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Depression
is Depression
is when you can't sleep and you get so bored
looking at your roof, that you spend weeks
nights contemplating what to do with it only to
find that you wouldn't have enough determination
to do it.
depression isn't always suicide.
depression is ovbious to only yourself. suicide
is ovbious to everyone.
depression is, and always will be, my, and many
others, mays of life.
depression runs my life. makes me do things i
shouldn't do.
depression is that voice in the back of your
head telling you, that you need help.
depression makes you gain weight, loose weight,
not eat, eat too much.. do drugs. give or take a
few.
depression has the feeling of death, without the
dying part.
depression is still killing you even if you have
the best things in the world.
depression isn't just having too little, it's
having too much as well.
depression is never seeing your father happy.
depression is loosing your brother too his
girlfriend.
depression is the killing of the broken pieces
of your heart.
depression is slow motion and fast motion at the
same time.
depression is the illusion that the world has
turned it's back on you and everyone in it.
depression is seeing happiness everywhere you
go.
depression is hoping to survive and hoping not
to at the same time.
depression isn't contemplating suicide, but
wishing you were already there.
depression is when the only thing that cares is
the depression itself.
depression is when you are at school and you
can't remember things you learnt in grade 5.
depression is falling alseep in your favourite
subject.
depression is hating yourself because your
parents hate you.
depression is the hatred of your family.
depression eats your insides witha smile on it's
face.
depression is the look in your eyes when you
wake up in the morning, knowing you have to live
another day.
depression is yourself. you are depression.
depression makes you who you are and who you'll
always never want to be.
depression makes you miss your old self, but
once your better, you miss depression.
but for me, mostly, depression is all of these,
plus, depression is when you have had it so long
that you are scared of who you will be when and
if you get better. you wonder if you could
survive happy and if the happiness would eat
you.
now ask yourself.. do you have depression?
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Since Suicide: The Forever Decision was first published many
things have happened. The world
itself has changed. The Berlin wall has fallen. Several wars
have come and gone. Peace has
broken out in unlikely places. Old enemies are friends and old
friends are enemies. The virus
that causes AIDS has struck a new kind of horror into the hearts
of people everywhere and,
suddenly, our beliefs about the sanctity of life have been
thrown under the bright light of
reexamination. Recent advances in modern medicine are nothing
short of miraculous and, while
people still die naturally, the possibilities for extending the
days, months, and years available to
us are staggering. But, many now ask, at what price? And with
what quality of life?
As free choice is the very definition of liberty, there are many
in the world who now wish to
extend the definition of freedom to the taking of one's own life
- with or without the legal
assistance of a physician. The success of Derek Humphry’s book
Final Exit (of the Hemlock
Society) suggests that there are many thousands of people who
feel a need for information on
how to kill oneself. The information is on the internet, and it
cannot be denied to anyone who
wants it.
As I cannot know the minds of the people who want to kill
themselves, it is my guess that the
great majority of them are intelligent people who, knowing that
there may come a time in their
own lives when, faced with the certain reality of a slow,
painful, expensive, and undignified
death, they may choose to make the forever decision. For the
truly dying, and because this is
such a deeply personal matter, I do not feel it is my place,
personally or professionally, to proffer
logical, clinical, or even moral arguments against such
carefully considered action.
But I will say this: Our society suffers from an insidious
ageism that says old people are less
valuable than young people. This belief is held by older people
as well as the young. This
ageism, this stigma against old age inspires self-destruction
and tells the elderly that, if they are
feeling sick and a burden to the rest of us, maybe they should
just “move along.”
I am outraged by this “ism” and I believe it has something to do
with the high suicide rates
among older people. Already feeling guilty about being retired
and/or not contributing to
society, our negative attitude toward older people can set the
stage for suicide. Please note: the
fastest growing group of people on the planet surface are old
people, most of them women. We,
all of us, need to examine this problem of suicide, ageism and
stigma. And we need to do it
quickly. After all, I’m not getting and younger, and neither are
you.
Another point about getting old and sick and dying: When we are
dying of a terminal illness, we
all deserve a pain-free death. Modern medicines in the hands of
skilled physicians can, in almost
every case, assure us of this. It is called palliative care, and
it works. No one should have to die
by suicide to avoid suffering.
