Domino Effect For Ashley Madison

“If people see me having dinner with a beautiful woman, they immediately believe that I’m having a love affair with her. Of course that’s rubbish. I’m not a playboy!”~ George Clooney

I do not believe that at this point I would have to explain who or what Ashley Madison is. Its been in the news for many, many days now worldwide.

But the domino effect of what did happen has begun. And it has turned dark, ugly, and even deadly.

Just recently, there were news reports coming from Toronto, Ontario, Canada about suicides of people who were members of the cheating website.

When I had heard about the hack and the information leak, almost immediately there were articles on the web about how members had committed suicide because of their private lives being turned loose into the public eye.

But at the time, it was false information and satirical articles.

Now it has become true.

The entire situation has officially become unraveled and out of control with the confirmed deaths linked to certain people and their memberships.

What I find sad is that as we go on, we are more than likely bound to come across even more suicides and harmful situations because of this hack and leak of information.

Avid Life Media could be facing many of class-action lawsuits of at least $760 million USD in damages.

And now the owners of the cheating website are offering hundreds of thousands of dollars in “bounty” to catch those people who are responsible for the hack and leak in the first place. 

This situation of vengeance, death, suicide, and overall heartache and pain will NOT cease at any time soon. More people will be exposed. Celebrities, athletes, musicians, etc. etc. etc. — it will all come out of the 37 million users within the database that was exposed to the public.

I think that most of us would agree that what this particular website offers, are services that are deplorable and horrible. However, for some people, it is exactly what they are looking for.

At first when the news came out about the hack and leak, there were many people who were cheering and applauding the actions. They would go on to say that the 37 million users deserved what they had coming to them.

But death? Suicide? They “deserved” that???

Really?

There’s going to be a lot of hurt people by the time retribution is over. Lives shattered, and already as stated — lives stolen away. There were even jokes made about how it would be financially beneficial to be a divorce lawyer right now.

Yes, I am a very firm believer that there are consequences for our actions. But who are we to say that these people are deserving? All because someone or some people decided that what Ashley Madison was doing was very wrong, that they became judge, jury, and now….. executioner.

I am so afraid to see how many more dominoes are going to fall because of this. How many more lives destroyed. Reputations ruined. Children scarred. And spouses betrayed. It becomes a story of “When trust turns to tryst.”

Hopefully we are able to get over and passed this by the end of 2015 without any more SERIOUS harm to anyone else on the planet.

Odd Death #02 – Jeremiah Clarke

Jeremiah Clarke c. 1674 – 1 December 1707

“A violent and hopeless passion for a very beautiful lady of a rank superior to his own.” ~ Jeremiah Clarke

So I was not sure if this was going to turn into a series of blog posts or if it was going to be deemed necessary to have its own page or whatever, but #01 was written a year and a half ago. So I don’t know.

Nonetheless, this death may not be odd or unusual. But rather it is on how it became.

Jeremiah Clarke was an English Baroque composer and organist in the late 17th Century. He is best known for his composition work of Trumpet Voluntary – or the Prince of Denmark’s March.

I honestly looked and researched for hours about him, but there’s not a lot of information that I could find.

Then his death caught my attention.

Clarke decided that he was going to commit suicide. But he had not made up his mind on how he was going to do it and what method he was going to use. So he left the ending of his life in the hands of fate by way of flipping a coin. The choices were either to drown or to hang himself.

And here’s where the odd comes in………..

The story goes that the coin that Clarke tossed into the air landed on the ground, got stuck in the mud on its side, thus neither landing on one face of the coin or the other. The coin had failed to give him his fate. So rather instead of taking it as a sign and continuing to live and compose, he shot himself instead.

Damn.

Do you know of any strange but true stories of death? Let me know in the comments.

Jeremy & The Bellamy Salute

“Jeremy spoke in class today.” ~ Pearl Jam, “Jeremy”

Explicit subject matter. Discretion is advised.

I heard Pearl Jam’s hit song “Jeremy” for the first time today in probably over a decade.

The next thing I knew, it was stuck in my head and I was looking to watch the music video on YouTube.

But there are different versions of the music video, including an “uncensored” version based on the content and lyrics of the song.

So then where did Pearl Jam come up with the idea of making such a controversial music video?

Come to find out that it is based on the story about a 16-year-old boy named Jeremy Wade Delle from Richardson, Texas just outside of Dallas.

