Personal thought about failed suicide attempts.

[Sleeper System]

I think i'm the only person who thinks that if you didn't end up in the hospital, in a psych-ward, or in handcuffs, then you saying you had a "failed attempt" is just hyperbole.
There is something to be said about people who bypass survival instict and really give it their all to try and CTB and just end up surviving for whatever reason.
A part of me finds it incredibly disrespectful when people throw that phrase around so casually. Insulting to the real effort it takes to overcome SI and go for the kill so to speak.
For example, someone trying to overdose on pills but then gets scared and vomits them back up or takes pills then is convinced by someone else to not do it so they comply.
That was not a "failed attempt". It was a "poor attempt" that you backed out from.

I have this thing with context and the true nature and meaning behind words or what people say so maybe im just overthinking this.
Not trying to be a CTB gate keeper about what's real and not real but i just have too much respect for people that complete ctb and don't want to cheapen that hardship.

 

[dinosavr]

Anytime you do anything that makes you truly think you'll be dead in a couple of minutes/hours is a suicide attempt. The whole rest doesn't matter at all

 

[Sleeper System]

Anytime you do anything that makes you truly think you'll be dead in a couple of minutes/hours is a suicide attempt. The whole rest doesn't matter at all

Disagree. Going into it fully expecting to die but not reaching the point where it's supposed to actually have the desired effect seems dishonest.
I call that a poor attempt and those can be infinite. You can spend your whole life making bs attempts then call it failed attempts. It's annoying.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

A "poor attempt" and a "failed attempt" aren't exactly mutually exclusive. I'd even say that they go hand to hand with each other very well. If the person ctb'ing did a method to try to kill themselves and failed, it's a failed suicide attempt. Doesn't matter whether the method was good or not

 

[dinosavr]

Disagree. Going into it fully expecting to die but not reaching the point where it's supposed to actually have the desired effect seems dishonest.
I call that a poor attempt and those can be infinite. You can spend your whole life making bs attempts then call it failed attempts. It's annoying.

Well when you're aware your method is unreliable or you do it intentionally wrong just to be able to tell someone you had a suicide attempt then I totally agree, it's annoying. Anyway I think we're not allowed to judge anyone as we never know the truth :(

 

[ADeadBunny]

I mean I've failed a few times and no one found out about it, so does that mean that I didn't really attempt? I see what you're trying to say, but your logic is flawed. You're assuming that anyone trying to ctb will be found or will have someone that will take up for them so to speak.

I didn't have that. I sat with ropes around my neck until I passed out and I woke up. I strangled myself with a rope until I burst most of the capilaries in my face. If you're saying I didn't really try. You're way off the mark. I did have to go talk to psychiatrists when rope burns were found on my neck, but I wasn't committed. I was never arrested for trying to jump off a bridge. I never went to the hospital for any of the injuries I'd sustained. So are you saying that because I never drew any attention to myself that my attempts weren't valid? That's the wildest take I've ever heard.

I have done what you're speaking about before too. I've held guns to my head and failed to pull the trigger because of SI. I've backed out of full suspension hanging because of SI. I have also gone all in and fucked it up and woke up later. No one was the wiser except for one attempt where marks were found on my body. I imagine I'm not the only person here who's tried to go quietly and failed. This post really doesn't make sense to me.

 

[edu0z]

I think it depends on the intention and the strength of the intention. Let's say that if you know viable forms of CTB that are quite effective, and you still decide to do it with an overdose of pills... well, your desire to die was not very good. But if you've been thinking about doing it for years, and you don't really know how but it's the only thing you want to do, and the only thing you know is pills or slitting your wrists or throwing yourself in front of a car, then you do it and most likely you'll You survive but you were 100% committed to the CTB. That's where I see the difference, one is a suicide attempt, the other is more of an attempt to get attention or have a bad day.

 

[delphi4470]

I'd have to disagree, "poor attempt" and "failed attempt" are synonyms by nature aren't they?

 

[SilentSadness]

I don't see the need to gatekeep what counts as a suicide attempt, if someone says they attempted suicide it's best to believe them.

 

[cosmic_traveler]

Well when you're aware your method is unreliable or you do it intentionally wrong just to be able to tell someone you had a suicide attempt then I totally agree, it's annoying. Anyway I think we're not allowed to judge anyone as we never know the truth :(

I agree. I've fantasized for days about reaching some place I knew had a fatal height but eventually backed out. When I was in Alaska for a week I thought about jumping from one of their viewing stations every day because it would conveniently look like an accident.

 

[breezeboy]

I totally see what you mean and agree.
It's hard to take people serious who claim to have multiple failed attempts because at that point it's like why are you failing. It just seems like common sense to make sure your method works before trying..
I understand there are genuine failures that happen though.