Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Suicide

I have known 4 people who took their own lives. Not a day goes by that I dont think about at least one of them for a few minutes. The one individual seemed like the type of person to talk a person out of suicide, you never know what is going on in a another persons mind.

Already said, the diseases that make one prone to suicide are inheritable.

The act itself is not.

There is a difference.

Many people find statistical correlations and assume causation.

If one is prone to suicide, but is physically prohibited from the act, the progeny is as likely to commit suicide as if the parent had completed the act.[/quote

Idaho, I’m not sure how to interpret what that means. We might be agreeing. Suicide attempts have shown a genetic component even when the data is controlled for the underlying associated illnesses. I agree completely with your last paragraph. It supports my point.

My cousins husband came home after being laid off from international harvester several years ago and stuck a shotgun in his mouth with his kids playing on the floor.

Suicide takes the pain of one and throws it on many.

I lost a close friend to suicide when I was 17 and it messed me up hard for several years. Caused a lot of depression and anxiety and I was afraid I would end up in a place where it would be my only option.

Things cleared up for me and I've been through a lot of tough situations without any problems. The start of it getting better for me was quitting drinking. The hardest thing I ever did but within a few years of quitting I no longer had problems with depression and anxiety.

Over the years I have had other friends, some close, commit suicide and I was able to shake of it better than when I was young.

I don't think it is ever the right answer but better for one person to take themself out than take out others with them, which seems to be happening too much these days.

as i grow older I try to remember the good times I had with the individuals who made this decision, rather than judge them for it.

I have met many folks who were suicidal. 40/60 as to talking about it vs. completed the the task. In my view (LE experience, 34 years ) there are a few noted impressive facts. I was on scene for one where a LE planned his end of life experince for two years. He waited for a life insurance policy to mature. I had a women tell me once. "I am not afraid of dying , I am afraid of living". I had no positive comment to give back to her. many folks said they were wanted to die but they just wanted attention. They often just virbalized this or made a small cut on their wrist to show they had hurt themselves. The majority of them who were serious were just found dead. With no one having any inkling that they were going to do it. They saw it as the answer to all of their problems. Some planned to an incredible level, with all the details of how they wanted things to handled, banking, funeral, and individual letters to each loved one saying good bye. The hardest thing was how to tell the families the bad news. There just aren't any words, or enough money to deliver that kind of hurt to people! Having to sit back and watch it sink in. They would often ask me why, or what they could have done to stop it. Once someone reaches that decision, there is no stopping them from completing the act. In the end it is a selfish yet ballsy move. To say that they want out of the game in that way. We are simple yet complex beings. I believe that we are the only thing on this earth that can reason their way to suicide. I cannot think of any other other animal that is capable of that act. Just my 2 cents!

a timely subject. I had a sister in law that ended things on the 14th. Just a few days ago. She had been suffering from ALS, there was no recovering. She was in an advanced, debilitating stage. She was always a person to be in control of things. She waited until my brother went off to church, and shot herself. It's been a bad week for us all.

Mannlicher, I offer my condolences to you and your family. Losing someone to suicide , or any other means, does not lessen the hurt and anguish that is felt by their absence. I hope that there is comfort in the future for you in the fact that your sister will not suffer from the debilitating effects of ALS anymore. Feeling hurt, anguish and loss is a human condition that no one enjoys. I hope that in time, you will heal to a level that will allow you remember the many, many good things about your sister. Sorry, Blue.

Thoughts and prayers for you folks and your families.

Indeed. Deepest condolences to you both

Condolences to all who have lost people. Life can be really tough and it about to get a lot tougher. Buckle up and support each other.

I see people busy committing suicide every day - the morbidly obese does it with food, the alcoholic does it with drink, and the drug addict does it with every dose. It's just a slower process...

Mental illness abounds in our society.

This.

Sorry for what both of you and your families are enduring. Prayers sent.