Delle had literally shot himself by putting a gun into his mouth during his English class in high school. Eddie Vedder read about this story in the newspaper and instantly wrote a song about it.

Delle actually showed up late for his English class and his teacher told him to go to the head office to get a pass to be able to enter into the classroom. Instead he left, got a .357 Magnum, came back into the classroom. He then put the gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Most likely ventilating the back of his head before any of the students or the teacher could react.

This is also included in the uncensored version of the music video by Pearl Jam. But its not widely circulated. At least not in the United States of America. There’s a different censored version of the boy killing himself that was instead played on MTV. (Back when MTV was actually MTV.)  

I was going through the comments of the music video, the uncensored version, and I saw some interesting comments that really took me by surprise.

First of all, someone had noticed the “Nazi salute” by a class full of students.

Well, not really. Kinda but no.

The “salute” in which you are seeing was in fact used by Nazi Germany in the 1940’s. However to many people’s surprise, this salute was also used in the United States of America when giving the Pledge of Allegiance.

Americans had been using the salute as far back as more than 100 years ago, back in the late 19th Century.

School Children pledging allegiance to the American flag, May 1942

The initial civilian salute was replaced with a hand-on-heart gesture, followed by the extension of the arm as described by Francis Bellamy. Inventor of the salute in America. The same of which he authored The Pledge of Allegiance.

In the 1920’s, Italian fascists adopted the Roman salute to symbolize their claim to have revitalized Italy on the model of ancient Rome. This was quickly copied by the German Nazis, creating the Nazi salute. The similarity to the Bellamy salute led to confusion, especially during World War II. From 1939 until the attack on Pearl Harbor, detractors of Americans who argued against intervention in World War II produced propaganda using the salute to lessen those Americans’ reputations.

Among the anti-interventionist Americans was aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh. Supporters of Lindbergh’s views would claim that Lindbergh did not support Adolf Hitler, and that pictures of him appearing to do the Nazi salute were actually pictures of him using the Bellamy salute. In his Pulitzer prize winning biography “Lindbergh” author A. Scott Berg explains that interventionist propagandists would photograph Lindbergh and other isolationists using this salute from an angle that left out the American flag, so it would be indistinguishable from the Hitler salute to observers.

In order to prevent further confusion or controversy, United States Congress instituted the hand-over-the-heart gesture as the salute to be rendered by civilians during the Pledge of Allegiance in the United States, instead of the Bellamy salute. This was done when Congress amended the Flag Code on December 22, 1942. 

There was initially some resistance to dropping the Bellamy salute, for example from the Daughters of the American Revolution, but this opposition died down quickly following Nazi Germany’s declaration of war against the United States on December 11, 1941.

During the period when it was used with the Pledge of Allegiance, it was sometimes known as the “flag salute”. During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Italian fascists and Nazis adopted a salute which had the same form, resulting in controversy over the use of the Bellamy salute in the United States. It was officially replaced by the hand-over-heart salute when Congress amended the Flag Code on December 22, 1942. Now instead we use the hand-over-heart salute to avoid any collision with history.

So in essence, it is but it is NOT the “Nazi Salute” as this person had remarked in the comment section of YouTube.

 

Pearl Jam was actually pretty smart to have put that in their video. To paraphrase  LISAFAYECHARDONNAY, Pearl Jam just “put American history and culture up your ass” with that scene.

Still the story is true about a teenaged boy killing himself in front of class mates at his high school. 

And what got me going was the fact that people were actually LOOKING for the uncensored version. I just happened to have selected the correct YouTube video where it shows the boy putting the gun into his mouth and then suddenly clenching his eyes shut.

There’s nothing really blood or disgusting about it. But it was offensive enough just to see the actor in the music video put the gun into his own mouth.

I had read several comments about how the United States of America was lame for censoring it. That there wasn’t anything really offensive about it in general, and that the people who censored the video are nothing but scared pussies.

And I thought “There ARE OTHER versions of this music video, not just this one.”

Based on the amount of typos and the very poor English skills, I was left to believe that the people complaining about the United States of America and its censorship laws, that they were NOT from the USA. 

But I still wrote the following comment:

I am guessing that you have never personally been an eyewitness to someone in the process of attempting to commit suicide. I am also going to guess that you have never seen someone who was attempting it, be successful at it too. 

