Understanding the Motives: Why do People Commit Suicide?

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The movie that starred Jack Nicholson and featured the famous quote “You can’t handle the truth” was in “A Few Good Men” film. So, understanding the motives: why do people commit suicide?

Because they can’t handle “the truth” and also the pain that comes with being depressed or anxious all the time. It’s a never ending loop that some people would rather die than try to find a way out of that loop. Besides, some of us just think that life isn’t going to get any better because of that loop. They can’t see that just beyond despair is hope, salvation.

So, what is suicide? The official suicide meaning is: suicide is death caused by injuring oneself with the intent to die. A suicide attempt is when someone harms themselves with any intent to end their life, but they do not die as a result of their actions. Therefore, many factors can increase the risk for suicide or protect against it.

Back to “you can’t handle the truth.” The truth is the emotional pain we endure day in and day out. Also, some people prey on these emotional pains and exploit them for their own gain of superiority (bullying). That’s a whole other subject that pisses me off.

I believe that anyone who commits suicide just wants the pain to end and they only see through tunnel vision that suicide is the answer. I’m here to tell you it’s not. I’ve been down this road many times and I’ve survived each attempt because I wasn’t meant to die at that particular time.

I believe I’m still here because I was meant to write this post and tell you all out there that suicide is not the answer. After all, it does get better…you just have to give it time. You have to practice the ideas that put even a small smile on your face over and over again until it becomes a routine.

Depression and Suicide

So, understanding the motives:why do people commit suicide? Is it part of depression? Depression and suicide go hand in hand. As a result, if your depressed for a long period of time and you think it’s not going to get any better, suicide happens. I’m here to tell you that’s not the answer. Because I tried multiple times to kill myself by swallowing a bunch of my meds.

Also, I started cutting because it was a release for the emotional pain to escape. I could take physical pain better than trying to deal with emotional pain. Although, sometimes I didn’t really feel the physical pain because the emotional pain was so overwhelming.

Depression in itself is horrible to live with. Concurrently, all the negative thoughts building up inside you. You’re like a pressure cooker waiting to explode. The same goes for anxiety. At length, you just can’t stop worrying or settle down long enough to really live your life.

Suicidal Causes

Understanding the motives: why do people commit suicide and what are the causes? For example, in young kids, bullying from classmates is one. They have to degrade you in order for them to feel superior. Consequently, I went through that from first grade until I graduated. No wonder my mind is screwed up. My first bullying experience was from my first grade teacher, believe it or not. Furthermore, she used to pull me out of my chair by my hair to make an example out of me.

Like I mentioned earlier, maybe the healthcare system is not working for you. No amount of meds or therapy is working for you.

Instead, I believe that if you want to change, it has to come from within you, not some outside force. Actually, I had that epiphany a few months ago.

What was actually driving my depression was the anxiety I was experiencing. Following being put on Clonazepam, the anxiety went bye-bye. In effect, I was finally put on the right med to help me.

By the same token, I know I’ve talked about the emotional pain that you may be feeling. I won’t lie to you, that’s a hard one to get over, but it can be done. In any event, it may take time and you’re probably thinking you don’t have time. You just have to BELIEVE that your situation is going to get better. Believing in that, you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Males and Suicide

Why do men have much higher suicide rates?

In brief, there are lots of potential contributing factors toward suicide, so there’s no simple answer to this question — particularly as research suggests women are more likely to receive a diagnosis of depression than men.

Therefore, it might be that depression in men goes underreported because men are less likely to reach out and get help. There’s still a stigma surrounding male mental health and that men should not express their emotions.

Hence, if men are less likely to seek support, there’s an increased likelihood that mental health concerns can get severe and potentially lead to suicide.

Subsequently, research suggests that women are more likely to attempt suicide than men, but men are more likely to die by suicide.

However, this might be because men may opt for more violent suicide methods, particularly in countries where people are more likely to own firearms. In the United States, for example, over half of gun owners are men, and over half of suicides involve firearms, according to a 2022 study.

It’s important to consider how suicide rates differ between male groups. LGBTQ+ men, for example, have a higher risk of mental health conditions than cisgender heterosexual men. This is due to the increased discrimination and stigma based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Similarly, older men have a higher risk of suicide than younger men. This may be due to factors like isolation and loneliness.

Suicidal Attempts

Why do individuals attempt suicide over and over again when they don’t get it right the first time? When meds, different therapies, doctors and therapists fail to help you, then you feel like nothing is going to help.

Understanding the motives: why do people commit suicide? To be honest with you, I had multiple suicide attempts, but the majority were a cry for help. Because I knew that if I went into the hospital, I would be safe for the time being.

