[2585] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: suicidal thoughts
tiuzzol@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (tiuzzol@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Mon Dec 9 23:18:43 1991
I agree that counseling at MIT may be poorly run and not a good idea,
but I'd suggest finding an on or off-campus counselor even if it means
doing some research to find a good one.
You need to be realistic about the situation. If it looks like it's
getting better, you may choose to hold off (holding off may be
dangerous though), but if you think the situation is getting worse,
then you need to get help for your friend, or at least advice so that
you know what to do and say to them. You also need to be realistic on
how long you can hold out. Dealing with a suicidal friend, checking
up on them, worrying about them, searching for them when they threaten
to go, is very tiring and stressing. You have to hope that you can
deal with this stress as well as normal life whether or not they get
help, but their getting help may speed up the healing process.
As for the CPs or psychs being incompetent, I can only suggest this
thought: Having a bad experience with a bad psychiatrist or a bad
runin with the CPs is nothing compared to them being dead. They may
hate the situation, they may hate you, they may still want to kill
themselves, but if they will be alive a year later, you've saved them,
and you've saved a lot of people the pain of losing someone close to
them. And losing someone close to you is often how the suicidal
process starts.
One other thing... If you call the CPs or if someone else does, or if
somehow your friend gets locked up in a hospital for suicidal people,
don't try to get them out, especially if they're not being
cooperative. It'll only make them more afraid to get help. Once
they're in, they should deal with their problems, talk to the psychs
(as much as they may hate it) and not try to BS their way out.
Encourage them to talk to the doctors and to tell them the truth. It
may feel like betraying them, but if they come out without getting any
help, they'll be worse off than when they went in, and if they commit
suicide later, you'll wonder if you really should have helped them get
out, or if you passed up the one chance to get them help.
