Does this site benefit you in any way?

[0000000000000]

This place has helped me have more control over my life without other meddling people deciding for me under a mask of benevolent paternalism and who think they are above the human condition. I have more peace of mind about uncertainty, knowing that i have a 'key' in case my quality of life does not improve in a reasonable time.

People are indifferent to my suffering, if i didn't have this 'key' they could have me for decades in their 'treatments' that only make me feel worse or they could simply continue with their lives without they caring about me in the slightest.

For me having control over my own life is important (that includes how i die), it gives me more peace of mind. I think any reasonable person would have an increase in stress and anxiety if they lose control of their lives.

I think suicide is partly a result of losing control over your own life.

Ideally there should be a dignified life and a dignified death but unfortunately for most people there is neither.

 

[barkbark]

having access to a suicide method has also brought me relief and made me want to live longer. i don't feel as impulsive and can go when i want. a lot of people outside of here can't wrap their heads around how having access to a method can be beneficial.

this, 100% this.

i am deeply suicidal and definitely a bit impulsive and having a very lethal means of dying personally makes me paradoxically less likely to choose trying. the fact that i know i can leave whenever i choose turns it into a very tough active decision instead of a passive putting myself in harms way and mistreating my body as much as possible without care for the consequences.

that's why i'm scared of whats happening with them continually pushing harder and harder for bans of all methods. i think i'll probably end up getting scared from being in a corner and attempt…

 

[vitbar]

Shocked to see someone say there is "no benefit". Even mental health professionals I've mentioned this kind of website to have said they at least offer comaraderie and a space to be honest.

 

[Dliena]

I appreciate all that y'all mods and @RainAndSadness do to keep this site running so I'll just say yes.

 

[breezeboy]

Why would someone come to this site if it didn't benefit them lmao?
I'd be surprised if there was a single vote for No.

I'm surprised.

 

[SexyIncél]

This site saved my life. I found perceptive members who fixed the root cause of my problems. And some said I helped them too

BTW, that CEO doesn't offer any arguments to support her claims. So out of morbid curiosity, I looked up her skills/education. She's pure bland corporate: management school, HR, polisci, corporate social responsibility, reputation management, strategic communications... Minimal relevant expertise. Naturally, state/corporate media interviews her, not us. Because their function is propaganda, not investigating truth wherever it leads

 

[the old man]

I read through the various posts, the stories, the reasons, the vents and the questions, some totally understandable why they want to terminate their existence, some I think are said out of immaturity and some are just plain dumb queries but ultimately it connects us to others who's thoughts follow the same process of our own, that we've had enough and it's time to jump on the same bus, makes us realise we're not alone or crazy for thinking this way and validates our own thoughts and reasoning, this can only be a positive and beneficial thing.

 

[sammiechzxv]

It's just comforting

 

[Unknown21]

It helps me a lot, getting a peaceful method would've been impossible without this site, and being with like-minded people is comfortable. This is the only place I can be myself in.

 

[Orange Cat]

It's been very helpful. I was able to obtain a peaceful method. It has given me peace of mind knowing that I have a reliable method available when the time comes.

 

[kawaiiphantom]

For me a lot of the times yes, and sometimes no. I honestly feel so accepted and feel a lot of love here. You can say what's on your mind free of judgement 99% of the time, it's the first place in a long time where I feel I can be openly myself. It's very comforting to have people that understand. And I've found I love seeing peoples unique personalities, how different they are from eachother, but also the similarities. I love seeing who they are, unfiltered, unlike how it's like outside of this forum where you're expected to act and behave a certain way. Honestly I'm very grateful and happy to be a part of it.

There are times however where seeing so many people struggling can weigh heavily on my mind, I wish I could help everyone & I wish no one had to suffer. I also do question the morality of this forum from time to time. And sometimes the negativity can make my depression more severe. The goodbye threads can be especially difficult for me sometimes, especially if I've seen the person's posts before, and knowing I'll miss them. But at the same time I'm glad they werent alone at the end of their life, that they could spend the final moments before CTB with other like-minded people, and being wished farewell, and being given warmth & love. Because otherwise they probably would have had to die alone with their own thoughts. So I am very grateful for that. I guess I have a lot of conflicting thoughts, but overall I think I'm happy that I found this place :>

 

[HereTomorrow]

I find SaSu as a tool to be used for whatever the user wants from it. It can include healing such as the Recovery section filled with resources and social support, but also methods and advice to CTB which can lessen the physical agony of the person who decides to go that route.