Some of the meds I was on (especially Effexor) made me act like a zombie. I couldn’t tell if I was coming or going. Also, I had ECT treatments that did nothing but screw up my memory. I still have problems today.
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So if you have had multiple suicide attempts, STOP! There are other ways to seek help and you don’t need to die to abolish the anguish you feel..

I also did cutting on my arms. It was a way to erase the emotional pain with the physical pain even just for a few minutes. Although, sometimes that didn’t even work.

The only way you’re going to ease the emotional pain is changing your mindset. Therefore, if you have a negative thought, rearrange it into a positive one. Have some self compassion towards yourself. Overall, your life is never going to be perfect no matter how hard you try, so except yourself for who you are and who you inspire to be.

Over the Years

Over the years, the suicidal ideation becomes less prevalent as long as you work on becoming a better you. Therefore, nobody is going to change you but you.

If you’re taking meds, make sure you’re taking them when you’re supposed to. For the most part, if you’re taking benzos (like me), make sure you don’t get hooked on them and become dependent on them. I did that when I first started on meds and then it started working against me. But even then, I still kept taking it and didn’t tell anybody what I was going through. Several suicide attempts later, they took me off of it (and it wasn’t a benzo).

Over the years, I’ve reframed my way of thinking. Regardless, I’m not afraid to make mistakes anymore. I was a little hesitant on doing this post because nobody likes to talk about suicide. But it does happen, so we need to get it out in the open.

Over the years, you’ll look back and be grateful that you’ve survived your suicide attempts because you are a better person than you were back then. Surprisingly to you, you have family and friends who are glad that you stayed.

Notwithstanding, over the years you pick up new techniques in therapy (CBT, DBT, Exposure Therapy) to help you reframe those dreadful thoughts that you aren’t worth anything. You are, you just don’t know it yet!

Suicide Facts: Understanding the Motives, Why do People Commit Suicide?

Firstly, suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the US
In 2021, 48,183 Americans died by suicide
In 2021, there were an estimated 1.70M suicide attempts
Fourthly, the age-adjusted suicide rate in 2021 was 14.04 per 100,000 individuals.
On average, there are 132 suicides per day.
White males accounted for 69.68% of suicide deaths in 2021.
In 2021, firearms accounted for 54.64% of all suicide deaths.
Additionally, in 2021, the suicide rates were higher among adults ages 25 to 34 years (19.48 per 100,000) and 75 to 84 years (19.56 per 100,000), with the rate highest among adults ages 85 years or older (22.39 per 100,000).
Younger groups have had consistently lower suicide rates than middle-aged and older adults. In 2021, adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 24 had a suicide rate of 15.15.
Finally, in 2021, firearms were the most common method of death by suicide, accounting for a little more than half (54.64%) of all suicide deaths. The next most common methods were suffocation (including hangings) at 25.80% and poisoning (including drug overdose) at 11.56%.

How to Commit Suicide

When I saw “how to commit suicide” on Google, it didn’t surprise me. It’s been looked up on Google approximately 121,000 times. In sum, that’s a lot of individuals who are in desperate need to end their pain. Society has let these people down. In reality, all the governments and health officials in the world have let their people down.

With all this info on the web, it makes it easy to know how to commit suicide. That’s really sad. In short, young children can pick up on this if the parents aren’t limiting their access to the web.

It’s like telling people it’s ok to take your own life if you have any sort of problem. In contrast, that’s not the message I would like to hear if I were still suicidal. They’re literally condoning it. Suicide is not ok, it never was and it will never be.

As a person who attempted suicide over and over, I’m kind of appalled by it being easily accessible on the internet. . In other words, there are so many things wrong with this world nowadays. It’s like we forgot our morals. Some people, all they care about is themselves.

Conclusion

So, understanding the motives: why do people commit suicide? Specifically, they try to die because essentially they feel there is no other way out of the emotional pain they’re in. As a used-to-be suicidal person, I look back on my life and think that because of what I went through (good and bad), I wouldn’t be where I’m at today. Thus, I’m more self-confident and proud of myself for making it through those difficult times. Some people don’t make it.

In the meantime, my anxiety is under control and I’ve never been more happier. See, there is light at the end of the tunnel. It took me a while to see that, but it’s well worth it because I’m alive to experience life once again. Until next time…

Articles About Suicide

-After an attempt

https://afsp.org/after-an-attempt

-How to Help a Suicidal Friend Over Text: Modern Mental Health

https://brightharbor.org/how-to-help-a-suicidal-friend/#:~:text=The%20best%20approach%20is%20to,help%20to%20keep%20them%20safe.

-Suicide prevention

https://www.who.int/health-topics/suicide#tab=tab_1

Have a Great Day,

Cindee Murphy, One Voice In The Vastness Of Emotions

“You don’t want to die, you just want the pain to go away.”

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

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