"Nine out of ten people who attempt suicide and survive will not go on to die by suicide at a later date."

[Lammpz]

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/survival/

Is this statement true? The article says that only 7% of attempters eventually died by suicide. The percentage seems too low to be true. I guess most suicide attempts go unreported

 

[-nox]

Not a clue mate, But if its how films work, attempters eventually go on living a happy and loving life, But idk wish the world was like movies

 

[FuneralCry]

I don't know honestly, but I bet that most of those suicide attempts were people attempting very risky and unreliable methods that don't really work like overdoses so no wonder they failed. Sadly suicide really is so unnecessarily difficult in this world and I think the risks involved in suicide keeps many people trapped here in a futile cycle of endless suffering, it's truly so horrible to deny people what should be a basic human right.

 

[Vizzy]

That's subjective, and have a lot of reasons

Some people will stand at the top of tall building to jump to do ctb but can't jump if you ask they gonna say I failed a suicide but that's not a failure, failure differs for everyone, some will say not going through ctb is a failure which is not because they didn't even try in the first place

 

[SilentSadness]

I don't know where they get those numbers from, but I assume it is from documented attempts. This means the people would have been locked up in a psych ward for their attempt. That would not only make suicide much more difficult, but they would also be subject to pro-life gaslighting. Also, the person might not want to try another attempt in case they failed again. So, it's unsurprising that the statistics are like that. It doesn't mean that people "recover" from suicidal ideation.

 

[Lavender Dreams]

One thing to consider is the sample size and where they took it from.

It is entirely possible that a large number of suicide attempts are impulsive and in the face of death, people will realise their problems appear trivial in comparison, then turn their life around. Or even receive legitimate support and help for their issues to the extent that they no longer feel the need to to do this. Except that 1/10 number may not be as insignificant as we think.

 

[UKscotty]

Lots of people don't want to CTB, it's just a cry for help.

Anyone serious about CTB will use a reliable method like hanging, guns or jumping.

 

[slanabhaile]

Lots of people don't want to CTB, it's just a cry for help.

Anyone serious about CTB will use a reliable method like hanging, guns or jumping.

Was going to say this myself.

I think, ultimately, the vast majority of people find it very difficult to admit how much they're struggling to cope with life and such an overt action makes people pay attention - for better or worse.

 

[glitterypearls]

as people said above lots of people do it as cry for help or something impulsive. I was looking at SN fails and most of them regretted it and called the ambulance. if you see people doing full hanging they always look like they trying to free themselves. the ones who are determined to CTB and it's not impulsive or cry for help. they will attempt and attempt till they are successful

I know someone who his sister had multiple attempts. when she was 13 she tried to jump from the hill on rocks but they caught her before she could do it, then she attempted with drowning and they still saved her, then she attempted with cutting her wrists still didn't die and the last attempt was full hanging where she successfully CTB. people WHO WANT to die will attempt till they are successful

it's like if you want something, would you stop at the first or 2nd failure? no you gonna keep going till you get what you want

 

[Vizzy]

I know someone who his sister had multiple attempts. when she was 13 she tried to jump from the hill on rocks but they caught her before she could do it, then she attempted with drowning and they still saved her, then she attempted with cutting her wrists still didn't die and the last attempt was full hanging where she successfully CTB. people WHO WANT to die will attempt till they are successful

Add in, many people don't plan and research to do ctb, they just try with no clue and most important thing for successful ctb don't get caught by family members, all these add up to many failed attempts, you are right !

 

[UKscotty]

Yeah good point, don't forget all those who just do it on impulse during a crisis.

Cutting up wrists or taking a bottle of paracetamol for example. Highly unlikely to work.

I have made a few attempts in crisis, more to take away the emotional pain than I thought they would actually work.

Those of us truly ready to CTB will very rarely fail as we will pick a lethal method and plan it properly, often combine two methods as a backup.

 

[Kerrtu]

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/survival/

Is this statement true? The article says that only 7% of attempters eventually died by suicide. The percentage seems too low to be true. I guess most suicide attempts go unreported

Regarding unreported attempts, I've had 2 myself. Both overdoses which obviously failed as I'm still here, but I didn't report them. I chose to recover at home rather than check myself in as the psych hospital near me is horrendous and would've caused further trauma.

The last time I went inpatient, there were "night raids" where the lights would suddenly be turned on and security would come in and bark orders, legit flip the thin mattresses of the beds like people were hiding machetes or some shit. Just terrible.

 

[Linda]

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matter/means-matter/survival/

Is this statement true? The article says that only 7% of attempters eventually died by suicide. The percentage seems too low to be true. I guess most suicide attempts go unreported

It's a very difficult subect to research, for several reasons, one of which you already noted. Also, most papers in medical journals are based on sample sizes that are much too small for the results they cite to be meaningful. (I have a brother and a nephew in the medical professsion. Both of them have published papers in the medical journals, and both of them have told me this.) Also, a lot of papers in medical journals are suspect, because they are influenced by pharmaceutical corporations (and they usually don't give you any indication of that). So you can't really trust a lot of this stuff. Published papers in medicine tend to have far less credibility than published papers in science proper. (If, for example, a physicist reports that her lab has just measured the magnetic moment of the electron twice as accurately as anyone has ever done before, you can believe her.)

