Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site ttidcc.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Newsgroups: net.suicide Subject: Re: suicide for an incurable illness? Message-ID: <363@ttidcc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 19-Apr-85 18:58:40 EST Article-I.D.: ttidcc.363 Posted: Fri Apr 19 18:58:40 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 21-Apr-85 04:28:07 EST References: <3580@alice.UUCP> <112@uw-june> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 44 Summary: In article <112@uw-june> terry@uw-june (Theresa Farrah) writes: > The terrible thing >is that in the situations in which a person might most want to >commit suicide (while in a hospital or nursing home), the means >with which to do it are most unavailable. This is a common misconception. Actually, the means to suicide are more available in most hospitals than almost anywhere else (drugs, surgical tools, etc.). Depending on one's condition, simply removing an IV drip could suffice. Of course, if you're completely immobilized for some reason suicide becomes more difficult, but that's true in the outside world as well. > I would >also like to discuss effective and available means of suicide. One of the things I was taught (and used to teach) at the local Suicide Prevention Center is that there is _no guarantee_ that _any_ method of suicide will be successful. As an extreme (and horrible) example, the following is an acutal case: A prisoner in a penetentiary tried to kill himself with a shotgun he had somehow gotten hold of. (I don't recall the precise circumstance). He placed the muzzle of the gun against his throat and fired both barrels. Last I heard (about 5 years ago) he was suing the prison system to force them to rebuild the lower half of his face so he could eat normally. People have survived falls from buildings, drugs, guns, carbon-monoxide, and almost anything else you can think of -- generally somewhat the worse for wear. I know of one woman who, in shooting herself in the head, managed to perform an impromptu lobotomy on herself. She thinks she may actually be the better for it, but I wouldn't recommend it as a general practice. You pays your money and you takes your chance. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn't. It's your life. -- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe) Citicorp TTI 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90405 (213) 450-9111, ext. 2483 {philabs,randvax,trwrb,vortex}!ttidca!ttidcc!hollombe