Discussion Someone jumped in front of my train on Saturday

[Forever Sleep]

Not too long ago people used to gather for public executions for entertainment. Not to mention the Roman colosseum in more ancient times. But nowadays seeing a violent death is going to "lead to a lifetime of suffering". I'm not saying that it couldn't lead to trauma for particularly sensitive people, but for most of it will become simply a memory as we continue to go through our lives. I'm not advocating for this type of suicide method but calling it life ruining is overkill (pun intended)

People chose to see executions though. I imagine most of the people on the train/ platform wouldn't have consented to see that, or let their children see that.

Perhaps it won't stay with everyone there forever but- we simply don't know. I believe train drivers do commonly experience PTSD and depression after such an event:

'It was found that 16.3% of the drivers involved in incidents did develop post-traumatic stress disorder and that other diagnoses, e.g. depression and phobic states, were present in 39.5% of drivers when interviewed one month after the incident.'
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1615108/

I feel terrible for people who felt they had no other choice but to do this. I hate it that we feel forced into making such decisions but I also hate it that they couldn't have found another way. The issue I have with public methods is that- there's no way to limit/ assess who witnesses them and what affect it will have on them.

I'm so sorry you went through this OP. I hope your employers continue to be supportive.

 

[limerance1]

People chose to see executions though. I imagine most of the people on the train/ platform wouldn't have consented to see that, or let their children see that.

Perhaps it won't stay with everyone there forever but- we simply don't know. I believe train drivers do commonly experience PTSD and depression after such an event:

'It was found that 16.3% of the drivers involved in incidents did develop post-traumatic stress disorder and that other diagnoses, e.g. depression and phobic states, were present in 39.5% of drivers when interviewed one month after the incident.'
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1615108/

I feel terrible for people who felt they had no other choice but to do this. I hate it that we feel forced into making such decisions but I also hate it that they couldn't have found another way. The issue I have with public methods is that- there's no way to limit/ assess who witnesses them and what affect it will have on them.

I'm so sorry you went through this OP. I hope your employers continue to be supportive.

I admit that my example wasn't completely accurate because shock and surprise play a significant role in trauma, and that willingly going to a public execution is not the same as suddenly seeing someone killed in front of you.

I also agree that seeing something like that can leave long lasting negative effects ok the person. And worst of all, on children.

With all that said, if 15% of drivers (who are directly involved in incidents) develop PTSD, then that number is probably less for passengers. That's just a guess though. And even if it was equal, it's still the minority of people. Most people will get on with their lives after a couple days and that's it. If it wasn't like that we wouldn't have survived as a species.

The big focus should be what brought the person to jump in front of a train in the first place. People being reminded that people out there are suffering and that society is kinda fucked is a good thing to an extent. Even the OP said that he's distancing himself from the forum and I'm sure he's no longer considering this as a viable CTB method. Witness trauma pales in comparison to what the person who jumped must've been feeling or experiencing. So the focus shouldn't be on the other people. Suicide is terrible whether there's no one to witness it or 100s of people.

 

[Kta1994]

I would argue it's more selfish and cruel to deny people any humane end to their suffering, that people have to resort to jumping in front of a train… He was probably suffering so much. If people on platforms don't want to be traumatized, maybe they should care more when the right to die issues come up in elections.

It's so easy for everyone to judge a dead man, but I bet no one cared when he was alive and breathing. It's only now his dead body inconveniences people that "oh no how awful."

Not directed at you OP but this general sentiment of looking down on people who pick more public methods. How awful, to assume everyone has the time, energy, and resources that you might have. Hard not to view it as victim blaming. I'm sorry it was traumatizing for you, but can we have some empathy for someone who was clearly suffering so much.

Exactly, people see this and only will say "maybe he shouldve seek help" well maybe he did and nobody cared and then wanted to ctb and couldn't do in a painless way.

 

[tbh2023]

Sorry if this is not fitting, this is my first post as a long time lurker. For context I've taken 1 attempt on my life as a teenager, and still consider on a erratic basis.


Hello, to introduce I work as a conductor for a high speed operator in the uk. I've only been qualified for about 4 weeks.

I allways knew it was a possibility, but to have a fatality within a month of qualifying is very unlucky for me

On Saturday a man jumped in front of my train at a local station aproaching a major city, my train was passing express so passed the platform at speed. I was in the rear cab at the time and saw the guy get smeared across the platform. This has fucked with me a bit.

The train was stoped for about 2 hours while the police cleared things up. Both me and the driver saw it happen, and I had to made the anouncment saying we had hit someone.

I'm nor really sure what to do now, and how it has changed my views on suicide in genral. I think he was very selfish as he has ruined lots of other people lives, there were people on the platform that saw what happend. Its not fair to put others in that situation no matter how bad things are.

I don't want to be disintegrated, and I don't want others to be impacted if I decide to follow though, but this has definitely raised some questions.

I'm off work until further notice.

What gets me is I won't even know his name.

Sorry you have to deal with this, but as suicidal yourself you should understand how the person might have felt prior. Yes it will cause Trauma in some cases with some people but not all of them. In any case and any method people will find the body and be traumatized just like a car accident. I don't think this person was selfish and I pray he was at peace.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I admit that my example wasn't completely accurate because shock and surprise play a significant role in trauma, and that willingly going to a public execution is not the same as suddenly seeing someone killed in front of you.

I also agree that seeing something like that can leave long lasting negative effects ok the person. And worst of all, on children.

With all that said, if 15% of drivers (who are directly involved in incidents) develop PTSD, then that number is probably less for passengers. That's just a guess though. And even if it was equal, it's still the minority of people. Most people will get on with their lives after a couple days and that's it. If it wasn't like that we wouldn't have survived as a species.

The big focus should be what brought the person to jump in front of a train in the first place. People being reminded that people out there are suffering and that society is kinda fucked is a good thing to an extent. Even the OP said that he's distancing himself from the forum and I'm sure he's no longer considering this as a viable CTB method. Witness trauma pales in comparison to what the person who jumped must've been feeling or experiencing. So the focus shouldn't be on the other people. Suicide is terrible whether there's no one to witness it or 100s of people.

Yeah, to be fair- I've wondered that before too actually. Like- if suicide was more out in the open. If it affected more people's lives directly- would there be more focus on why people do it? What could be done to prevent their lives reaching that point? And- if it's inevitable for some- they ought to be given access to humane assisted suicide clinics in order to reduce trauma on everyone.

I just wish we could target people more accurately- members of parliament or whatever. I wouldn't mind them witnessing something traumatic if it lead them to fully consider what some people are suffering and, what lengths they'll go to, to end that suffering.