• Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Jesus, there is a non-zero number people, in this thread, that don’t get guns because they are afraid they might suicide? I hope you get the help you need, keeping a gun out of your house is a good thing but it is just the tip of an iceberg.

    Edit: Everyone on this thread is acting like this is normal, THIS ISN’T NORMAL OR OK. PLEASE take care of yourself.

    • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      There’s a well-known and strong correlation between gun ownership and suicide rates:

      Men who own handguns are eight times more likely to die of gun suicides than men who don’t own handguns, and women who own handguns are 35 times more likely than women who don’t.

      I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that people are “acting like this is normal” - it is a real danger, and it’s good that these folks are aware of it and are acting accordingly. Even if you get help, you won’t just magically get better and will never suffer from suicidal thoughts again. Making sure you don’t put yourself in unnecessary danger seems like a healthy strategy to me.

      • IronKrill@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        Is it just me or this statistic kind of… useless? It’s the same as saying “people who own a car are eight times more likely to die in car crashes”. No shit. Surely we should be comparing the raw (successful) suicide rate of gun owners versus not. Later in the article they do cover this to a point, stating that it is still a 4x increase.

        The researchers found that people who owned handguns had rates of suicide that were nearly four times higher than people living in the same neighborhood who did not own handguns. The elevated risk was driven by higher rates of suicide by firearm. Handgun owners did not have higher rates of suicide by other methods or higher rates of death generally.

      • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I don’t know if it’s a people who already have issues and have guns are more likely to use the gun instead of other means kind of statistic you have there, but owning a gun does not want to make you want to kill yourself purely by existing. It is a problem that exists regardless of the gun. And people who just… don’t have a gun have a thousand different ways to accomplish the task. You aren’t like, a healthy individual then get a gun and suddenly have … urges.

        • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I don’t know if it’s a people who already have issues and have guns are more likely to use the gun instead of other means kind of statistic you have there

          Well, you could easily figure that out by reading the link I sent. But I’ll gladly clear it up for you: the statistic isn’t about “likelihood of using gun for suicide”, it’s “likelihood of suicide”. Men who own guns are 8x more likely to kill themselves than men who don’t.

          but owning a gun does not want to make you want to kill yourself purely by existing. It is a problem that exists regardless of the gun.

          It is, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the statistics. Owning a gun dramatically increases your chances of suicide, mostly because it’s the quickest method easily available. Suicide is extremely often an impulse. If you have a quick and easy method available, you’re far more likely to commit suicide than if you don’t. This has been researched for a long time.

          And people who just… don’t have a gun have a thousand different ways to accomplish the task. You aren’t like, a healthy individual then get a gun and suddenly have … urges.

          Okay, so people with suicidal thoughts should just buy guns and go through with it, or what? I’ll repeat myself: you don’t just get help and are magically better the next day. Improving your mental state is a process that takes at the very least multiple years. Knowing yourself and statistics well enough to not give yourself an easy suicide method is good.

          • Baŝto
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            7 months ago

            I assume it increases the risk of successfully kill yourself on impulse. Having fleeting suicidal thoughts because of a temporary circumstances, is what is dangerous here. That’s the kind of suicide you’d regret if you could regret something when being dead.

            The more interesting thing is that it’s only 8x higher for men opposed to 38x higher for women. If I remember correctly men tend to do more brutal suicides, which means a percentage probably only got that gun to kill themselves.

    • Madison420@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I think it’s more of a don’t trust themselves with that power sort of thing, I’ll bet most of them have a hard time making the big calls and hard shots of life and work.

    • ReplicantBatty@lemmy.one
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      7 months ago

      Been seeing a psychiatrist and been in therapy for years, I still know it’s a really bad idea to keep a magical “life goes away” button in my house.

    • Jeanschyso@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Basically the out of a simple pull of the trigger is too easy. Easier than jumping off a bridge, relatively painless, quick and doesn’t injure bypassers.

      Having the gun is too easy an out, so people with suicidal thoughts will stay away from them. I was like that too at 22. Here’s just one of many stories. Trigger warning for suicide (duh)

      If Quebec, Canada had the same access to handguns as the US, I would be dead today. Simple as that. Instead, I failed an attempt to jump from a viaduc because I was scared of causing a collision and taking someone else with me, was sent to the hospital by the police, got a psychiatrit’s help. Turns out I wasn’t a lazy worthless piece of shit. I had an untreated, very powerful case of ADHD blocking me from accomplishing anything of value.

      I am no longer suicidal. I’ve overcome that. However, I always worry that those feelings will one day come back after a series of bad decisions. I am, therefore, keeping things that would kill me in an instant without pain away from myself. You just never know when you’ll have a moment of weakness. If I thought to off myself once, I can think of it again.

      • Guy_Fieris_Hair@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I guess my initial comment, for me, was the perspective that it is common enough to have this many people openly talking about it in this thread very nonchalant, like that is the norm. There are a thousand reasons not to own a gun, that reason seemed a little specific, then others chimed in that were on the same page. It just surprised me. I am glad you are doing better and I hope you remember how temporary those feelings are if they ever come back.

    • The Menemen!@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I hope those people seek further help (just google sucide prevention). Not having a gun is not sufficient suicide prevention.

    • dingus@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Idk if you’ve ever had suicidal thoughts, but they can are generally really impulsive, and not really well thought out. Obviously everyone is different, but many suicides are done on impulse.

      I’m doing perfectly fine right now. I’m happy and have a pretty good life. But I know that when bad events happen, those suicidal impulses are just that…impulses. they aren’t something that most people who attempt suicide sit down and take the time to thorougly think out. They can happen unexpectedly when you’re in a vulnerable stste. Unexpected and intense life events happen that can push even “normal and well adjusted” people over the edge if they have access to something dangerous like that. Imagine suddenly and unexpectedly losing your spouse or your career or etc. Shit happens.