[Graeme]

Practice Makes Deadly Perfection, Suicide Researcher Says

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'E')very year, close to 1 million people around the world kill themselves. Florida State University Bright-Burton Professor of Psychology Thomas Joiner has spent much of his career trying to find out why.

The desire for death, according to Joiner, is composed of two psychological states: a perception of being a burden to others and a feeling of not belonging. Alone, neither of these states is enough to instill the desire for death, but together they produce a desire that can be deadly when combined with the acquired ability to enact self-injury.
So how does one overcome the natural instinct for self-preservation? In a word: Practice. In Joiner's theory, suicide victims literally "work up" to the act by getting used to danger, fear and pain. They may do this in a variety of ways over their lifetime.

[Heineken]

I view suicide as one of the individual's most important rights. Everyone should have a carefully thought-out "final exit" plan in place.

[AmericanEmpire]

Things aren't bad enough for me to go through with it, yet. Post peak oil they certainly could be.

My standard of living has to go down to the point its not worth continuing to exist.

[RonMN]

This is bullshit!

Suicide is the cowards way out!

Face life like a man, you fucking worms! Enjoy what today brings you....both the good & the bad...enjoy it all.

The caveman during the ice age wasn't whining about how "bad things were" or how "tough life can get". Or how he would "off himself" if he lost his precious precious elecricity!

If you have an incurable desease...i have no problem with that...if you are simply afraid to face the future...i call you a yellow belly, bastard, cowardly excuse for a man!!!

[lardlad]

Unfortunately, suicide is so often unsuccessful and difficult to achieve. I've seen many people with heads half blown off, still alive, and people who overdose usually live.

We all should have the right to end our lives when we deem fit. Usually that's when we have a painful or disabling terminal disease, or we are very old, very lonely and very tired.

The practicalities still elude me though.

[Heineken]

Well-said, lardlad. Read "Final Exit," by Derek Humphry, for a primer on the practicalities. His method is highly reliable and painless.

[lardlad]

Actually, I know Derek, who lives in Oregon, and I've collaborated with him by email. His method involves taking a large amount of barbiturates (difficult to obtain for 99% of the population) and a plastic bag over the head. Unless done exactly as prescribed, you could end up brain damaged and alive.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RonMN', 'F')ace life like a man, you fucking worms!

[Heineken]

Interesting, lardlad. What's he up to these days?

From what I read, the plastic bag is supposed to render the method nearly foolproof. Because if the barbiturates fail, you still suffocate. A key is to fashion a tie that holds the bag on securely no matter what.

If I were dying of a nasty illness, I'd find a way to get phenobarbital, even if it meant robbing a drugstore. But probably just a trip to NYC with enough cash would do the trick.

[smallpoxgirl]

Everyone is so stinking scared of pain these days. Our whole culture is petrified of it. I think it's a really dysfunctional view of the world. I really enjoy providing medical care at the Sundance, because the dancers get it. Pain isn't pleasent, but it's just another part of life. Nothing to fear. It's the Yin and the Yang. You can't have all pleasure and no pain. The universe doesn't work that way. You got to let the pain and hard times come if you ever want to experience the good. Without pain there can be no growth either individually or culturally.

Suicide is the cowards way. Life is a great adventure. Don't chicken out and jump off the ride. You might miss the best part.

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RonMN', 'F')ace life like a man, you fucking worms!

[Heineken]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'E')veryone is so stinking scared of pain these days. Our whole culture is petrified of it. I think it's a really dysfunctional view of the world. I really enjoy providing medical care at the Sundance, because the dancers get it. Pain isn't pleasent, but it's just another part of life. Nothing to fear. It's the Yin and the Yang. You can't have all pleasure and no pain. The universe doesn't work that way. You got to let the pain and hard times come if you ever want to experience the good. Without pain there can be no growth either individually or culturally.

Suicide is the cowards way. Life is a great adventure. Don't chicken out and jump off the ride. You might miss the best part.

[lardlad]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'F')unny how our society cares little about individuals' suffering and dying from all sorts of violent causes but suddenly gets all concerned and involved when they decide to kill themselves.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Heineken', 'Y')ou must be very young and naive to make such comments. And that's fine. But when you've come to the end of your own ride---when you're feeble and riddled by disease and crapping in your pants and maybe totally alone---you may have a more indulgent stance on this issue

[JustinFrankl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RonMN', 'T')his is bullshit!

Suicide is the cowards way out!

Face life like a man, you fucking worms! Enjoy what today brings you....both the good & the bad...enjoy it all.

The caveman during the ice age wasn't whining about how "bad things were" or how "tough life can get". Or how he would "off himself" if he lost his precious precious elecricity!

If you have an incurable desease...i have no problem with that...if you are simply afraid to face the future...i call you a yellow belly, bastard, cowardly excuse for a man!!!

[AmericanEmpire]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f you believe in individual freedoms, then you must believe that individuals have the right to stop their lives if they are in parlous circumstances with no hope of improvement.

[Ayoob]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AmericanEmpire', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f you believe in individual freedoms, then you must believe that individuals have the right to stop their lives if they are in parlous circumstances with no hope of improvement.

[jesus_of_suburbia_old]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')hich the majority of people will be post peak oil.

When I am faced with starvation, I am damn sure not gonna wait around and suffer. Continue to live for what? So that you get an extra month of suffering in till the starvation kills you?

I have a quality life right now. When society collapses I'm not gonna hang around to try and fight people for limited resources. I don't wish to live in such a world. And I won't

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('smallpoxgirl', 'I') can't prescribe a society transplant.