Discussing Suicide in Public (hell, mission, experience, religion)

[Rex]

I have an acquaintance of mine that owns a forum called SuicideTalk.com . Their description is a follows:

The place is intended to be a hangout for anyone feeling depressed/sad and possibly suicidal, to look out for relief and share their experiences which I have personally seen a best way to recover from bad moods...

(Note: it is always adviceable to seek a professional help in case of severe or continous depression)

My question to everyone is what do you think about a site like this with this type of topic?

And hopefully the owner of the forum will come in and chat with us.

To visit the site click here

[t3gah]

sounds like a nice loving site. talking through text like irc or forums is a bit cold though. not the same as the suicide phone hotlines. i hope it works out for people in need.

of course the site will help those who have access to the internet. i know lots of shops have internet access in them now.

advertising the talk site is always a problem for those in dire straights. but in actuality many people who really want to kill themselves do so. sometimes they do it while they are talking to you over the phone or chat.

suicide is bad.

[retrorich]

I think such a site would be good for people who are feeling suicidal, as long as the identity of the posters are kept totally confidential.

As I stated in another thread, I have suicidal tendencies, but I prefer to handle them (or not handle them) by myself. Others might welcome assistance.

[woz]

Hello there,

I'm the one responsible for the SuicideTalk.com, thank you Rex for setting up this topic!

If there's any ideas or advices concerning the board, I'm more than willing to hear them from here!

I'll also try to answer any possible questions that might arise

Thank you all,
woz

[Rex]

Originally Posted by woz

Hello there,

I'm the one responsible for the SuicideTalk.com, thank you Rex for setting up this topic!

If there's any ideas or advices concerning the board, I'm more than willing to hear them from here!

I'll also try to answer any possible questions that might arise

Thank you all,
woz

Thanks for dropping by Woz. I think you have a great project and wish you the best!

[michel]

Originally Posted by Rex_Admin

I have an acquaintance of mine that owns a forum called SuicideTalk.com . Their description is a follows:

My question to everyone is what do you think about a site like this with this type of topic?
And hopefully the owner of the forum will come in and chat with us.
to visit the site click here

I don't really belive in giving money to charities; it is not that I am mean, but I am sceptical about what percentage of my donation will reach the intended benefitor. I say this as a 'lead in' to the fact that I have worked (I do not do so now) for charities; that is my donation, as far as I am concerned.

I spent two separate terms of two years a piece as a volunteer for the U.K org called 'The Samaritans' who provide a help line (telephone) 24x7x365/year for potential suicides, the lonely, the confused etc.
The remit is that we were there to listen - certainly not to offer advice - but, through rigorous training learned how to help the caller to steer himself in the right direction, by making him see all his options rather than the one he had when he first phoned.
Again, the rules were strict in that we could offer to call out an ambulance to a caller who had already taken the pills....whatever, but we could not do so without his consent.

If he refused consent, we would keep him company on the telephone while he died, trying to comfort him.
The Samaritans have Branches throughout The U.k, and most offer 'face to face' callers to be seen during daylight hours. When I left the Branch where I volunteered to work, they were short-staffed, as they always are; imagine manning 3 telephone lines + visitors during the day, and 2 telephone lines throughout the night! Aranging the rota was the one duty I dreaded (We all took it in turns for two or three weeks - it was a nightmare of juggling with too few people to fill so many slots.

One last thing; the Samaritans are non-denominational and we were forbidden to broach the subject of religion unless the caller wanted a discussion on that subject.

I do actually have a story to tell of one particular caller, but maybe it would be better to keep that to another post. I found myself questioning the validity of saving someone's life (Through calling an ambulance with his permission), and how my action had impacted on his life.

[Jaymes]

hink sites like this can be very helpful to people who feel they need them. I used a similar site once (though it was about self-mutilation, not suicide), and was very glad I had people that could relate to me. Having people that could lend an ear without judging helped me get over it.

[michel]

Hey Woz

This is addressed particularly to you, but, if anyone has thoughts on this hey.all the better!

I wrote in a previous post that I worked as a volunteer for the Samaritans here in the U.K, and was faced with a moral dillema I would never have thought of before the event.

A woman volunteer and I were doing a Saturday night shift (10 p.m to 6.am)- Saturdays were allways bad ; late nights, too much alcohol etc...

At about 3. am I had a call from a guy who had taken an overdose of medication drugs, had drunk a LOT of alcohol. He told me he was not calling for help (He was adamant about that). He was calling to have someone 'sit with him' until he died; well, that is something we could do if asked. He talked and talked, when asked why he wanted to die; it turned out he was a 55 year old gay who had been dumped by his partner (who had found himself 'a younger model'); he could not face life without him, and nothing would shift him from his intended course.
We had been on the 'phone for about 1 1/2 hours, and he was becoming drowsier and obvious very drunk, when he asked me to do him 'one last favour'- he wanted to give me his mom's and his ex's telephone numbers so I could explain to them .etc.........

Of course, that was my 'thin end of the wedge' opening; "You can't ask me to do that", I told him , "It's something you need to take responsability for, and do yourself".

By now he was obviously in a bad way, and, as we had been told during training, I was virtually having to shout down the 'phone to keep him awake; I then said to him"Look, I 've told you I can't make the calls for you, but there is still time to get emmergency services out to you......".

He finally agreed, gave me his address in London, and whilst I was trying to keep the guy awake, my fellow volunteer 'phoned the ambulance service and told them to get a move on.
While she was doing that, aware that we didn't have time to play for, I told the guy to go and unlock the front door of his flat, and leave it open. He told me he'd no clothes on; couldn't do so. I told him it didn't matter a fig if he was naked - just get that door OPEN!

He started drifting off again, having done what I had asked, and to my relief, I heard the 'phone being picked up, and a Paramedic said "O.K we're here, I think wer're in time".
My colleague and I had now done 'our bit', and we could relax, pleased to think that we had acheived the saving of a life.
Of course, I was 'debriefed' by one of the Directors, who complemented me and the other volunteer on what we had achievd; we both left the centre feeling drained, as you might imagine.

Over the next few days, my mind kept on going back to that even, churning things over and over. I was beginning to have thoughts of what would happen to the guy; stomach pump, psychiatrist, treatment, depression............; I was vicariously empathising with what lay in store for him. It was then that I understood, with clarity, the Japanese belief that if you save another human being, you immediately make yourself responsible for his welfare for the rest of his life......The more I thought, the more I questioned the 'morale' of what I had done; the guy 'I had saved' was now going to be put through a gruelling period of readjustment, whatever. I could no longer feel that I had achieved something good; I left the organisation shortly after, disallusioned and confused.

Absurd, some may say, but, to this day, I still don't know the answer!

[huajiro]

I think it is pretty cool that he has thought to do this for these people. I know everyone of us has had a real bad day at one time in our lives, and part of our problem was that there was no one to listen to us (My whole family suffers from depression)....it would be a good thing if many people find out about his site.

[Jayhawker Soule]

Originally Posted by michel

Again, the rules were strict in that we could offer