what on earht are you all doing wih tis suiceide stuff

And, also, potentially a liability from a legal standpoint.

objectivity, have you thought about talking to others who are like-minded but have so far resisted the urge? I know you were offered the chance to talk one on one to my friend who is also suicidal. The thought of the 2 of you talking together and somehow agreeing that ending it is best makes my blood run cold, but I also think talking to people who have been there and know what you are feeling would help you to gain some perspective.

Sorry, all that is an aside to this thread.

well I disagree with you

I do not think this site or ANY site is for 'sharing suicidal experiences'

It's not only the uncomfortable feeling, I think it is MORALLY corrupt. I really do. These are people's lives we are talking about here.

Not that it is their responsibility, at all, but perhaps we could have a static page with useful phone numbers - Samaritans, mental health services, Trusts, etc - that we could immediately refer people to?

Actually, would that be a good idea for all sorts of things, like NHS Direct, La Leche League etc - we could have it in Other Stuff and maintain it ourselves.

I don't think it's that strange, slubber. Lots of people think they can talk someone out of being depressed. No one can talk someone out of a temperature and a seizure.

There are also plenty of healthcare professionals on these boards who offer valuable advice on non-life-threatening conditions.

But suicide is not exactly on par with potty-training.

I have achieved nothing in terms of getting professional support in the last 24 hours or so. What I have done is begun to change my thinking and see other possibilities. It may change back, I don't know.

Social Services hae failed to makecontact,my Housing Benefitand Income Support applications are still on someones' 'to do' pile, I will still wait to get the counselling I need...

What has happened is I have chatted online about ways forward and other people's experiences and it has made me think a little bit more widely about my personal shit.

Nobody 'saved' me excpet me. If I had died nobody would have been responsible, but without being able to talk a while longer - through here I'd still be finishing off my letters to the DC.

I haven't chucked them, they are still half writtn, but to be honest if allI have is my GPto talk to and a computerised CBT session to attend then fuck me I quit.

I dont post, they make me very uncomfortable.

I feel for the op but just wouldnt know what to say and would be terrified if i said the wrong thing it would push them over the edge.

Refer on sounds like a very good idea.

No,MMH, but we're talking about a lifethreatening condition here.

And, as Slubber pointed out, any other time someone posts with a potentially life-threatening conidtion every response is, 'Call 999' or 'Call NHS Direct NOW'.

We are also not qualified (most of us anyway!) to offer people advice on pregnancy, childbirth, parenting, weaning, potty training, health issues etc.

This website isn't about what we are equipped and trained to do as individuals, it's about sharing experiences, I don't think suicide should be shyed away from just because it's an uncomfortable subject.

Best case scenario is that peoples comments and experiences helps other people, worst case scenario is it makes no difference. If it is the latter, then that would have been the outcome regardless.

I do think people should approach these posts with caution and there should possibly be a reminder of the code of conduct and in this situation if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all.

i'm going to harm her if she doesn't stop slagging off my taste in shoes .

Yes, I do see your point. I think it is because, as has been said, people don't know what to say.

My contribution to objectivity's thread was mainly confined to trying to update other posters, because I was worried that a lot of other people were getting very upset and had made an emotional investment, and some of those posters have serious issues of their own. That worried me a lot as the thread carried on throughout the day.

cod is going to harm herself?

I don't know whjat the answer is, though I do agree in prinicple with cod's OP.

I work in voluntary sector MH and there seems to be feck all support for people 'new' to MH services. People already in the system will at least have a link worker/care co-ordinator to contact in a crisis. But not everyone who is severely depressed is in the system...
And while I applaud Samaritans for existing, I have also heard they are not useful for everyone. Weekends and evenings can be terrible times for severly depressed epople.

Agree though, it's too much responsibility for this site. There will be some posters who for whatever reason (slow day on MN, posting at dinner time, 'unknown' to other posters) who will elicit less sympathy/help/support from the MN community, which in turn could make the matter worse for the potentially suicidal OP IFKWIM.

does anyone know if there are legal ramifications to threads like these if the OP does in fact harm themselves?

lapin I completely agree with you re mners being allowed to choose to help.

There is however this strange juxtaposition (oo-er can I really use that word) that if someone posts

"my child has a temp of 41, and is fitting. What shall I do"

you would get 300 posts saying

Call 999 NOW

but if someone starts a thread saying they are considering suicide there is a fair smattering of "call the samaritans" or "call your GP", but there are a whole heap of posts that don't say that.

it does worry me. I posted than became aware it was more serious than i first thought.
mn has a disclaimer on topics like sn maybe we need one on chat.

objectivity, well I think practical threads are one thing (not that I generally post on those anyway)

but your thread was a cry for help, there's no doubting that.

Not having housing benefit but having a mother is a small price to pay.

Well, as a close friend of someone who is suicidal and has posted here about it, I do have to say that I find the responses posted here can sometimes be extremely trivial and over-simplified. I am afraid I do not post on such threads anymore because, having read the responses of others to my friend (however well intentioned they might have been in making the comment, they are sometimes so wide of the mark as to be infuriating) I am too acutely aware that I might too say the wrong thing.

But how can you, in all humanity, pull a thread started by someone who is suicidal just because we are not fit to respond? What might that do to someone with the pills and bottle in front of them?

objectivity, I dont know whereabouts you are in the Uk- and I can only use my experiences of the Trust that I am assigned to- If someone expresses extreme suicial ideation and desire, then they are seen immediately.

Prevention of suicide is one the National Service Frameworks and to be left for weeks without help if you are suicidal is outrageous and questionable.

Yes but really that can take you on a path of yet more hopelessness. Hence,I started a thread about people's experience of barriers between them and getting help.

For example, Housing Benefit stops if you are admitted to a MH ward. So it's all very well seeing a GP and then getting admitted but sometimes that prospect is enough to fling you over the edge in itself.

I was concerned the other day tbh, when someone posted that they were suicidal and, granted, people were WONDERFUL and talked her out of it, but very few people suggested she get professional help, the gist I thought was we will get you through it, we will help you day by day, which is so nice but I feel personally that if someone is a genuine immediate suicide risk they should be seeing a professional or even be admitted to hospital.

yes, definitely. Refer on and delete.

thing is, no-one is saying 'pull yourself together, get some help and stop boring us with your problems'. More like ' we are not the expert help you need'.