Grim subject, I know, but I was curious if you have ever known anyone who has taken their own life? If the answer is yes, do you respect their decision, or were/are you put off by their final choice?

I haven't known anyone well enough that my reaction was stronger than," Oh, what a shame." When I lived at home, a neighbor did himself in sitting in a running car in a closed garage. When I was in college, I found out a girl I knew by name had killed herself but I don't think I ever found out how or why.

Yes, a few actually. None of them were due to any medical or health reason so they weren't a "right to die" issue. But I'm never put off by it. I'm just sorry they felt it had reached that point. I understand that level of despair. I wish there could be a better understanding of depression.

Sort of, about 11 years back when we had a yard sale we got acquainted with these four brothers and sisters, we were never close but we knew each other and we played together whenever they came through town...well, a couple months back the newspaper had a report, that one of the boys, I think he was the younger one, 20 years old, had died after falling off a train. It was never determined whether he killed himself or was just drunk and it was an accident, but their lives turned out to be pretty screwed up as kids and I wonder how much of that stuck with him. A year younger than me, and he's dead, and I knew this kid, that freaked me out.

A couple of guys. I respect their opinion. They had what they thought they had to do.

You have a great day.
Friendly Veteran

Yes, someone that was very depressed and basically had given up on life. I was not close to this person but I was shocked to hear it about it.

In high school there were a couple that I "knew" but not well enough to the point that their death shook me.

But, my guy's friend Tom killed himself years ago. I did not know Tom well, but the times we did spend together was really fun. He was easy to talk to and very kind. His wife was having an affair and when he found out he had a hard time dealing. So, shortly after he found out, he killed himself. Though my guy suspects that his teenage son probably sided with the mom or something having to do with his son is what brought him to the edge. He loved his son so much that he thought he would never kill himself unless the son disowned him or spoke out against him.

CeCe wrote:

I wish there could be a better understanding of depression.

I absolutely agree, CeCe. There's so much fear and ignorance on the topic.

I have about 50,000 aunts and uncles, so I didn't know my Aunt Julie too well, but when I was 8 years old she committed suicide. She was put in prison and hung herself there. She - along with a lot of members of my Dad's side of the family - was a tormented soul, always dealing with mental illness and horrors she had experienced as a child. I completely support her decision to do it. Sometimes it's easier to run than to stay. It was her life and she did what she had to do.

No but when I was in high school, I had a friend whose older brother attempted it. It was pretty horrific because he doused himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire. He was pretty badly burned.

Nah.

I know someone who once attempted it, but was thwarted....his family had him committed.

Chris wrote:

Grim subject, I know, but I was curious if you have ever known anyone who has taken their own life?

Yes. Two people in fact. My stepfather committed suicide when I was 17 years old. He also sexually molested me when I was 12. As you can imagine, I had mixed feelings concerning his death. The second person I knew was a co-worker/acquaintance of mine who I didn't really associate with on a personal level. Apparently he had, marital, financial and disciplinary problems regarding his conduct on duty. Sad to say, but suicide in the military is fairly commonplace.

Chris wrote:

If the answer is yes, do you respect their decision, or were/are you put off by their final choice?

After careful consideration, I've decided that I respect their decision on two counts. One, I can sit here all day long and say how horrible a decision suicide is, how "selfish", how it represents "giving up" and how "weak" someone is to consider suicide as an option. But the fact is, unless I've ever lived my life in that person's shoes and know exactly what they were thinking and the things that they went through to make that decision, I'm no more qualified to judge them than anyone else on here is.

i never knew anyone personally, but my roommates childhood friend did years back when they were in high school.. its a sad thing