What advice would you give to someone who's suffering from depression and is on the verge of ending their life?

[Anonymous]

ngl, that someone is me.

[Losalt]

I live in Norway.
Over here we have polar nights and midnight suns.
When you're depressed it feels like everything is bad and like it never has been good nor will it ever be.
Just like it feels like the night will never end during the winter here in Norway.
Darkness, coldness, emptiness...
We just try to get through it, one day at a time.
Enjoying what little we do have.
Northern lights, when that's visible.
Light festivals that we create to get through the winter.
A hot chocolate and candle lights and heat from the fireplace while looking out at the storms.
Just taking one day at a time.

However, no matter how infinite the winter night might seem it *does* end, eventually.
You start getting some twilight for a little bit of time during the day.
Then a combined sunrise and sunset, and you can see some sunlight over the horizon even if the sun itself stays below it.
Then it peeks over the horizon, for a moment during the day, when you're at work or scho6or whatever, but perhaps you get a glimpse of it through the window if you're lucky, and can get some hope.
It gradually gets longer.
The sunsets and sunrises gets longer,
The *day* gets longer.
It's still short though.
And sometimes you don't see it because of clouds.
But at least you *know* that there is a sun out there *somewhere* behind the clouds.
And occasionally you'll see it, and can feel the heat on your skin on your face, and have some hope.
The snow melts, it gets greener.
The waterfalls fills with water.
The birds return.
You can hear their happiness.
With time you go from spring to summer.
And the day becomes even longer till all the night is is just a single long combined sunset-sunrise with the sun never actually setting.
And you just enjoy the heat and light while it lasts.
Because you know that the winter *will* return.
But so does the summer.
So you endure.
A lot of us have winter depressions.
But if you survive the winter you'll get out on the other end with a beautiful summer, and experience happiness.
That's how life is too.
There are winters, there are summers, there's storms, and life *is* hard.
And the darkness *does* return at times.
But you grab hold to whatever light you get.
And sometimes you get nothing but light.
Sometimes there's next to no light and you have to make some yourself.
But it's worth it for the summers.
For that heat on your skin, that happiness.
Even if you don't remember it you *will* experience it again.

[Losalt]

What I didn't add at the end is:
You *will* experience it again, if you give yourself a chance.

[Anonymous]

Have you heard of the 988 number? What about reaching out to a family member or friend?

https://988lifeline.org/talk-to-someone-now/

[Asker]

I’m not from the US

[Opinion Owner]

Ok, try this link. Or you good do a Google search.

https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/

[Opinion Owner]

*could

[Rhizomorph]

I’m going to assume you have at least 1 person in your life that cares about you, (wether that’s family or a friend or just somebody that shows you that they give a shit about you, hell, it could even be a dog or cat that cares about you) if you do have someone in your life that shows you safety and care then I strongly encourage you to think about the emotional toll that person will feel when they find you dead on the floor crying and telling you to wake up.
Should you decide to commit suicide in nature (jumping off a cliff w/ the intention to hit the rocks, or finding a place that makes you feel like nobody would be able to find you if you decided to kill your self there) then I’d still encourage you to imagine how sad it is for police or investigators to eventually find your dead body and have to break the news to whoever was closest to you.
I’ve had 3 dreams about my own death. 1st one was a death that was out of my control but I still saw/felt myself die in the dream. 2nd was a dream where I committed suicide by downing a bottle of Xanax and flushing it down w/ liquor. I remember feeling intense stomach pains in that dream and those pains told me “holy shit, your body is reacting to what you just did and yep, you and your organs are now shutting down” 3 seconds after that realization I immediately regretted making that choice. 3rd dream would be too long to explain.


My point is: killing yourself feels like the only way to end whatever the degree of pain and suffering that you’ve been feeling internally and or externally and while doing so may release you to a peaceful void of nothingness, you’ll be making life harder for the people who gotta get use to living without you, for the people that gotta get use to missing you and mourning you. You’ll never know what it’s like to be apart of death even when you’re dead because, well, my love, you’ll be dead. Nobody who is dead gets to tell us that “the grass really is greener on the other side!” No, there is no greener when somebody kills themselves.
(Sorry if this was a long response, my bestest friend killed herself last year bc of her mental health and I miss her everyday and would give just about anything to experience smiling and laughing w/ her again the way we always would) so please, you’ve gotta keep fighting.

[Rhizomorph]

Also: why risk taking that kind of karma into the next life. Who knows how that shit works or if it even IS a thing at all but in this case: let’s pretend it’s real, let’s pretend that whatever you do in this life you will karmically bring into the next. Say you kill yourself to end the pain and suffering you feel in this life. Say the slate is wiped clean and you’re a “brand new soul being born into the world” - imagine that you’ll still maybe be depressed even in that new life? What if that’s due to leaving behind the past life your illness had convinced you to give up?
Rest assured, those are all just theories.
Regardless, depression is unfortunately common but suicide is miles more tragic.. maybe not for the person who’s killing themselves, but for the rest of the world.

[Blackcosmo]

I'm sure there is a person/pet (s), or people who care about you. I'm sure they would be so hurt if they found you dead. I know that ending your life makes you feel like all the pain is going to be over but in a way it does but also doesn't. Honestly life sometimes gets a lot better and you'll never experience that if you're dead. You can't just take your life because you haven't created your soul. Get therapy if you have to and it'll help. I know it's hard but you have to push through.

[sw1916]

I would tell you to talk to someone. Also I’d encourage you to take a look at your issues and problems and understand that they are fixable.

[Fuentes]

You really tryna miss out on the seasons of good shows you like to see what happen at the end? Nah no way you gotta see the ending of every good show out.

[duttyjamagyal]

Do crack jk I would get on Zoloft