http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/05/lawnchair.balloons.ap/index.html
"Animating their efforts is one of the most peculiar — in fact, downright perverse — aspects to the premeditation-versus-passion dichotomy in suicide. Put simply, those methods that require forethought or exertion on the actor’s part (taking an overdose of pills, say, or cutting your wrists), and thus most strongly suggest premeditation, happen to be the methods with the least chance of “success.” Conversely, those methods that require the least effort or planning (shooting yourself, jumping from a precipice) happen to be the deadliest. The natural inference, then, is that the person who best fits the classic definition of “being suicidal” might actually be safer than one acting in the heat of the moment — at least 40 times safer in the case of someone opting for an overdose of pills over shooting himself."
"In a 2001 University of Houston study of 153 survivors of nearly lethal attempts between the ages of 13 and 34, only 13 percent reported having contemplated their act for eight hours or longer. To the contrary, 70 percent set the interval between deciding to kill themselves and acting at less than an hour, including an astonishing 24 percent who pegged the interval at less than five minutes."
Perhaps it would be a little consolation for you all to know that many of us SF members, "premeditators," are also far less likely to actually die on our own account than someone who has decided to kill himself mere hours or even minutes before a suicidal act.
I think it's also ironic that, as the article suggests, people who are impulsive and more likely to use more lethal means such as guns and jumping are probably more likely to regret their decision if they survive. But those of us who think this over, who dream and fantasize about our deaths-- we will more likely survive when we would rather have died.
"Animating their efforts is one of the most peculiar — in fact, downright perverse — aspects to the premeditation-versus-passion dichotomy in suicide. Put simply, those methods that require forethought or exertion on the actor’s part (taking an overdose of pills, say, or cutting your wrists), and thus most strongly suggest premeditation, happen to be the methods with the least chance of “success.” Conversely, those methods that require the least effort or planning (shooting yourself, jumping from a precipice) happen to be the deadliest. The natural inference, then, is that the person who best fits the classic definition of “being suicidal” might actually be safer than one acting in the heat of the moment — at least 40 times safer in the case of someone opting for an overdose of pills over shooting himself."
"In a 2001 University of Houston study of 153 survivors of nearly lethal attempts between the ages of 13 and 34, only 13 percent reported having contemplated their act for eight hours or longer. To the contrary, 70 percent set the interval between deciding to kill themselves and acting at less than an hour, including an astonishing 24 percent who pegged the interval at less than five minutes."
Perhaps it would be a little consolation for you all to know that many of us SF members, "premeditators," are also far less likely to actually die on our own account than someone who has decided to kill himself mere hours or even minutes before a suicidal act.
I think it's also ironic that, as the article suggests, people who are impulsive and more likely to use more lethal means such as guns and jumping are probably more likely to regret their decision if they survive. But those of us who think this over, who dream and fantasize about our deaths-- we will more likely survive when we would rather have died.
