Headbutting a Train

[Redcity]

I havent seen a thread for this one.

Luckily for me i was recently talked out of the car crash idea. This is the next thing i came up with.

What do you guys think of launching yourself head first into an oncoming train?

Whenever i hear of train suicide attempts its always a person standing upright. But of course that distributes the impact more evenly across the body, reducing the force to the head.

This just makes.more sense to me but maybe theres something im overlooking.

 

[Anima]

Personally I think its not the best way to go. For your own sake but also for the person driving the train .....

 

[Johnnythefox]

Need advice on suicide methods in England


Train threads tend to go off the rails literally, and end up in flame wars.
Just saying

 

[Xerxes]

Are you trying to go out in the most violent way possible? Can you stare a train as it comes down on you without getting second thoughts? Not really the best way, and launching yourself at a train head first will just have you bounce away or dragged underneath. You may also erase setting yourself on fire cause it's hella painful and someone can come and save you.

 

[bigj75]

Laying your neck across the rail is the best way.

 

[SiArc]

I am just imagining someone wearing a bull horn helmet and charging head first at a train. It makes me laugh really hard. Kind of like Looney Tunes.

On a serious note, yeah, if you are going to get hit by a train make sure it is your neck or chest that gets hit. Not your torso or sit on the rails when they are going fast enough so you just get totally smashed.

 

[NotWorthLiving]

I'm not sure how you would launch yourself head first into a train in the first place...

 

[Redcity]

Are you trying to go out in the most violent way possible?

No, just the quickest and least painful.

Can you stare a train as it comes down on you without getting second thoughts?

Yes

You may also erase setting yourself on fire cause it's hella painful and someone can come and save you.

I wouldnt consider this method in a million years

 

[Redcity]

I'm not sure how you would launch yourself head first into a train in the first place...

Imagine running head first into a wall. Now imagine that the wall is a train.

 

[Redcity]

Laying your neck across the rail is the best way.

Thanks for the advice. Id be a little concerned because Christopher Reeve had all the bones in his neck crushed and he survived and was paralyzed from the neck down

 

[SiArc]

Thanks for the advice. Id be a little concerned because Christopher Reeve had all the bones in his neck crushed and he survived and was paralyzed from the neck down

A train will not crush your neck, it will sever it. You don't survive that.

 

[bigj75]

Thanks for the advice. Id be a little concerned because Christopher Reeve had all the bones in his neck crushed and he survived and was paralyzed from the neck down

a train would sever the neck. So i think it's unlikely you would end up paralyzed.

 

[borntodie777]

Thanks for the advice. Id be a little concerned because Christopher Reeve had all the bones in his neck crushed and he survived and was paralyzed from the neck down

ever seen the wheels on the train? they are sharp as a blade and cut whatever comes in their way. A small car may just break your neck, a fucking train will decapitate you. I've been considering the train method too but most trains have guard rails in the front to avoid suicides so i might end up with severe head trauma but may survive.

 

[Chinaski]

There are plenty of ways to stop living that don't require making someone else watch/feel directly responsible. There is no excuse ever for this. It's evil.

There are plenty of other methods which may be considered less traumatic, as discussed elsewhere this is certainly a negative aspect of this method. Having said that, all methods carry some degree of trauma for someone, and this is a balance which only the individual can assess. Some people could be so desperate that they see the benefits of the train (speed, accessibility) outweigh this negative. Others may consider the upset this causes to a driver to be preferable to the upset of a loved one who finds them hanging. I read of one case of a poor young woman who, on temporary release from a psych ward, ran straight to the nearest track and ctb. This individual was clearly suffering a great deal, and such a case highlights that there is an "excuse", and it certainly isn't "evil".

The train would not be my method, and it's fine if train driver trauma is a deterrent, l fully get that, but describing people desperate to ctb as "evil" on an actual suicide forum is utterly wrong-headed imo.

 

[Chinaski]

I'm not suggesting you "back down", merely putting an alternative view to the overly stated position that ctb by train is, in all cases, a deliberately harmful thing to do. After all, all ctb causes harm to somebody in some way and, as such, can and often does elicit an argument that it's therefore fundamentally selfish. I also maintain that describing suicidal people as "evil" for choosing a method you don't approve of is poor form.