For me, I find it beneficial and extremely comforting to be with people with a similar mindset as me to have an open discussion about topics without any threat to ourselves (friend/family concern, hospitalization, censorship, etc.). In a way, it's helped me be honest with myself and improved my life seeing the methods and regonizing my mortality in this world rather than preventing discussion and making us follow the traditional route of mental help (which may not be for everyone and/or unavailable).

 

[Doemu]

Finally i could just express what had been on my head the last 17 years.
Finally i could just trying to make real conversations after 3 years faking all.
Finally i found real good people i can care about.

I feel here like as the home, i never felt other else.

 

[Myforevercharlie]

My home and my safe place. Nobody expects me to be more than who i am.

Without Sasu my very difficult life would have been extremely lonely

 

[peaches]

This is the only place where I can be real.
I live with a level of pain that is not acceptable around anyone I know. I am always acting.
And when this level of pain flares to beyond bearable, I know I have to go.
I don't think people who are not similar to me, can possibly comprehend that my need to revert to nothingness is bigger than how much they may care about me.
People want to be heroes. They want to save others. And just like the suicide prevention movement, they just don't get it.
If you haven't experienced this level of pain and discomfort, do not approach me with advice and platitudes.
That's why I want to protect this site because for many of us, it's the only place to be real.

Imagine if you were 11 years old and you thought there's no way you'd make it to 20. And then when you made it to 20, you thought there's no way you'd make it to 30. Thinking like that for so long makes the concept of suicide inseparable from my life, even if I have no immediate plans to CTB.
This site is a community of people like me. It makes me not feel alone.

Every decade or so, I've looked back at my life and asked myself, "would you have rather lived those 10 years or not at all? "
When it was 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 60 years, each time I answered that I would've rather not been here at all.
I have never met anyone who would have even barely survived being me
And I'm so disappointed that I'm still here. It seems like such a waste, because even though I have had some good moments, the overriding shroud of what it feels like to be me, is always bigger than any good fortune.

 

[Patches]

Absolutely a benefit. I come here for information. If/when I decide to bring my journey to an end, I will hopefully be able to avoid mistakes. The information and advice available can be the difference between a peaceful end or making things much worse.

 

[Scythe]

It's the only community that truly understands me. We are all in the trenches fighting our own battles, but we can still help each other. This is also the best place to rant about how shit society is and not have it be an unpopular opinion with people responding with. "Oh just deal with it." "But everyone lives like that."

 

[Bianka]

The vote is pretty irrelevant considering no one uses the site if it hurts them. Apart from that I don't understand the whole debate. Who are we hurting? Just leave us alone. This mentality that "I think life is precious so you HAVE to think that too" is blatantly ignorant and hurtful. They only care about this out of fear that we pop their balloon of false security just by existing.

 

[wait.what]

My despair and suicidality fade some after they've been shared and acknowledged as valid.

 

[Al Gul]

With the constant demand to mask and uphold that most exhausting facade, I had been left really isolated the last few years. More and more it became difficult to connect with people, as they'd invariably drift away or I'd isolate myself from them as the whole pretending sapped all my energy.

Here, all of that burden is completely gone. I don't have to worry about dragging anyone down or burdening them. I wont be told off and called selfish even for just thoughts. I've met plenty of absolutely great people and my mental health has been drastically improved since the time before I registered.

 

[shinohara]

"the public health agency of Canada says, it asked Google, in October, to remove the site from it's search results. The internet giant refused.."
lmao rare google win

that being said, this site has helped me more than the "CMHA" ever did

 

[Captive_Mind515]

Yes, this site certainly has benefited me immensely. Even if I'm not as active as other users. I spend quite a lot of time reading and absorbing other people's contributions and I am very grateful that this community exists.

I find it both infuriating and really quite telling, that none of these "journalistic" hit pieces have any inclination to actually interview users of this forum to garner their opinions and views. Hopefully that changes at some point in the future, and a journalist with some integrity can actually shine a light on why so many people value this space and need it to continue existing.

It really shouldn't be such a controversial issue, that people wish to have a safe place they can talk about issues that are affecting millions around the world every day.

 

[rozeske]

When i first came to this site, I only had a plan of using it for just a couple of days (as my join reason indicates) but I made the decision to stay as long as I did after finding alot more help than what I came here looking for. Unlike what is insinuated from the outside this place really does have that power.

