Hanging on to Life

The following is from the Prison Survival Guide.

THINKING ABOUT SUICIDE? READ THIS FIRST

If you are feeling suicidal now, please stop and read this. I am not a therapist or other mental health professional—only someone who knows what it is like to be in pain.

I don't know who you are, but I assume you are reading this because you are troubled and thinking about ending your life. I would prefer to be there with you, but since that is not possible, we will have to make do with this.

I have known many people who wanted to kill themselves, so I have some idea of what you might be feeling. I won't argue with you about whether you should kill yourself, but I assume if you are thinking about it, you truly feel bad.

Consider this: "Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds the resources for coping with pain."

That's it. You are not a bad person, crazy, or weak because you feel suicidal. It doesn't even mean that you really want to die. It means only that you have more pain than you can bear. There are many kinds of pain that may lead to suicide. Whether the pain is bearable differs from one person to the next. The point at which the pain becomes unbearable depends on what kinds of coping resources you have. When pain exceeds pain-coping resources, suicidal feelings result. Suicide is not a defect of character; it is simply an imbalance of pain versus coping resources. Find a way to reduce your pain or find a way to increase your coping resources.