 

[bigj75]

 

[Chinaski]

I get really aggravated at people who conflate calling an act something, with calling a person something, in order to criticize the individual labeling that act. That's poor form. It is evil to force someone to kill you. You don't have the right. End of story. You can keep trying to refocus it on ME but it doesn't change that.

"Evil" is a particularly extreme and dehumanising term; anyone committing a deed considered to be "evil" is exhibiting a capacity for the severe form of wickedness which makes them evil by definition. If l read of a train ctb, l most certainly do not think that was an "evil" thing to do, and I'm surprised that such a term is used in describing a common and regularly successful means of ctb on an actual suicide forum. It casts a negative judgement not on the method itself, but on the people who choose that method, regardless of their personal situation, motivation or circumstances.

I personally would never choose this method, fwiw; there are other methods too which I'd not choose for personal reasons such as this, but l wouldn't be chastising of those who chose them.

 

[MexicanTravels]

There are plenty of ways to stop living that don't require making someone else watch/feel directly responsible. There is no excuse ever for this. It's evil.

I agree with this sentiment. Causing major trauma to an individual should not be excused and has greater negative ramifications than other methods available. For the traumatized, this act is surely unethical if not plain evil.

 

[Chinaski]

LOVED ONE OF A CTB: oh god, I've just found my loved one dead from hanging, I'll never forget the sight of their deformed and bloated face, l don't know if I'll ever recover from this grief, I've now got to wait for an inquest at which l must give evidence until they even let me see a suicide note, I'm in so much pain and sorrow right now, l loved them so much and this is probably my fault for neglecting them and l don't know if l will ever...

SS FORUM MEMBER: Sorry to interrupt, but are you a train driver? No? Then shut the fuck up then.

 

[sif]

I agree with this sentiment. Causing major trauma to an individual should not be excused and has greater negative ramifications than other methods available. For the traumatized, this act is surely unethical if not plain evil.

You are throwing the word evil around very casually... evil suggests an intention but people who jump in front of a train aren't doing it with the intention to cause that trauma. I think this is the kind of thing where you're drawing an arbitrary line of where evil is. If you want to say suicide by train is evil then surely suicide in any way is evil because you're forcing another person (anybody who knows you) to experience what it's like to know somebody who has committed suicide. Who are you or I to decide that this experience is more or less traumatic than being the train driver. It's not evil come on :/

 

[Hunter]

It's been a few months since this happened, but there was a teenage user on here who actually ended up dying by train. Their passing was subsequently confirmed through a news article.

Before this happened, they had posted multiple times about doing the train method and they were met with a lot of resistance from users here. Apparently they weren't able to access other methods because of severe financial and logistical constraints. A lot of the commentary was similar - that it would mess up the train driver. I don't think people fully appreciated the circumstantial barriers to them obtaining or even considering a different method. They were living at home under the thumb of controlling, hostile parents and used a short window of time to jump in front of a train.

There was no expressed intent on their part to try and traumatize people around them by doing this, and from the way they posted, no malicious motivation. I agree that "evil" is an unfair way to characterize someone who may otherwise use other options if they could. There are a lot of reasons why people choose the method they do and asking why is better than rejecting it reflexively out of moral disdain.

Edited for grammar

 

[sif]

It's been a few months since this happened, but there was a teenage user on here who actually ended up dying by train. Their passing was subsequently confirmed through a news article.

Before this happened, they had posted multiple times about doing the train method and they were met with a lot of resistance from users here. Apparently they weren't able to access other methods because of severe financial and logistical constraints. A lot of the commentary was similar - that it would mess up the train driver. I don't think people fully appreciated the corcumstantial barriers to them obtaining or even considering a different method. They were living at home under the thumb of controlling, hostile parents and used a short window of time to jump in front of a train.

There was no conscious intent on their part to try and traumatize people around them, and from the way they posted, no malicious motivation. I agree that "evil" is an unfair way to characterize someone who may otherwise other options if they could.

It's certainly something to consider, but that's about all it is!

 

[iHeartRockArt]

Please let's all be respectful and not derail this thread. I would rather not have to close yet another good discussion. We can all be civil without attacking others or being disrespectful.

