suicide

[kewpie_doll]

so I thought Heath Ledger killed himself today

Comments

[aegion]

Did he really kill himself or just overdose on accident?

[maudelynn]

it is not certain he did it on purpose
we should wait till we know for certain
he had pneumonia this past week and i feel
sure there was some sort of reaction or
accident to blame

[been_searchin]

Even if it was an accident in this case, this is sound advice. I thank you for posting it.

[kewpie_doll]

thank you for telling me that.

[maudelynn]

I agree, the advice is good and much needed

[kewpie_doll]

thanks. It SO is.

[i_beloved]

Wise words indeed, my friend. Thank you for posting *hugs*

[kewpie_doll]

thank you. If only my being wise could somehow save all these poor guys.

[i_beloved]

It's a start! :)

[sebastianne]

Suicide statistics are generally skewed to hell- the large majority of suicides get officially labelled 'accidental death', so they aren't counted in the statistics you see online. When someone shoots themself in the head or hangs themself it's generally a clear cut suicide and the coroner has no choice but to label it a suicide. With cutting and pills od's these are generally labelled as accidental/unintentional deaths- basically the coroner will do everything possible to not diagnose suicide, so if there is a 1% chance it could have been accidental (ie accidental OD) then they will not call it a suicide, due to the legal ramifications of death by suicide and the stigma families feel. Death by pills or cutting are only labelled suicide if there is a note clearly stating the intent to die, which most people dont exactly specify in 'suicide' notes. Since males generally use hanging and guns and women use pills and wrist slashing the stats make it look like more men die, but that isn't necessarily the case- in my opinion from working

[mr_e_cat]

All the statistics are a little skewed. Women in general are more likely to seek help through suicide help lines and counselors etc so they skew the results towards women where as guys are more likely to take stupid risks and die in car accidents etc which then don't (as you said) get reported as suicides.

I suspect the figures are likely to come out 50/50 or there abouts (although I'm the first to admit that figure comes straight out of my arse)

Either way Ms Doll's advice is good advice and we can only watch our friends and tell them we are there if needed.