We may see violence of this nature all the time on television and films and we KNOW its fake. We also know that here it is fake as well. But the story that the song is telling us is about a boy who committed suicide in Texas, and that was NOT fake.

Having to see someone take their own life is not glamorous at all. Watching someone suddenly make the decision that they no longer wish to live on this Earth and then do something about it to end it is not a cake walk. And again, I am guessing that you and I have had totally different experiences on this subject as I contend that you have not seen it and I have. 

IT IS VERY offensive to watch someone do something like that, whether or not they go through with it or they get stopped somehow. In this case, nobody had time to react. And the whole classroom had to watch him take his own life. How many of them now are still in therapy do you think?? How many of them do you think are totally messed up in the head because they were forced to be a witness to such horror??

My gut feeling is that you’ve not even seen a cat get hit by a vehicle with your own eyes, much less a teenager come into a classroom and shoot himself in the head.  So before you go running around and bashing the United States of America and their “stupid laws” on censorship… think about those who have to deal with these kinds of things. Think of those people with PTSD because they have had experiences similar to this and how it was unfair for them to witness it because it was forced upon them. Come back to me when you’ve seen some really messed up shit in your life, then I will tell you all about the messed up shit that ‘I’ have seen…

I probably did not need to go into it with that person. I could have left it all alone, but it struck something within me and I responded and reacted in kind. And I did only moments later find that MY comment was flagged and deleted. Oh well.

So now you have your little dark secret history of America and the Bellamy salute, and then of course your background story about a famous song from the 1990’s by the band Pearl Jam.

Why Hasn’t Anyone Caught On Already?

“…. And just before I lay me down to never wake
I look up and I see you
So with everything I am
Thank you…. ” ~ ‘Thank You‘ by Céline Dion (written by S. Smith)

So many of  my friends and colleagues got together for a little video collaboration in celebration of Céline Dion, their idol’s birthday, which was the 30th of March.

People who collaborated in the video also wish her husband well since he’s dealing with cancer yet again and the news came out around the time everyone was making their part of the video.

It was very thoughtful and I am sure very sincere for many of the people who participated in the activity.

I guess it goes to show that there are some truly devoted fans of certain music idols.

There’s nothing wrong with this video. And there’s nothing wrong with what the people said and done on the video as it was basically get well wishes either in spoken word or on hand made signs. And of course wishing Dion a happy birthday. I mean I know a few of the people on the video. So good for them for doing that. People who are fans from one side of the world to the other and back getting together as a collective group.

But there’s a really BAD problem with the song choice. A deep dark desperate problem with the song “Thank You.”

And that is the lines in the song right before the chorus:

And just before I lay me down to never wake
I look up and I see you
So with everything I am
Thank you

Umm… huh? Really? Nobody caught on to this while making the video. Nobody caught on to this when this album was released. Nobody caught on that the lyrics are talking about DEATH………… and possibly a suicide.

Shaffer Smith wrote the song. I’d love to know what Shaffer Smith was thinking.

“Just before I lay me down TO NEVER WAKE I look up and I see you”

She is never going to open her eyes again… she is going to die! And these poor unsuspecting die-hard fans are saying “Thank You” to Dion while using the song “Thank You” to say thank you.

Really bad juju, people. Probably unintended bad juju. But bad juju is bad juju. 

But take a look at the video. Its more than just that. There are a lot of kind hearted people with very very sincere messages that they wanted to get out to their idol by way of collaborating on this video. Its just the wrong song that they used. If they left all of the video content the same and chose a different song, it would be just as excellent.

OOPS.

Great message. Horrible song choice.

Still proud of my friends and colleagues though.

 

Deadly Lyrics

“When I’m stuck for a closing to a lyric, I will drag out my last resort: overwhelming illogic.”~ David Bowie

As I continue on this new adventure from my new lease on life, I had stopped to think about the song writer. I was searching for the perfect lyric and wasn’t really able to come up with anything that made a profound impact to what I was trying to say.

My daring search though has led me to this write this blog post. The deadly and suicidal song lyrics.

Don’t know what I am talking about?!?!? I shall explain.

I was searching for perfection. And after a few days I realized that I was not going to find it. I settled then for 90% perfect. But I was still not finding it. I reduced it back to 80% and then to 75% and then, and ONLY then, was I able to find something that fit what my point was all along, but only about 80% of the song lyrics.

