Do you think it's when suicidal patients start feeling better that they sometimes have the energy to follow through?

No. When a suicidal person starts to feel better, they recognize that they have choices (often the suicidal person feels they have none) and having a choice helpsto return one to a feeling of empowerment.

This came from a psychologist/psychiatrist (she was both, BTW) that I had consulted.

In my experience, it is when they are untreated or off meds, out of groups, they are the worst.

@luigirovatti Thank you for asking this question. Suicide is a topic shrouded in stigma and fear. It is often taboo to talk about, and that’s unhealthy. When we talk about scary subjects, they lose their power.

Suicide happens when pain outweighs the mechanisms a person has to cope with the pain.

The way we talk about suicide is important, too. It’s best not to say a person “committed” suicide. “Commit” is something we associate with sins and crimes. It pathologizes the means of death. It makes it seem dirty. Instead, say the person died by suicide.

Suicide is not the reason for the death or the cause. It is the result of the cause, which is often something like major depression or another mental illness. So, a person dies of depression, not of suicide. S/He died by suicide of depression.

If you or anyone reading this is very sad and having thoughts that are very scary, I want you to know that you are worthy of help. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800–273-8255 or text “start” to 741–741.

^GA.