 

[MexicanTravels]

You are throwing the word evil around very casually... evil suggests an intention but people who jump in front of a train aren't doing it with the intention to cause that trauma. I think this is the kind of thing where you're drawing an arbitrary line of where evil is. If you want to say suicide by train is evil then surely suicide in any way is evil because you're forcing another person (anybody who knows you) to experience what it's like to know somebody who has committed suicide. Who are you or I to decide that this experience is more or less traumatic than being the train driver. It's not evil come on :/

You're conflating being evil with an evil act. A tornado is not inherently evil, but the act of a tornado killing people or even displacing them is. Evil is relational.

There is also a distinction between causing PTSD in a stranger doing their job and causing grief in a family. It's true that there is a gray area between how a train driver would feel versus family members, but the difference is that there are more emotional resources available for family that witnesses a suicide than somebody forced to kill someone.

 

[sif]

You're conflating being evil with an evil act. A tornado is not inherently evil, but the act of a tornado killing people or even displacing them is. Evil is relational.

There is also a distinction between causing PTSD in a stranger doing their job and causing grief in a family. It's true that there is a gray area between how a train driver would feel versus family members, but the difference is that there are more emotional resources available for family that witnesses a suicide than somebody forced to kill someone.

I don't really see it like a train driver being forced to kill someone... the fact that there's nothing they can do to stop it because they're in a giant metal box on rails. I think people have heard a lot of train driver testimony and it's been well reported in the media and people on the news love to get sympathy. I definitely understand the trauma that may be caused for a train driver, but no if that is the only way someone is able to take their own life I think it's a shame but it is acceptable. Life is fleeting and meaningless anyway, causing a bit of purely psychological trauma to one person inadvertantly so you can end your own life seems like a small price to pay. It's the nature of the universe and train drivers are aware of the risks when they take that job, if a suicide is going to ruin their life then I don't think they would be in the job really

I don't really think the act of a tornado killing or displacing people is evil, I think it's just very unfortunate and sad. I respect your opinon though.

 

[Chinaski]

There is also a distinction between causing PTSD in a stranger doing their job and causing grief in a family. It's true that there is a gray area between how a train driver would feel versus family members, but the difference is that there are more emotional resources available for family that witnesses a suicide than somebody forced to kill someone.

The thing is l really doubt this argument would go down well with any family member suffering from post ctb trauma, very few will find great solace when someone reminds them of their relatively vast emotional resources.

I honestly find it very peculiar that there is a perceived hierarchy of post ctb trauma on this site, wherein train drivers exist in some rarefied atmosphere and must be seen as a protected species against acts of "evil", whereas all other post ctb trauma is considered automatically lesser to the point of being insignificant collateral damage.

There are many reasons why desperate folk may choose any particular method and whilst we may individually disapprove of the method, we should never condemn those who choose them imo.

 

[MexicanTravels]

The thing is l really doubt this argument would go down well with any family member suffering from post ctb trauma, very few will find great solace when someone reminds them of their relatively vast emotional resources.

Well imagine causing trauma in a train driver AND your family. Either way you look at it, suicide by train generally causes more harm to those left behind. I will admit that I was in a state once where I thought about suicide by cop. I didn't have access to the resources I have now, but a few years later and a bit of patience goes a long way and now I have N. People can choose whatever method they like, but they should expect to be called out on a suicide forum that is ethically minded.

 

[sif]

I will admit that I was in a state once where I thought about suicide by cop.

There you go!! I just think it's actually quite cruel to accuse someone of being so deplorable because they decided to kill themselves the wrong way, you can let someone know there are better ways without making them feel like dross.

 

[Hunter]

more emotional resources available for family

Just curious, what are these emotional resources you're referring to exactly?

 

[Chinaski]

I will admit that I was in a state once where I thought about suicide by cop. I didn't have access to the resources I have now, but a few years later and a bit of patience goes a long way and now I have N. People can choose whatever method they like, but they should expect to be called out on a suicide forum that is ethically minded.

A few years, a bit of patience, and then the added risk and finances required to procure N are beyond a lot of desperate people who urgently feel the need to ctb. This is perhaps why train is a more popular method than N.

Being "called out" is essentially passing judgement on the same desperate people with an urgent desire to ctb, if we're looking at setting standards of ethics on a suicide forum I'd consider ceasing the condemnatory attitudes towards the genuinely suicidal to be necessary also. There is a difference between stating your own reasons for opting out of a method and criticising others with dehumanising language for opting in.