I am sorry if you folks find this in bad taste, but in commemoration of Robin Williams’s suicide, I am going to repost my prior article, The Impossibility of Dealing with Suicidals.
I always loved Robin Williams, and I am heartbroken that he decided to take this step. I am usually opposed to people killing themselves. I generally think it is the wrong thing to do. I say stick it out. I have been through a lot of pain myself, and I never tried to kill myself, though for a whole year there, that was all I thought about.
The Impossibility of Dealing with Suicidals
Depression is not really “insanity” but it is extremely common, even in regular, ordinary people like you and me.
I work as a counselor, and trust me, depression is everywhere. And many ordinary, regular people like you and me are actually secretly suicidal. I deal with suicidals all the time, and in recent years, I know three people, all around age 50-55, who either attempted it or seriously threatened to do it. I am guessing that maybe 50-55 is a tough age, no?
Depressives are hard enough to work with (Personally, I find them impossible and often refuse to work with them or flat out tell them that I cannot help them) but suicidals are absolutely impossible. I can’t work with them at all, and they don’t want me to work with them because I usually get mad at them for being suicidal. I do not know how to deal with people like that, and I much admire anyone who can deal with such folks. They demand that you feel “compassion” for the fact that they are suicidal, but how can you do that without cheering them on? Truly a no-win situation.
True suicidals are utterly determined to take their own lives and they are 100% ok with that idea. They get furious if you try to stop them, and they are enraged if you find them half dead, call an ambulance and save their lives. I have had suicidals scream at me in their hospital beds, cursing me for saving their lives. I hate to say it, but they are impossible to deal with.
Fortunately, a lot of suicidals come out of it and don’t want to do it anymore, so that is a cure I suppose. But while they are in the midst of it, it is truly a nightmare. I am not opposed to hospitalizing them frankly. In a very real sense, a suicidal is truly out of their minds in a way, and at any rate, they are surely a danger to themselves if not to others, and actually some of them are dangerous to others too.
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