But there are some really intense song lyrics out there. And I wonder if these people who have written them know what they are talking about, or have actually gone through what they are writing. 

• I bleed for you Forever I will lie awake I would die for you! Anyone already see the problem? Willing to die for someone. Which of course throughout humanity, has been the most noble and apparently “romantic” thing to do. But I have never really found much romance in death. People say that I’m blind. But once you are dead… YOU ARE DEAD! And the romance is OVER!!! 
• And thought my aim is true I sometimes miss the mark Ooh, in matters of the heart But I’d give my life tonight To hold you in my arms again. Again another song that offers that lover’s suicide to “just hold his love” in his arms one more time. MORON!!!! If you are dead- you are no longer going to hold her in your arms any more. You are not going to have the opportunity to hold her again and again and again. So by morning you’re dead, your lover is single, and she begins to look for someone ELSE who isn’t you…. because you chose to die. (Personal note: I was able to convince my ex-girlfriend that one of these guys was actually a chick. But that’s for another time)
• With my heart I give you everything Everything you ever need, everything you need to be strong In my mind I can justify why I never tell a lie ‘Cos you’re the only one that I want, that I want, I want Want, want, want, want. What about what the other person ? Maybe its NOT you that they need or want?? Why so desperate?
• If I could take your pain away I would scream for you And I’d bleed for you So you’ll never feel this way again When you’re in my arms, again I would scream for you I will bleed for you More blood. More guts. And not so much glory. Besides, if YOU are bleeding and screaming and carrying on.. do you think SHE is going to want you still? Maybe you can handle her screams and bleeding. And yes, I get it — the noble act of taking away someone’s pain, but inflicting it upon yourself? Really???
• I know what Heaven’s worth So I’d sell everything To hold and touch you So now you’re so desperate to get physical that you’re willing to sell everything you have just to have it. Besides, what IS the value or worth or price of Heaven? And does it sell by the pound or what?
  

Only examples, ladies and  gentlemen. Some that really got under my skin while I was looking for “the perfect lyric.”

Long story short, it doesn’t really exist.

But in a world that began so long ago with dedications over the radio, BE CAREFUL WHAT SONG YOU CHOSE!!! You just may be paying for it with your own life in the end.

 

 

Death By Shoes

“Love is a special word, and I use it only when I mean it. You say the word too much and it becomes cheap.”~ Ray Charles

Sit back and relax and listen to a Chinese tale of two young lovers at the shopping mall during the holiday season. And its BRUTAL ending that nobody saw coming.

As most couples will go through, they had a fight. Tao Hsiao was arguing with his girlfriend after being in the Golden Eagle International Shopping Center in  Xuzhou, China.

After exchanging some very harsh words,  according to eye witnesses, Tao was exhausted from being there in the mall for five hours. Especially since his girlfriend wanted to go into yet another shoe store.

His debate was that she had enough shoes already.

Oh-No-You-Didn’t—- Game on!! 

The fighting ensued and Tao had reached his fill. So he decided to act.

He jumped over the ledge and plummeted seven stories to the ground floor. Most likely dying on impact.

All because she wanted shoes. And the very harsh words of calling him names during the argument.

Words like “skinflint” …….. ouch!!

Just who does she think she is, Imelda Marcos??

And the great debate over females and their shoe crazed obsession continues ……….

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/man-commits-suicide-girlfriend-refuses-stop-shopping-report-article-1.1542366

Odd Death #01 – Peg Entwistle

Peg Entwistle 1908-1932

“I am afraid, I am a coward. I am sorry for everything. If I had done this a long time ago, it would have saved a lot of pain. P.E.”~ Peg Entwistle

I’ve been looking at various videos on YouTube and reading articles on the Internet about the famous criminal duo, Bonnie & Clyde.

But one thing just led to another, which led to another, which lead to me gazing upon “celebrity grave sites” and ending up in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver, California.

And it didn’t stop there.

I came across one of the most unusual “celebrity deaths” that I had ever heard of in my lifetime.

Peg Entwistle was an actress from Wales. She was most known for her work on Broadway, and had been in only ONE film, which was released after her strange and unusual suicide.

Hollywood “celebrities” all die in unusual manners of all kinds. Suicides, overdoses, victims of murder, and etc.

This particular suicide of Entwistle was curious to me. 

The quote at the beginning of this blog post was her suicide note. And so she climbed a ladder along the infamous Hollywood sign.

