Friends, family, and anyone who needs support and/or wants to learn more about being there for someone experiencing suicidal thoughts can take the QPR Suicide Prevention course.
I agree that suicide is not inevitable. Intervention can change the course of events. I recently shared a story in my newsletter, Accidental Mentors, about how a friend’s mother’s rumored death by suicide impacted my life and made a big difference on 9/11. It was a tragic memory from my early teen years that stayed with me and motivated positive action to help prevent others from dying by suicide. https://www.annettemarquis.com/p/a-tragedy-that-saved-the-lives-of
I agree that suicide isn't inevitable and disagree that it's mostly preventable by these kinds of person-to-person interventions. The intervention training typically encourages uncertain supports to make referrals to crisis teams and inpatient services, and involuntary inpatient in particular tends to increase the odds of a suicide death after release. The potential for a confidant to call the crisis team (which can involuntarily commit you) reduces the odds that we'll confide in anyone because of the risks. I wanted to die on more than 7K days of my adult life; still living at age 66; but lost a career job to my one involuntary, had to quit a divorce support group that was really important to me after someone inappropriately sent a crisis team to the women's shelter where I was living, and feel like I lost a couple decades to meds-induced emotional fog.
I agree that suicide is not inevitable. Intervention can change the course of events. I recently shared a story in my newsletter, Accidental Mentors, about how a friend’s mother’s rumored death by suicide impacted my life and made a big difference on 9/11. It was a tragic memory from my early teen years that stayed with me and motivated positive action to help prevent others from dying by suicide. https://www.annettemarquis.com/p/a-tragedy-that-saved-the-lives-of
Thank you for sharing this.
I agree that suicide isn't inevitable and disagree that it's mostly preventable by these kinds of person-to-person interventions. The intervention training typically encourages uncertain supports to make referrals to crisis teams and inpatient services, and involuntary inpatient in particular tends to increase the odds of a suicide death after release. The potential for a confidant to call the crisis team (which can involuntarily commit you) reduces the odds that we'll confide in anyone because of the risks. I wanted to die on more than 7K days of my adult life; still living at age 66; but lost a career job to my one involuntary, had to quit a divorce support group that was really important to me after someone inappropriately sent a crisis team to the women's shelter where I was living, and feel like I lost a couple decades to meds-induced emotional fog.
I'm so sorry you've had to go through all that. No question that we don't have the resources to help people.