A Final Word on Depression
As a psychologist who has worked with hundreds of suicidal
people, I am painfully aware that
depression and other disorders of mood are rampant in our
society and in the world and among
people of all ages. I also know that most depressed people
(including children) are not getting
adequate or competent medical care for this illness – an illness
that is quite treatable. If
depression were more clearly a physical illness and thoughts of
suicide its most clarion
symptom, we would not tolerate the current inaccessibility to
treatment.
Consider that when we have chest pain, we known this to be a
symptom of possible heart disease
and seek diagnosis and treatment. When we have a persistent high
temperature, we know this to
be a symptom of a probable infection and seek diagnosis and
treatment. When we suffer
debilitating headaches we know these to be possible symptoms
that something could be wrong
with out heads, so we seek diagnosis and treatment.
Imagine, for a moment, a world in which, when we experience
persistent and painful thoughts of
death and suicide, we automatically knew these to be symptoms of
possible brain disorder and –
without stigma or prejudice - sought out diagnosis and
treatment?
Is a symptom of mental pain that different from physical pain? I
think not.
Now, with John Lennon and me, imagine all the lives that could
be saved.
A Final Note
Since the publication of this book, I have received many letters
from readers who, while their
excerpted thoughts must remain anonymous here, may help you
understand how important it is
to give yourself some time - time to understand, to rest, to
learn, to reconsider, to heal and to
carry on until another tomorrow.
As a reader, and since you are reading an e-book, you may feel
free to add your own
observations to this file.
“I've been thinking about suicide for some time now and the one
thing holding me back is the
thought of perhaps failing at the attempt. Are there really more
failed attempts than complete
suicides? I must be mighty stupid in not having the confidence
in myself concerning taking my
life. So many people indeed succeed. If I knew that I'd be
successful in taking my life, I surely
wouldn't be writing now, nor would I have read your book.”
“June 15 of this year I was calmly working out the details of my
suicide when I remembered
your book, which I had not read. So I read it ...all night. I am
writing to tell you that you may
have saved my life. As promised in your book, the very next day
a friend called from Arizona to
tell me he was coming for a visit. I'm going to get some help
now. Thank you for the hope and
courage to keep going.”
“I feel I know you. I went to the library today looking for
books about near-death experiences to
support my feelings about ending my life. None of those books
was available, but to make a
long story short, I spent the afternoon reading your book
Suicide: The Forever Decision. I felt
compelled to read the whole book. I guess you accomplished your
goal in that I postponed my
suicide another day or so. So far as ending my misery, I guess
I'm not quite there yet.”
“I purchased your book Suicide in January 1988. At that time it
did prevent me from taking my
life. Two months later I didn't think to look at it before
overdosing. Twice more in '88 I again
ignored your wise counsel and spent time in a critical-care
unit. In spite of my past and possible
future attempts at self-harm, I believe your book is the best
written on the subject. ...Thanks for
sharing a part of yourself with others. I appreciate it.”
“I was afraid if I kept reading I would get the urge to go ahead
and take my life. But after reading
the whole book I won't say I'm cured, but I feel much better.
I'm going to give it to my counselor
to read.”
“I just thought I would write you a letter telling you that I
appreciate the honesty in your book. I
attempted suicide in June and told myself that in January I
would kill myself and make sure I did
it right this time. But I made the decision to live yesterday. I
will turn the gun (my father's .22)
over to my psychiatrist on October 6. Your book pointed a lot
out to me. I believe there is
something better for me and I'm gonna fight like hell to get
it.”
“I won't tell you my life story, but I will tell you I attempted
suicide and that I thought I had the
knowledge to overdose (I'm a nurse). The dosage I took should
have worked, but I'm still alive.
I'm going to read your book over again. As this is Christmas
Eve, thank you for the best
Christmas present - your insight, your hope, and encouragement.”
“I really enjoyed your book. My feelings about suicide
frequently go back and forth. I bought
your book the same night I bought a bottle of Tylenol. I decided
to read your book first. And
when I finished it, do you know what I did? I flushed the pills
down the toilet. Reading your
book first was probably one of the smartest things I've done in
a long time. I just wanted to let
you know that it helped.”
AUTHORS FINAL NOTE: By reading this book and these letters, it
is my hope that you, too,
can find a way to give yourself the gift of life. |
Suicide Teen Suicide the forever
decision
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