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[billh58]

This message was self-deleted by its author (billh58) on Thu Mar 12, 2015, 05:25 AM. When the original post in a discussion thread is self-deleted, the entire discussion thread is automatically locked so new replies cannot be posted.

[flamin lib]

1. I have some personal experience with this.

A former son in law attempted suicide with OTC medication. When he didn't show up for work the EMTs found him unresponsive and barely breathing. Touch and go for 48 hours but he did recover and has gone on to find a happy life.

Consider that 22 veterans commit suicide EVERY DAY. Is that any way to support the troops?

The means do matter. Guns are a permanent solution to far too many temporary crisies .

[russ1943]

2. Means does, or is it do, matter?

The mindsight of the gun enthusiast doesn’t allow them to even consider this well-known and significant component of the U.S. gun death numbers. Celia Watson of the New York Times had an excellent article just the other day 3/9/2015 containing some relevant quotes from suicide experts.
“Suicide can be a very impulsive act, especially among the young, and therefore difficult to predict. Its deadliness depends more upon the means than the determination of the suicide victim.”
“In fact, suicide is often a convergence of factors leading to a sudden, tragic event. In one study of people who survived a suicide attempt, almost half reported that the whole process, from the first suicidal thought to the final act, took 10 minutes or less.”
“Dr. Brent’s research showed that 40 percent of children younger than 16 who died by suicide did not have a clearly definable psychiatric disorder….What they did have was a loaded gun in the home.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/health/blocking-the-paths-to-suicide.html?_r=0

[billh58]

3. Exactly correct.

Not to make light of this subject, but as the Australian comedian Jim Jeffries says, "one day you're happy, and the next day you're sad, and boom."

The right-wing gun lobby's "cure" for suicide is for better mental health care and availability, but suicidal tenancies are not usually a result of mental health issues. They are impulsive responses to sudden (and temporary) emotional upheavals, and are especially prevalent in teenagers. Suicides are almost always successful when easy access to a loaded gun is available, as opposed to other methods (cutting, poison, hanging, etc.).

The means DO matter when it comes to suicide, and the world record gun death statistics of the USA prove that fact very plainly.