As she had done so, she climbed up the “H” on the sign and then jumped.

I attempted to research the sign. Most of us already know that it had been originally “HOLLYWOOD LAND” and it was simply changed to “HOLLYWOOD” in the end. The sign is apparently 45 feet (13.7 meters) high. So Entwistle fell to her death from AT LEAST that high. I couldn’t find any other information about her death other than the coroner’s note of cause of death was multiple fractures to her pelvis.

Well, no kidding!!!!

Makes me wonder… if anyone else has attempted this, or actually committed suicide in the same way. And whether or not this is a viable research project???

So strange. I wonder WHY she chose to commit suicide in the first place. And WHY in the world jump off the HOLLYWOOD sign???

What’s the weirdest place or manner in which you have heard someone commit suicide??

Leave your answers in the comment section below.

The Last Days Of Paradise

“If we can’t live in peace then let’s die in peace. We are not committing suicide-it’s a revolutionary act.”~ Jim Jones

On this day in 1978 was the Jonestown Massacre.

Leader Jim Jones and over 900 of his followers committed suicide in a small part of the jungles of northern Guyana.

In the 1950’s, Jim Jones had walked away from the church that he was a member of based on the fact of racial inequality. He then decided that he was going to begin his own ministry. A ministry that was supposed to be based on love for ALL humans no matter their race.

He called it “The Peoples Temple” which started in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a marriage of his liberal views and his socialist ideas mixed in with religion, what Jim Jones himself called Apostolic Socialism.

After some years of public criticism, Jones moved his religious group to Redwood City, California. Soon, branches of his organization would span out to Bay View La Romaine, San Fernando, and San Francisco. The headquarters would be established in San Francisco.

But Jones would find himself again under fire of many of his critics. His brute force in his teachings and his practices would capture the attention of non-members. And even allegations of abuse followed. All the while, his charm and his message of a universal love would attract more and more followers.

Jones would be on the run again from his critics. Led by his socialist views, he and his following researched places across the world in which to settle and establish their own place. He claimed that his teachings were the purest form of Communism that existed.

While researching, he would pay special attention to the economy values of each nation, as well as their treaties of extradiction with the United States. Very quickly, the group decided on Guyana. 

Bordering nations such as Venezuela and Brazil, Jones took his flock to a place in the jungle just outside of Port Kaituma. They called it Jonestown, which is the informal name for The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project.

They were given the promise of an utopia. Several hundred people soon disappeared from the United States when they followed Jones to Guyana.

Concerned and worried relatives soon reached out for help and sought the assistance of many politicians to help find their lost family members. After many years of speculation and alleged reports of Jim Jones abusing his members mentally and physically. Certain members of the U.S. Congress decided to investigate the claims of physical abuse.

Then in November of 1978, U.S. Congressman Ryan went to Guyana into Jonestown where they were met by the followers of Jones. At first, they were welcomed. But when word got out that there was a plot to kill Congressman Ryan with knife by one of the followers, the visit was cut short by one day. The plot had failed.

As the group of politicians began to depart, along with several defectors, tragedy and horror ensued. Members of The Peoples Temple started firing weapons on the airstrip. A few seconds of the attack was caught on video by NBC reporters.

Congressman Ryan, cameraman Bob Brown, photographer Greg Robinson, NBC reporter Don Harris and Temple defector Patricia Parks. Eleven others were injured including Jackie Speier, Steve Sung, Richard Dwyer, Tim Reiterman and Anthony Katsaris.

Suddenly Jim Jones found himself yet again in a very upsetting situation. With the deaths of innocent people, their blood was upon his hands. So on the 18th of November, 1978 he called his followers to worship. There he had told his followers that those people were dead and when news would reach the rest of the world of their deaths, that the followers would also be in danger of losing their lives.

The vat which contained poison

They struggled to find a solution. They could either stand and fight, retreat into the jungle, defect to the USSR, or commit revolutionary suicide. Communist countries such as Cuba, USSR, North Korea, and others were refusing to allow them into their countries and wanted them to stay in Guyana.

The last resort that Jim Jones and his top officials had decided was that death would be their answer.

What they did was mixed a drink that contained grape flavored Flavor Aid, poisoned with Valium, chloral hydrate, cyanide, and Phenergan.

