Question about suicide with a handgun

[Evan Foster]

I'm planning on using a 9mm pistol, but I'm not sure where exactly in the head I should aim. I might be overthinking it, but I'm kind of afraid of regaining consciousness in terrible pain and having to shoot myself again, or even worse of inflicting massive brain damage on myself and surviving, and having to live with it.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Luke]

 

[Luke]

This one is better

Did you check lostallhope?

 

[Revan]

Luke's answer nails it.

 

[Ambivalent]

What are the ways that people screw up suicide by gun?

 

[itsallover]

You could blow your entire face off with a large enough gun and not the right aim.

 

[chronicpainnomore]

What are the ways that people screw up suicide by gun?

A big one is hesitation wound. Even if you've resolved to pull that trigger, the survival instinct is still there. Even as you pull that trigger, the body is fighting you, trying to save itself. The end result is that you discharge the firearm, but the gun is in the process of moving to a less-than-optimal aim. Lots of hesitation wounds are not fatal, but are extremely disfiguring and will cause lasting misery. It's for this reason that I would never consider firearms, and even if I did, it would be a 12 gauge with .00 buckshot.

 

[Evan Foster]

A big one is hesitation wound. Even if you've resolved to pull that trigger, the survival instinct is still there. Even as you pull that trigger, the body is fighting you, trying to save itself. The end result is that you discharge the firearm, but the gun is in the process of moving to a less-than-optimal aim. Lots of hesitation wounds are not fatal, but are extremely disfiguring and will cause lasting misery. It's for this reason that I would never consider firearms, and even if I did, it would be a 12 gauge with .00 buckshot.

What would you recommend, if not a firearm?

 

[comfortablydumb]

What would you recommend, if not a firearm?

The two most talked about methods on here are nembutal, which is a substance that kills you guaranteed and peacefully, and inert gas asphyxiation, which does the same. These methods are discussed in "The Peaceful Pill eHandbook", which is an authoritative text on suicide by an organization which focuses on helping the terminally ill and elderly to end their lives.

If aimed correctly, like in Luke's diagrams, there's zero real chance that you'll survive, or at least ever be conscious again. But as chronicpainnomore points out, things are always more difficult in practice than in theory. A firearm suicide can get botched due to hesitation/fear. With the generic "pill overdose", which is very often a "cry for help" rather than a genuinely committed attempt, there's plenty of uncertainty. So it's emotionally/mentally easier to attempt. With a gun in your hand, you know that no matter what happens, your life will be changed forever the second you pull the trigger.

 

[MAIO]

I'm planning on using a 9mm pistol, but I'm not sure where exactly in the head I should aim. I might be overthinking it, but I'm kind of afraid of regaining consciousness in terrible pain and having to shoot myself again, or even worse of inflicting massive brain damage on myself and surviving, and having to live with it.

Does anyone have any advice?

I would be nervous using most 9mn handun. It should work but it's not absolute guaranteed like a 45.

 

[Dead_Inside]

If there is no hesitation how does one accommodate recoil? Don't have much experience with guns but it's a method I am considering since it is fairly effective

 

[Nauseated]

If there is no hesitation how does one accommodate recoil? Don't have much experience with guns but it's a method I am considering since it is fairly effective

The bullet will have already left the barrel before the gun would have even began to move from the recoil.