Avoiding Oblivion: a Brief Look at Suicide

Death is not a game.

Darkness Roams for many.  Complications are a part of life and tend to follow the weak at heart.  My quest to understand why people opt to end their lives has taken me into the darkest corridors of the mind where real life horror serves those unfortunate souls a taste of Oblivion.  Tonight we examine some of the basic elements of suicide based on medical facts published on www.medicinenet.com and re-posted here for your convenience.  I encourage you to visit the aforementioned site so you can put yourself in a better position to help anyone close to you in a time of crisis.  

                Suicide is the process of purposely ending one's own life.  According to Dr. Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD., “Suicide is a major public health problem, with more than 32,000 persons dying by suicide each year in the United States, or about 80 suicides per day. In addition to completed suicides, another 1,500 unsuccessful suicide attempts occur each day. In the 18- to 65-year age group, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States” (2008).

                Some warning signs 

·         Talk of, or preoccupation with, suicide or death; threatening suicide; writing about death or suicide is one warning sign of suicide. 

Simply writing about suicide isn’t enough to get my attention, especially since my current work in progress is about that topic.  However, anyone threatening to commit the act should be taken seriously and must not be left alone to his/her own devices. 

 The topic of death is fascinating to many, especially fans of horror.  As long as people don’t want to actually take the necessary risks to find out what lies beyond this dimension, which is the premise for the movie FLATLINERS, then it should not pose a problem. 

·         Signs of serious depression, including desperation; feelings of hopelessness; feeling no sense of purpose; loss of interest in things one used to care about; trouble sleeping

Please keep in mind that problems are a part of life.  If you find yourself or someone you know experiences that ultimate sense of hopelessness and not caring about anything anymore, then intervention should take place immediately. 

For more on this topic, read Suicide Warning Signs and remember, for the game of life to improve you must be actively in it.  Next week I’ll examine if there really is such a thing as nobility in suicide. 

See you on the dark side but when in doubt

Choose Life

Nomar Knight

© Copyright Nomar Knight 2011. All rights reserved. 

A Knight Chills presentation.