Do You Personally Know Of Anyone That Committed Suicide? (page 2)

tiffy0212

I know of 3 people that went to the hall that commited suicide. All we male and in their early years. One hung himself, one locked himself is his car in the garage and turned the car on, and the other shot himself.

purplesofa

Yes, my stepdad and brother.

My stepdads suicide was the first. I had been newly baptised and freshly divorced. I did not handle it well at all.

I started drinking the day we buried him, I was never a drinker and did not handle that well and soon found myself

committing fornication and got DF. I went to grief counselling and took my kids as well, my stepdad was like my real father and

grandfather to my kids. We were all devastated. I found that my behaviour was typical of grief and started pulling myself out

of the situation. My stepdad was an amazing person, level-headed, slow to anger, everyone looked to him for advice. He touched many

peoples lives.

When my half brother committed suicide, the suicide part was a bit easier to accept as I had done allot of research on it.

I was fading as a JW so I did not have that pressure so much on me. At the funeral when I met my little brothers friends

getting to know the a little, I was amazed at how many of them thought of him as their BEST friend.

I still miss them both terribly and my life has never been the same.

The stereotypical thoughts I had about families with suicide deaths went out the window, these men were not crazy mad people.

Now you got me all weepy, grrrrr

purps

Still Breaking Free

My brother committed suicide nearly four years ago. He was a gently giant (7'2) and struggled beyond belief to conform. His struggle with fitting in started at school where he was bullied even though he was bigger than everyone else. He started to dabble in drugs and there started his road, which ended roughly around his 27th birthday. We don't know the exact date as he wasn't found for anything from a week to 10 days. I am not and never have felt anger for what he did. He just wanted to fit in and all that he was asked to do made him stand out. I know that feeling through and through. He stood out because of his height and he stood out because of his clothes and his lifestyle. He was never encouraged to do something that would take advantage of his height as anything extra-curricular was just 'worldly association'. As a result he went completely off the rails and continued in the downward spiral and I believe he felt that just disappearing would make it easier for everyone else; that we wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. He was wracked with guilt every day of his life because he couldn't live up to what was expected.

He was a kind and gentle human being. Everyone warmed to him and he left lots of people devastated when he died. He never got the chance just to be himself.

A message to my precious brother: You WERE good enough. We loved you SO much and we miss you every day.

Rxxxx

TheSilence

My dad threatened to commit suicide about 10 years ago and I put him in the hospital against his will. He still hasn't forgiven me because in his mind I over-reacted to the whole thing, but he's still alive so I'll take it; I have no regrets about it.

I know 4 people who have committed suicide beyond that, 3 witnesses, 1 non-witness.

So, of my 5 suicide experiences, 4 of them were witnesses. Since I have known many times more non-witnesses in my life than I have known witnesses it makes me think there is a higher prevalence of suicide in those who have been witnesses than in the general population. Of course, this is based only on my experiences, which is a pretty small control group.

I know with my dad... he needs this religion in his life, he has invested too much into it... so when he was disfellowshipped and after a year of attending meetings and not talking to anyone the elders still wouldn't let him back in, it just became too much for him. Did I mention that when I put him in the hospital I contacted the elders and threatened to go to the media if they didn't reinstate my dad and he killed himself? He was promptly reinstated upon release from the hospital.

Some people need this religion. It's sad, but it's true. Over time, with the information available, the number that need it will get smaller and smaller until it goes away, but currently I think for some it is a necessary evil.

Jackie

dandingus

2 people in my graduating class from High School committed suicide. No JWs in my old circuit that I know of have done so, but the operative term here is "that I know of".

An interesting corollary to this topic would be "have YOU ever thought of suicide?". The answer in my case is "yes", although I have dismissed the idea for the present and the foreseeable future. I'm sure a lot of people leaving the witnesses have at least thought about it. It's a morbid topic, but an important one to discuss. The organization so consumed our lives for so long that upon leaving that it may seem like we have nothing left. The trick is to find new things to replace what we gave up, and sometimes to rediscover things about ourselves we never knew we lost in the first place.

Emma

I've known three, all witnesses, all young.

minimus

It makes you realize that you never really know what can drive a person over the edge.

The Oracle

I personally knew eight individuals who took their own lives. Six of these poor people were Jehovah's Witnesses.

I have heard of a couple other JWs who took their own lives, but did not know them personally.

In my area, the proportionate number of JWs who have committed suicide is much higher than the general population.

This is not surprising to me.

I suspect that the statistics would be similar across the country and around the world, but I would love to see a commissioned study done on this with published results. Any University students or professors out there who could get this done ?

The Oracle

designs

As an Elder I had to deal with families losing someone this way, and as a drug and alcohol counselor I've had to deal with people self inducing their death by overdose, great tragedy.

minimus

Could it be that if a person considered suicide that they would be more prone to doing it? (I'm not talking about a brief thought during a depression)....Good questions based on Dandi's thoughts.

Do You Personally Know Of Anyone That Committed Suicide?

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