h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Having seen a young girl killed by another young girl jumping to their death and landing on her - that point really needs making.

The only point in this I'm not sure of is the one about not talking about it. It means giving no one the chance to test the decision. Perhaps talk anonymously, to the Samaritans maybe. Someone who would never know the result, or who you could say had changed your mind even if they hadn't.

Other than that it's a good checklist, anyone completing this has the right to decide to call an end. Personally I think there's always a value to be found in life. With the possible exceptions of the last stages of a terminal illness, or maybe alzheimers.

Talking about it often means that you want to be talked out of it. The advice is intended for those who don't.
Unfortunately people with severe pain are usually too incapacitated to kill themselves, even if they want to. Many years ago a family friend had inoperable stomach cancer and gassed himself. I don't think that's possible any more, but I haven't really researched it.
I wonder if people with Alzheimer's know they've got it. I know it's dreadful for their carers, but I wonder if it's dreadful for the patient.
I think that suicide is both selfish and cowardly, but, as you will see from the article, I didn't always think so.

"Talking about it often means that you want to be talked out of it. The advice is intended for those who don't."

Granted, but it could be read by those just thinking of it. But maybe they would be unable to resist talking about it. I don't know enough about this to say. You are in a much better position to judge .

The two cases I mentioned are ones where I would not think of it as a selfish act. I feel it is a pity people in great pain with a terminal illness, who have gone through the planning you suggest, are not allowed to decide 'enough'.

I'm no expert but I think people know they have Alzheimer's at the onset. And the degree fluctuates so they could be aware intermittently. By the time it was bad enough to say 'this is enough' they would be unaware. So what I was thinking of was assisted suicide I suppose. Agreed with someone in advance. Knowing how awful it would be for anyone who cared about me is what would make it dreadful for me. Assisted suicide is a whole different kettle of fish however and not really relevant to your checklist.

Great entry. I hope it will startle some people into thinking of the realities if they're considering suicide, the pain it causes for survivors and the mess (financial or biological) that gets left behind.

I understand the idea of not wanting to make people feel guilty if they were unable to prevent someone's suicide, but isn't it worth the risk to advise that a suicidal person talk to someone, just in case they can be talked out of it? Maybe a side note could be added for those who feel guilty, to remind them that blame goes squarely on the person who committed suicide, and should not be assumed by anyone who tried to talk them out of it?

Yes, but in my experience the people who didn't manage to talk the suicide out of it feel even more guilty than those who didn't know their friend or relative was suicidal. "If only I'd known...If only he'd told me..."are fairly common responses to an unexplained suicide and the guilt associated is great (even if unreasonable). I think it is even worse for those who 'failed' to persuade someone to go on living.
Yesterday a young woman gassed herself in a block of flats here in Hong Kong. The explosion caused by the gas build -up took out at least two of her elderly neighbours and the resultant fireball killed and injured many (including some firemen) and estroyed many people's homes.

But think of the results of what you're suggesting. If you recommend that suicidal people not talk to others, then it may result in fewer surviving friends or family feeling guilty about it afterwards, but more people succeeding with their suicides (since they might have been talked out of it). If you recommend that suicidal people do talk to others, then some friends or family may feel guilt after being unable to prevent it, but some of them may get talked out of it, resulting in fewer actual suicides.

The choice is between more suicides succeeding, or more survivors being depressed afterwards. I would vote for more depressed survivors.

After it happens, how many surviving friends or family members would beg for the chance to have had just a few words to talk them out of it?

I just think the best advice would be to always try talking people out of it. The payoff of maybe talking someone out of suicide would be worth the risk of getting depressed if you can't.