 

[boddibo]

When I first signed up, I was in a dark place and considering ending my life impulsively and recklessly because I didn't know any better. Sasu provided me resources with 'safer' alternatives (or at least better planned and less unsuccessful), since that we're denied the right to die peacefully and in a less gruesome way.

Now that I have my method, I try to avoid the Suicide Discussion board and focus on scrolling through the Recovery section. I find comfort in discovering new resources shared by Dot and others (thanks for your work btw), and reading stories of people who have overcome similar struggles. It gives me a sense of hope to keep going, since I'm not planning to CTB that soon now. Knowing that I have a plan brings me some peace, as it means I have an exit ready if things don't improve for me. So, I'm working on getting better for once. (but that's not the narrative people want to hear outside this website lol, they just wanna hear that it made us more suicidal and encouraged us to die)

And also, I enjoy spending time in the Forum Game section, not gonna lie. It distracts me.

 

[Relic]

CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association said that "[...]there is no value to this site, it doesn't benefit anyone - in fact it does quite the opposite[...]",

This is just a projection. There are a lot of organizations whose only function is to waste resources. Somehow these "non-profit" organizations are always the most corrupt. In the end it is still just a business, and this here is cutting into their profits.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I think if I did not find SaSu last year I would be dead now. I was deeply depressed, my method ready and I wanted to die bc finally everything failed, my whole life was finally fucked up and all hope was lost. I was very lonely in that moment, just me and my method. I searched for a community and have found one - I noticed that I'm not alone with unsolvable problems. After more than 1/2 year later I have to say I feel better and much less suicidal. I'm glad that SaSu exists it's a refuge for suicidal people to speak openly about our stuff without getting to hear toxic positivity or not taken seriously.

 

[hellispink]

Only place I can be myself 100%. This site is very important for me. My only support system is here people like me. F prolifers trying to take even this away from us

 

[Endofit]

This forum is helping me on a daily basis. It helps me channel my pain, either with philosophical discussion, or with posts about methods. I know im between life and death rn. And I dont feel this site is pushing me either way. It just makes things clearer. Also not being alone in my limbo is helping me greatly. A lot of users are very kind hearted, and not judgmental. Id choose this site over a therapist any time.

 

[thinvy]

Oh hell yeah it helps, and I hope I help others in my time on here. They're not gonna take "helps me make informed decisions about how I choose to end my life" as a form of benefit, but like for real, this site has genuinely put my mind at ease to a degree.

I've been suicidal since I knew I could die, and I've had such a hard time in life because of that. this site has helped me feel like less of a freak for being a bit fucked in the brain.

I also have less fear when it comes to confronting daily life.

This is the one place I'm not afraid of being banned from or having cops sent to my house for saying things that I can't say anywhere else. And they're not even bad things that I want to say!! I just want to be heard sometimes when I say things like "life fucking sucks" or "my mom wishes I was never born" and y'all don't judge! y'all don't preach at me with the "oh it gets better" bs, I can say shit sucks and you guys go "hell fuckin yeah it does. anything I can do? wanna talk about it" and I do! and y'all don't send me to the psych ward which would be detrimental to my mental health rn bc of bills!

I also feel like this site does a lot of good in deterring people that seem to genuinely not want to end their lives find other options.

if you look at my own post history, there's been a few posts I've come across where desperate people have asked about sketchy or incredibly painful ways to die, and I've non-judgementally told them "look man ik shit sucks but id try something else because you're going to suffer, it won't be fast, and you'll likely be saved" and I know I'm not the only one who's helped in these cases. there's been a few posts where I've gone to chime in with my own experiences only to see that OP has decided that they were actually just really upset and didn't want to die just yet after all, and every time that happens, everyone has been very supportive.

I just want to finish off my long ass comment by saying that I think this site is very much necessary. The "Catching the Bus" metaphor is really nice and calming (even if I thought it was "cut to black" for a week) because like you guys have said here, "the beautiful thing about catching the bus is that the stop will always be there, waiting for you. There's no rush, you can always catch a later bus.". Not just that, but theres plenty of friendly conversation at the stop, and even on the ride itself. I've felt more supported on this site than I have in person in years. I'm a grown adult, and it was my own decision to seek out like minded people, and I don't regret it one bit. I'd actually likely have been dead sooner had I never found this site, and I wouldve suffered.

 

[Endisclose]

This is the only place where I feel a sense of community..a place where I feel I truly belong..I'd be completely lost without it.