They also don't seem to be distinguishing between attempts that are serious and those that are just for show and were never intended to succeed.

From what I have seen of the world, if we are talking about people whose suicide attempts were genuinely intended to result in death, that figure of 7% is too low.

 

[aleph_zero]

I saw that article posted on reddit yesterday as an argument in favor of having strict measures against impulsive applications for medically assisted suicide. Here's the comment.

I agree with others here, this is an obvious example of survivorship bias. The majority of those who were serious about their attempt are no longer here to talk about it. Those few that are have likely been physically and psychologically damaged by the attempt. They might be traumatized to the point of having to live out of fear of another failure and lying about their actual feelings. Lack of a follow-up attempt isn't necessarily a proof of regret.

Now of course some people might genuinely regret the attempt itself and not just its failure, but I think that they're overrepresented.

 

[GasMonkey]

Everybody who fails didn't do their homework.

 

[Linda]

Everybody who fail didn't do their homework.

Or they didn't actually intend to die.

 

[LittleJem]

I think it is because it is hard to successfully ctb. I don't believe the bullshit that it is attention seeking or that people are always glad they survived. I guess for many they just had to carry on suffering.

Like to successfully overdose which is historically preferred method for women that is really difficult.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I've always found that statistic really odd. Of course- it doesn't mean that all those 90% of 'survivors' lived happily ever after until they died of natural causes. They could have still had ideation all that time.

If it's true though- I have tried to question why and come up with the following:

-The whole experience of failing the attempt and possibly ending up in a psyche ward was enough to put them off in future.

-Their suicide was actually part of a depressive/manic phase that didn't return.

-The aftermath of their attempt meant that they finally got the help and support they needed to turn things around.

-They in fact went on to make further attempts- but failed them also.

-They didn't actually 'recover' but they just lived the rest of their lives with ideation without attempting again- maybe they saw what it did to their families and didn't want to put them through that again.

-They were so handicaped by their first attempt- either physically or- because they were then constantly monitored- that they felt unable to try again.

-They only had access to unreliable methods which- either failed time and tine again- or, the person decided weren't worth risking anymore.

Personally though- I doubt that statistic is accurate. Seeing as even amongst this forum, there are people here with multiple attempts- the likelihood of someone attempting just once seems quite small to me.

 

[muzzle]

this is obviously reverse psychology to make sure more of us properly kill ourselves

 

[WorthlessTrash]

Sure, that may be correct, but what no one wants to acknowledge is not everyone of those people will lead happy lives.

 

[thgilrats]

I would suggest, that, in general, people who are choosing unreliable CTB methods, are somewhat hoping to be saved? (?) It's just a suggestion, but, I mean, if you have an opportunity to, let's say, jump of a tall building, why would you choose overdosing over it? Scary, for sure, but, to be honest, still effective. So, it's either an SI ("too scary") or a desire to be saved, and heard and given help.

Though, it's just a suggestion, I don't actually know, and the question of "Why Are You Choosing Cutting Your Wrists When You Can Just Jump Off The Building?" has been haunting me for so long, istg, this is one of the biggest questions I have! (And I just realized that I couldn't ask this question to anyone else because people around me would immediately assume that I encourage suicide and I am such a terrible person.)

 

[nothingbutmybest]

I do believe it's true on account of the fact that most suicide attempts are impulsive while carefully planned suicides usually result in death. So it only makes sense that the ones that survive suicide attempts are impulsive and get better fairly easily.
(Though this site would probably be the most biased place to ask the question since y'know, we are at a forum for suicide with plenty of resources and suicide acceptance)

 

[Goodgirlryeo101]

I do believe it's true on account of the fact that most suicide attempts are impulsive while carefully planned suicides usually result in death. So it only makes sense that the ones that survive suicide attempts are impulsive and get better fairly easily.
(Though this site would probably be the most biased place to ask the question since y'know, we are at a forum for suicide with plenty of resources and suicide acceptance)

Yeah I think those who do plan ctb carefully have a higher success rate of completing ctb. I was tempted to use one method yesterday to complete ctn but I realised that I need to be patient so that I can complete ctb successfully

as people said above lots of people do it as cry for help or something impulsive. I was looking at SN fails and most of them regretted it and called the ambulance. if you see people doing full hanging they always look like they trying to free themselves. the ones who are determined to CTB and it's not impulsive or cry for help. they will attempt and attempt till they are successful

I know someone who his sister had multiple attempts. when she was 13 she tried to jump from the hill on rocks but they caught her before she could do it, then she attempted with drowning and they still saved her, then she attempted with cutting her wrists still didn't die and the last attempt was full hanging where she successfully CTB. people WHO WANT to die will attempt till they are successful

it's like if you want something, would you stop at the first or 2nd failure? no you gonna keep going till you get what you want

I hope I won't fail but if I do I will continue to do so till I'm successful…

 

[Cryptonite]

Everybody who fails didn't do their homework.

Exactly.

When someone wants to truly do it, they find a reliable method.

Jumping from 15-story building is not a suicide attempt. It is a suicide.