally make changes to their lifestyle even if by nothing more than a simple change of outlook.

Why do I have trouble imagining life wouldnt get better with a few million bucks, lots of hot ladies and a real cause to follow... ? Im almost positive for most people it would be vaguely uplifting

It would be vaugley uplifting, I suppose...

At the moment I have more money than I know what to do with (and getting my next paycheck in a few hours... so add another $200-300 to the total), and it's not helping... I've run out of money to spend stuff on

Cash gets old fast (for me, at least), and like you said, it's a lifestyle change. Extra cash would be fun for a bit, and then it'd get old and you'd be right back where you started...

If it'd work for you, that's great... I hasn't worked for me

Its sad because the most commenly prescribed drugs for depression have the side effect of suicidal thoughts. I know a person who was on them and attempted suicide 3 times.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

I dont know, i think the lifestyle choice involved comes down to a statement
"No, I will NOT feel this way any more!"

And I know I'm going to be flamed for "missing the point" or somesuch, but Ive felt despair and I've been on the path to depression, I do know. But ATEOD, I said "No!" to it, and forced it to go away. Forced myself to go out, forced myself to stop crying. And it works. Now I have control over those feelings and that sense of faling over an edge, I just say "No" and go for a walk in the sunshine.

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I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

He only attempted suicide 3 times? Consider him lucky

*glances at wrist*