Note: It was NOT Kool-Aid that they had consumed, but Flavor Aid which was a similar brand to it. Thus this is where “Drinking the Kool-Aid” phrase comes from. 

Death would occur within five minutes of drinking the poison. This was handed out to everyone there. Men, women, and even children.

Numbers vary on how many were found to have committed suicide in this manner. But what is for sure that over 900 people were dead. Including over 200 children.  

It was the largest number of loss to American life, before the attacks that happened on the 11th of September in 2001.

There was however a tape recording of the last hours of Jim Jones and his followers. We don’t know how much of the last meeting is recorded, however we know that this was the plea of Jones to his followers to kill themselves and cross over to the other plane. It is described as the Death Tape. Because as it was recording, many people were dying.

The transcript of the audio recording as well as the audio itself can be found all over the Internet.

Different interpretations of the transcript can be found at:

http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/death.html

You can find the audio and listen to it at:

http://archive.org/details/ptc1978-11-18.flac16

or you can go to:

http://youtu.be/OkookcrAnSE

In my opinion, it is one of the most terrifying and creepiest things that I have ever heard to the point that I have never been able to listen to it all the way through. It lasts just under an hour in length. So please use caution if you decide to either read the transcript or listen to the actual audio which has the voice of Jim Jones pleading to his followers to their deaths. 

 

 

 

 

Suicide

“Is there no resolution?
Vulture’s perched, ready to feed
Chalk lines left to erase
Toe tags for the deceased
Oh Lord PLEASE, send a savior”~ ‘Just Remains’ by SIX MINUTE CENTURY

Suicide Facts

• Suicide takes the lives of nearly 30,000 Americans every year.Many who attempt suicide never seek professional care.There are twice as many deaths due to suicide than HIV/AIDS.Between 1952 and 1995, suicide in young adults nearly tripled.

  Over half of all suicides occur in adult men, ages 25-65.

  In the month prior to their suicide, 75% of elderly persons had visited a physician.

  Suicide rates in the United States are highest in the spring.

  Over half of all suicides are completed with a firearm.

  For young people 15-24 years old, suicide is the third leading cause of death.

  Suicide rates among the elderly are highest for those who are divorced or widowed.

  80% of people that seek treatment for depression are treated successfully.

  15% of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide.

  There are an estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion.

  The highest suicide rate is among men over 85 years old: 65 per 100,000 persons.

  1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide each year.

  Substance abuse is a risk factor for suicide.

  The strongest risk factor for suicide is depression.

  By 2010, depression will be the #1 disability in the world.

• In 2004, 32,439 people died by suicide.
• Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. (homicide is 15th).
• Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-old Americans.
• It is estimated that there are at least 4.5 million survivors in this country.
• An average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes.
• There are four male suicides for every female suicide.

Research has shown medications and therapy to be effective suicide prevention.

Suicide can be prevented through education and public awareness.

Last year SAVE educated 10,618 youth & parents on depression and suicide prevention.

Last year SAVE received 810 requests for information from 72 countries.

In 2004 it is estimated there were 811,000 suicide attempts in the US.

• There are three female suicide attempts for each male attempt.
• According to the Violent Death Reporting System, in 2004 73% of suicides also tested positive for at least one substance (alcohol, cocaine, heroin or marijuana).

Symptoms and Danger Signs

Warning Signs of Suicide

• Ideation (thinking, talking or wishing about suicide)
• Substance use or abuse (increased use or change in substance)
• Puposelessness (no sense of purpose or belonging)
• Anger
• Trapped (feeling like there is no way out)
• Hopelessness (there is nothing to live for, no hope or optimism)
• Withdrawal (from family, friends, work, school, activities, hobbies)
• Anxiety (restlessness, irritability, agitation)
• Recklessness (high risk-taking behavior)
• Mood disturbance (dramatic changes in mood)
• Additional Warning Signs of Suicide
• Talking about suicide.
• Looking for ways to die (internet searches for how to commit suicide, looking for guns, pills, etc.)
• Statements about hopelessness, helplessness, or worthlessness.
• Preoccupation with death.
• Suddenly happier, calmer.
• Loss of interest in things one cares about.
• Visiting or calling people one cares about.
• Making arrangements; setting one’s affairs in order.
• Giving things away, such as prized possessions.
• A suicidal person urgently needs to see a doctor or mental health professional.

In an emergency, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK

Common Misconceptions

The following are common misconceptions about suicide:

“People who talk about suicide won’t really do it.”

