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Since you wrote "I am curious if anyone has any thoughts to share in the comments below this blog", below are my thoughts.
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Backstory: I have been suicidal for a lot of time, and still am. Also, I have tried to commit suicide multiple times; however, in a way where I personally have a chance to stop it while in progress, rather than doing it the sure way and then accidentally being found and rescued by others.
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Regarding the question in that slander flyer: "Goes to Teal for a session and commits suicide… What would you think?"
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I would think that even Teal could not help her at that time.
But can Teal help everyone?
What if we all would put such pressure on her, and require that she would and could help every single one?
What if we all also require that LeBron James would hit every single shot in every Basketball game, and also would win every game? And blame him if he doesn't.
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Regarding the reputation of being a person who is specializing in suicide
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TBH, you specialize in a lot of topics (including food haha), and you obviously are a specialist in suicide field as well. I don't know if your way is THE most effective way, but it is the most effective way I have seen so far.
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I agree that people who are suicidal have (almost) no advocates. Most people that you tell about it just look at you in a strange way, and tell something similar like you wrote it:
-You just have to have hope;
-Well I, see the beauty in life. Of course, not everything is perfect, but I'm not walking around talking about suicides;
-You just have to see beauty in life, and stop being so pessimistic;
-You are dragging me down;
-Think how your family would feel;
-Well that's just an easiest way out, you have to be stronger, look at me, I also have bad days but I'm not complaining like you;
And so on.
(vomit emoji)
And later I'd be even in worse situation, thinking that I tried again, and got some stupid lecture again, so is it worth to try again?
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Regarding those 3 problems:
1. Threats to commit suicides in order to take you down. In such case I would be just public about it (which you are haha). What is there to do about it? Hey, LeBron James, if you don't win that game, imma gon commit suicide.
2. The same answer as first one.
3. I think people are flocking to you because they feel relief, and the feeling that someone understands, for the first time in their lives.
"What happens if someone who was suicidal comes to me for help but commits suicide?"
- Nothing.
"Am I to be blamed for it?"
- Yes and No. Yes, because you are the universe and they are a part of you, haha. No, because ultimately it's their decision, and all other circumstances in person's life that led to that moment cannot just be ignored, and it's not like you force them to do it.
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"It is such a problem that even the government is trying to figure out what to do."
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hehe lol
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You ARE changing the way that the mental field approaches suicidal individuals, by being you. Eventually, when there is a new, working, way, the old ways will have to dissipate. And of course no one measures how many times you prevented suicide, how do you even measure that? For example, you helped me with that multiple times, and you were a key factor in helping, but I'm not in any statistics for sure.
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How to solve the problem, when someone is actively threatening in the crisis to commit suicide?
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I don't know the universal answer, but I can tell my personal answer.
If I actively tried to kill myself, I would be fine (and even consider to not kill myself) if the person beside me would be like:
"
OK, I have no fucking idea what to do now.
I want to tell you something: I won't blame or shame you if you don't kill yourself, and I won't blame or shame you if you do kill yourself. And I also won't tell anyone about this, unless you want me to tell.
I assume you are in pain and suffering right now.
But I have no fucking idea what to do now.
And then, they should just do nothing, but just like sit there or something.
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Another situation, is if someone is actively threatening to commit suicide from a distance or if it is some random person;
in this case, some of your hacks look perfect to me and helped me a lot:
(below is paraphrasing, not necessarily your words)
H-1: You can always kill yourself tomorrow (meaning, not now).
H-2: Try to find anything that feels like relief, in the next 1 or few minutes; the again, only for the next few minutes; fuck thinking long term, think what feels good now; something like play a video game, or take a bath, or play a song, or pet a cat, or something.
H-3: The knowing that you can end it all, is kinda liberating, and you don't have to heal it or fix it, you can always have this knowing as you friend actually.
H-4: The knowing why you are suicidal, helps: it's because you are in pain; in pain alone (even if among people); and see no end to it.
H-5: If the thought does not feel good it is not true from objective perspective.
H-6: You don't have something, it's because there is an aspect of you that doesn't want it.
H-7: We suffer not from the thing itself, but from resistance to that thing.
H-8: The life that you genuinely want to live is just on the other side of WANTING to be you, instead of agreeing with your antagonistic parent, that you should be someone else.
TBH, referring suicidal people to current-day hospital looks like wrong move (although I see how there can be situations when you are left no choice).
The person could be like "Really Teal? You are referring me to the fucking modern-day hospital?".
Referring them to crisis hotline could help, if that hotline is any good, and if you tell suicidal person - look, this is not a RANDOM hotline, this is a fucking GOOD hotline. But, TBH, the hotline operators should be trained by Teal, haha. Or, trained by those who are trained by Teal to train.
I think that your decision to refer them somewhere is good, and actually inevitable, because: if some hundred people would flock around you to help them, you could not do that physically. So it is inevitable that you have to refer (redirect). It seems to me that the problem is you don't have a good place to refer them to, so you are left with an option either to create that good place, or find it, or like now, to refer to some shitty or at-least-not-so-shitty place..
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I love how you try to make a suicide topic not a taboo. Because of you, I already talked about this subject with like 5 people in a few years span. And they told me (all of them) that they actually know some suicidal people (but it's a taboo to talk about it). And I told them some of your hacks and how the fucking "life is beautiful" line does not work. So, your work is propagating, like ripples, across consciousnesses.
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I love how you said that you will continue to speak about it.
Despite the shit going on.
It's not that you are fucking forcing your opinion and forcing to be it your way.
For fuck sake, if I don't like how someone does some shit, I just unfollow, ignore, and just don't give attention basically. The problem with you, is that your shit works.
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Sorry for the long 2 cents.
