At first, I hesitantly joined the site after learning it existed from a documentary, I was afraid of joining at first because of negative experiences in the past with disclosing my suicidal feelings with others. I was a lurker on the previous Reddit community, and had no idea this site popped up after the subreddit was banned. I have been suicidal since I was 13 years old- so now for over half of my life, if you can believe it- and morbid curiosity lead me to frequently research this topic, not just trying to scour for resources/methods to help me, but because I found it cathartic and less isolating to see others discussing the same pain I experience, and I wanted to participate in those conversations too.
Initially, I was looking for methods, but was also extremely lonely and had no one to talk to besides my abusive husband, especially since I joined during the peak of COVID lockdowns. I ended up meeting several people here that I got on with well and developing friendships with them. There are certain people here who I feel can really understand what I am going through, that I've never really found anywhere else.
Over time, some of those people have disappeared, some have passed, and the overall feeling I get visiting here is different than back then. I think I am clinging too hard to ephemeral memories and time- time that's long since past and is never going to come back. During that period, it wasn't as difficult to obtain certain methods, but now everything is even more highly regulated and kept under lock and key, it feels like.
So my guaranteed way out is gone now, my SN that I had obtained years ago got taken and thrown out without my knowledge, and I haven't found a way to get more. Learning about new methods is another reason why I stick around, even though many of the people I talked to don't post here anymore or are no longer in this world. I am very lonely in real life and have no one to talk to or socialise with anymore, so this place is always a lifeline in the back of my mind.
I am still suicidal, as I have been for many years. I know some people think your feelings are less valid if they have persisted, but I've been suffering terrible anguish for years and I don't know when I will find the courage to end this nightmare that's been going on far too long. That's why I'm still here, not for some altruistic reason or dreams I haven't achieved, but truly out of fear.