Not True. Almost everyone who commits or attempts suicide has given some clue or warning. Do not ignore suicide threats. Statements like “you’ll be sorry when I’m dead,” “I can’t see any way out,” — no matter how casually or jokingly said, may indicate serious suicidal feelings.

“Anyone who tries to kill him/herself must be crazy.”

Not True. Most suicidal people are not psychotic or insane. They may be upset, grief-stricken, depressed or despairing, but extreme distress and emotional pain are always signs of mental illness and are not signs of psychosis.

“If a person is determined to kill him/herself, nothing is going to stop him/her.”

Not True. Even the most severely depressed person has mixed feelings about death, and most waver until the very last moment between wanting to live and wanting to die. Most suicidal people do not want to die; they want the pain to stop. The impulse to end it all, however overpowering, does not last forever.

“People who commit suicide are people who were unwilling to seek help.”

Not True. Studies of suicide victims have shown that more then half had sought medical help within six month before their deaths and a majority had seen a medical professional within 1 month of their death.

“Talking about suicide may give someone the idea.”

Not True. You don’t give a suicidal person morbid ideas by talking about suicide. The opposite is true — bringing up the subject of suicide and discussing it openly is one of the most helpful things you can do.

Suicidal Thoughts: What to Do

If you have thoughts of suicide, these options are available to you:

• Dial: 911
• Dial: 1-800-273-TALK
• Check yourself into the emergency room.
• Tell someone who can help you find help immediately.
• Stay away from things that might hurt you.
• Most people can be treated with a combination of antidepressant medication and psychotherapy

If You See the Warning Signs of Suicide…

Begin a dialogue by asking questions.

Suicidal thoughts are common with depressive illnesses and your willingness to talk about it in a non-judgmental, non-confrontational way can be the help a person needs to seeking professional help. Questions okay to ask:

“Do you ever feel so badly that you think about suicide?”

“Do you have a plan to commit suicide or take your life?”

“Have you thought about when you would do it (today, tomorrow, next week)?”

“Have you thought about what method you would use?”

Asking these questions will help you to determine if your friend or family members is in immediate danger, and get help if needed. A suicidal person should see a doctor or mental health professional immediately. Calling 911 or going to a hospital emergency room are also good options to prevent a tragic suicide attempt or death. Calling the National Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK is also a resource for you or the person you care about for help. Remember, always take thoughts of or plans for suicide seriously.

Never keep a plan for suicide a secret. Don’t worry about risking a friendship if you truly feel a life is in danger. You have bigger things to worry about-someone’s life might be in danger! It is better to lose a relationship from violating a confidence than it is to go to a funeral. And most of the time they will come back and thank you for saving their life.

Don’t try to minimize problems or shame a person into changing their mind. Your opinion of a person’s situation is irrelevant. Trying to convince a person suffering with a mental illness that it’s not that bad, or that they have everything to live for may only increase their feelings of guilt and hopelessness. Reassure them that help is available, that depression is treatable, and that suicidal feelings are temporary. Life can get better!

If you feel the person isn’t in immediate danger, acknowledge the pain as legitimate and offer to work together to get help. Make sure you follow through. This is one instance where you must be tenacious in your follow-up. Help find a doctor or a mental health professional, participate in making the first phone call, or go along to the first appointment. If you’re in a position to help, don’t assume that your persistence is unwanted or intrusive. Risking your feelings to help save a life is a risk worth taking.

Author’s Note:

Never in a million lifetimes would I thought that I would be covering this subject. No, I am not suicidal. But this subject as directly and indirectly affected my life. Suicide IS PREVENTABLE!! And I believe that if anyone is talking about it, that it should be taken seriously, even if the person says, “I’m just joking.” Death and killing oneself is not a joking matter.

If you know of someone who has suicidal thoughts, or you are having suicidal thoughts, PLEASE call 1-800-273-TALK, or 911. Because you never know what wonderful things may come your way the next day if you deliberately end your life tonight. Whatever is causing you this much pain, can be dealt with. And that pain is temporary. Seek help.

If someone is threatening suicide, PLEASE call 1-800-273-TALK, or 911. Even at the risk of embarrassing yourself or damaging your relationship with that person. It is far better for them to seek the treatment that they potentially may need rather than you save your thoughts because you don’t want to be embarrassed.