well.. the whole suicide issue is a tricky one with me, I believe that a person has a right to take his or her own life, however.. here's the tricky part I don't think they have the right to do so at somone elses expense (other than the obvious emotional damage the act itself will cause).

in '99 my roomate killed himself, and I was the one who found him (the screwed up thing is that I didn't find him for three days, it was a decent sized house and he was known for taking road trips without telling anyone.. so I went into his room to close the window as I was turning on the AC.. suffice to say I didn't sleep well for about a year. and it has caused me some problems with forming attatchments to people.. heh also why I live alone now)

That sounds like a case of bi-polar disorder to me. There ARE certain useful meds for that available these days, and research continues on others.

Death is inevitable for us all. Life is not. Life almost always has some possibilities, no matter how small. Death holds only the certainty of the grave . The way I see it, one can always kill one's self tomorrow.

I saw the Insomniac episode where Dave Attel rode with a guy whose company cleans up homicide/suicide scenes at hotels. Even without a body there it was pretty gruesome.

Yeah, our neighbor blew his brains out, in the middle of the foyer such that blood and brains were splattered in the livingroom, hallway, bedroom, and of course the foyer itself. They were renters, which meant the landlord and his wife had to clean it all up themselves because they couldn't afford one of those cleaners (they inquired, but it runs in the several thousands, apparently.) Still cost them 3 rooms' worth of new carpeting.

Guess he didn't get the security deposit back, huh?

After reading this thread, I'm stunned at how many people on the Cellar (not all are represented in this thread) have either first- or second-hand experience finding suicide victims.

I almost wonder if society needs a place for these people to go to off themselves. Maybe what we need is a SuicideAtorium - a place for people to go to do the final deed. I wonder if any of them would use it. What would such a place be like in order to attract people who want to kill themselves but without somehow encouraging it?

I'm not being entirely cynical. This wallpapering of people's homes/cars/trains/lives with grey matter needs to stop.

Doctor K tried. Isn't it Oklahomo that has the diginity in dying thing as well?

I can see the advertisements now...

Well, in my neighbor's case, he wouldn't have benefitted from a SuicideAtorium, because it was very much a revenge suicide. His wife had left him (because he had stopped taking his medications and started drinking again) and he knew she was supposed to be coming over to get some of her stuff. He was sitting in a chair in front of the door, waiting. When he heard a knock at the door--bang. Unfortunately for him, the knock at the door wasn't even her, it was a cop she had called to check the place out first because she knew he owned a gun. But he'll never know that.

Demanding someone stay alive, regardless of how bad their life is or its lack of prospect for improvement, is unbelievably stupid and selfish.

It's Oregon, and the law is being
challanged again by the Bush administration.

Fuck Bush(tm).

I dont demand they stay alive, but at least have the decency not to screw someone else over in the process.

What might surprise you is that many suicides go out of their way to try to be tidy.

I had one guy who set up buckets for under his wrists to bleed into so he didn't fuck up his mom's carpet. I've also had a couple bathtub wrist slitters.

Sometimes shooters either wrap themselves in something to try to contain the blood to reduce cleanup, or go to an area that won't be as messy, like the basement or backyard. Cute Little Old Man who comes to outpatient and brings chocolate for all the girls (he's a Cute Little Old Flirt), burned down his trailer and went into an open field where he slit his throat and wrists. (the burning trailer attracted the attention of the police who found him in the field and got him helicoptered to a city hospital for treatment.)

You only hear about the ones who make a spectacular mess.

Considerate suicides sit in the bathtub with the shower curtain drawn before blowing their brains out.

We had someone who turned out to be a homeless guy somehow get onto the roof of my office building and jump off into the back alley. The roof was 12 stories high. The cops had to leave him there for a few hours until they finished their investigation. Meanwhile, word spread like wildfire in my building, and lots of people went to offices that overlooked the alley to gawk at the splatter. I made a point not to look at the mess, because I just don't need to have an image like that burned into my memory.

Many of the gawkers were messed up for the rest of the day. It really hurt office morale for a few days, and nobody even knew the guy.

I have personally witnessed two suicides (of terminally ill people) and been present at the time. They took the relatively quiet and clean route of drugs that they hoarded from their prescriptions. I was touched at the suffering they withstood prior to the event to save their meds and the stoicism with which they defied the pain and presented a happy face to the ones who would survive them.

In the one case where there was family, the wife threw a party even though she could not come downstairs to be there. People came up in ones and twos to talk to her and say their goodbyes. At the end, she brought in the few people she wanted to be with her, took her pills (her "control" as she put it) and went to sleep. About an hour later her life signs ceased and her husband kissed her and brought the news to the others. All wept briefly (this was not unexpected) and then toasted her. Her doctor was informed (I believe he knew but for ethical reasons did not attend) and came to sign the death certificate. All details were handled quietly and as she wished.

When it's my time to go, I want it to be like that. Surrounded by my friends, no umseemly grieving, no mess.

I have also been a "friend" to an AIDS patient who chose to kill himself by throwing himself off an overpass into traffic below. NOT a good thing. He didn't kill anyone else but tied up traffic for hours and probably gave the unfortunate who hit him nightmares for a LONG time. Maybe Wolf even saw this guy admitted. I hate it when people do this. Death with Dignity is more than a slogan to me. I cannot fathom forcing innocent people to witness/participate in your death and the resultant cleanup. It is very selfish IMO.

Brian