The end of the this month will be 3 years for me when I lost my son. The mental images and sounds of that night and having a front row seat are something I do not wish on anyone. It has impacted my family and changed all of us forever. Time helps but you never get over it. For those that contemplate it, I promise you it will affect folks you know that you never thought of. It affects the younger people worse as 1) they have to live with it longer and 2) they have less capacity to process and understand. Thinking of you Diesel....

I've known 3 people that have committed suicide.

By far, the hardest was a young family member on my wife's side. Brady Oberg. He was an Army Ranger in the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. Those boys went through some shidtt over there.

The linked article from 2017 says that, since their return from deployment, 10 members of Brady's unit have died from suicide. I hope the remaining members were able to get some help. Brady's family started a foundation to help vets with PTSD and it's grown big.

That was one of the most gut wrenching funerals I ever attended.

https://www.perhamfocus.com/news/mi...-to-be-honored-through-wday-honor-flight

https://bradyoberglegacyfoundation.org/


I pray for every combat vet, considering suicide, to reach out to someone. The foundation I linked here was founded for that purpose.

I can't even imagine. Sorry for your loss, devnull.

One that stuck with was from during the pandemic. We saw a big upswing of elderly suicides during that time. One which was a 97 year old man. He was a widower and lived alone. He walked into his backyard with a 22 rifle and checked out of this world. In his letter he had left he lamented about how alone and scared he was. He was so isolated ,his family was not very far away but, seldom came to see him. Even then, it was at a distance He stated he was tired, hurting from being elderly and had nothing to live for. He ended his life and was found a week later by a neighbor. That one bothered me a bit. I could not help but feel for that poor man. The pandemic was terrible in so many ways, I hope not to see that again. I have learned that you never get over the loss of someone that you care about. The hurt is only dulled some. With time, you only get used to them not being there with you.

Sad to read Sam. Thoughts your way.

Diesel - thank you so much for initiating this thread, and appreciation to all who have contributed here. The click count is higher than most and that is excellent because this is a matter that cannot be over-explored. Those among us who have noted and decried the decline in great Campfire posting as compared to the "old days" can take heart with this thread.

Trying to avoid redundancy, it still seems important to highlight the fact that the life conditions and the kinds of feeling and thinking that lead to suicide are as varied and complex as the range of humans God has created. Due to this complexity, some of us right adjacent to a troubled person can be of a different sort that will not realize their situation and inclinations, and therefore not recognize opportunities to be of help - even when we would greatly wish to do so. Such missed opportunities seem to be a major source of the regrets and losses expressed.

Although believing myself to be a caring and helpful person (along with other quite contrasting characteristics) I also am naturally a lone wolf. These discussions and the reading of some posted stories (lately the Brady Oberg account) have caused me to realize that being willing and exercising our abilities to be more open to/for others - even those not close or known well - could be a key factor in working through normal complexity in order to be better.

To be able to see/understand and help a suicidal person to whom such assistance is vital could lead to victories large and small. Victories for the suffering person and for those of us who otherwise might be left deeply hurt by suicide and wishing to have been of more help.

Even though not coarse persons, and while being well-meaning, many of us can be so driven by goals/accomplishments, by hard values to which we adhere, by disciplined use of time and other resources, etc. that our senses are not open to the internal conditions of those who may be quite different from us - especially loved ones.

This thread addresses a hard topic - it isn't hunting/fishing/guns/personalities/politics - but rather a slice of life that can be devastating, or elevating if we are able to muster our better qualities. Just a tiny opinion in the mix of some excellent contributions.

Mother died at age 5........Father died of suicide at age 14 (10 days before the 15th birthday).

My rather limited experience is............you will either die very young........or be very successful.

The successful will always 'defeat' all those that take things for granted. You may despise those in-laws that crave an inheritance..........while you crave your parents appreciating their grand-children.

I was a decent baseball player. The father loved watching me play. Some of my kids were first team, All-State ball players. Sucks he was not here, to watch.

Business failing, along with spousal infidelity.........tough to beat. No excuse!

Screw it......can't take it with you. Wouldn't take anything, even if I could.

CALL ME.......if you ever get tempted. I will give you a perspective! Don't!