Tag: suicidality

Fear of suicide (revision to blog of 6 Feb 2013)

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders, suicide

Fear of suicide.

This statement can be taken one of two ways. The first is that some people are afraid to talk about suicide for fear of sparking ideation or thinking about suicide. The second is that when
someone knows you are feeling low and have attempted before, they are afraid of losing that person and react in ways that may or may not help that person. Suicide attempters are at higher risk than non-attempters.

I’ll talk about the second interpretation first. I have a friend who is having me motivate her into
writing by having me contact her every day for six weeks. What sparked this was, she read my blog about my recent near-suicide attempt. Now her ulterior motive is to keep me alive the only way she can think of, by having me write to her every day. In return, she has to write at least two pages a day for her own well-being. She needs my help to pursue her writing, which is important to her more than anything. We are also guarding a human connection that is valuable to us. My writing keeps me alive, and because she doesn’t want to let me down, that helps her to write. She has this idea that people need human connection in order to stay connected to what they truly need to do, even if that connection is between polar opposites. She is bubbly and athletic, a motivational speaker, while I’m someone who is in chronic pain and disabled because of it.

I have to say that since I have been writing, I have been in better space. I would not say that I feel more connected, but I don’t want to let her down, so I try and write a little each day. Our rules are to email each other when we are done, and we are allowed our birthdays and Christmas off. For days where it is not possible for me to write because of whatever reason, we have given each other three passes on writing. Sometimes, because my pain or sleep deprivation is intolerable I find that it can help me be creative and write about things. I don’t have a censor when I write. Whatever I think at that moment, I write it out. Sometimes I find that writing it on paper helps more than writing in a word document.

I sometimes feel exposed because I am bearing my soul to this person I met through a friend on Facebook. We both belong to the same organization for suicide prevention. I am guessing that because she thinks of me as a sibling, and she did lose her sister to suicide many years ago, she does not want me to end up that way.

I write often because it is an outlet for me and my emotions. I am anonymous when it comes to my blog but not too much, as I pass these blogs on to my personal Facebook site, where my family members can have access to it if they were inclined to read it. Most often they do not because they are not online as much as my other friends are. I do not tell my family what I am doing. It would be heartbreaking and awkward for them to read what I write and then get asked at the dinner table what I meant by something I wrote. To be honest, half the stuff I write about, I forget. It’s an outlet like no other.

I am not going to lie and pretend that I don’t think about killing myself every day. It is a constant struggle, and I think that I worry a lot of my close friends who actually get to know me or who read my blogs about my struggles. But I think the reason why my blog has been so successful is because people can relate to what I write.

As far as the fear that talking about suicide can bring about a suicidal crisis, that is a common myth. Talking about suicide can actually prevent one, but some people are just not comfortable with the subject, and so they will say stuff that they think the person who is miserable wants to hear, like. “You have your life ahead of you,” “Don’t be so down, things could be worse,” or my favorite “You have so much to live for.”

People don’t understand the pain that is involved in depression or in thinking about suicide. I have problems. Quite a few. I have mental illness and chronic physical and mental pain. Both make me want to take my life. I have been thinking about taking my life since I was 8 years old. I was in a lot of pain for some reason or another, and it never got taken care of. Today, I think that pain stems from the fact that I am really a male and not a female. I knew at a young age that I was different, and back then, there was no expressing how I truly felt. I really think that if I had gotten help sooner, this would have come to light sooner, and I wouldn’t be in this pickle today about what to do with my transition.

I’ve started a new journal. And like every other journal before it, the first thing that goes into it is my crisis response plan which is the following (taken from the Air Force Guide to Managing Suicidal Behavior-Appendices)

When thinking about suicide, I agree to do the following:

Step 1: Try to identify my thoughts and specifically what’s upsetting me
Step 2: Write out and review more reasonable responses to my suicidal thoughts
Step 3: Do things that help me feel better for at least 30 minutes (examples can include trying to sleep, playing internet games, listening to music, etc.)
Step 4: Repeat all of the above
Step 5: If thoughts continue or get specific, and I find myself preparing to do something, I will call a suicide hotline or someone that I trust sometimes hotlines aren’t so helpful but calling a friend is
Step 6: If I cannot reach the above, I will call my therapist or psychiatrist
Step 7: If I am still feeling suicidal and I don’t feel like I can control my behavior, I will go to the ER or call 911

I have found having this useful when I have been hospitalized because it provides a plan of something that they need for discharge, and I always carry my journal.

discouraged and fatigued

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mental disorders, mental illness, mood disorders, physical pain

I have serious mental illness that disrupts my thoughts and shifts my mood to hopelessness and suicidal in an instant. I lose motivation to do things. Just getting out of the house is hard. 2 this condition is flat out driving me insane.

I asked my physio what are the goals of therapy and she laid it out for me and stressed I need to be doing the home exercises to regain what I have lost. It is stressing me out that going to my appts and then having to rest the day after or two is not working. I’m still in pain. She wants me to go to some functional program. But it takes full commitment, 2 or 3 days of being there 8-2pm. I honestly don’t know if I can do that. Some days I can’t get out of bed because I’ve been up all night in pain. Monday’s are worse because I have to walk to my therapist’s office. I just don’t know what to do. I just want to lay around the house and go to Starbucks and write. But pain is limiting me to even do that. I’m not adequately controlled with my pain so how the hell can I do these exercises if I hurt. Just fed up and want to quit everything.

I don’t know what to do anymore. My PT emailed me with goals and wanting me to go to a functional program at a different SRH location. My depression makes doing anything hard. Pain compounds this. I haven’t been doing much with the home exercises because I am exhausted after going to an appt the day before or even going to PT appt. PT is saying I need to commit to the therapy to regain function (haven’t had function in my ankle for 17 yrs mind you) and decrease fatigue in my foot/ankle. I’m starting to feel like a failure but I am not getting adequate pain control and I don’t know if I ever will. Just making breakfast today and taking out the trash hurt me. Making the squash killed me. Going up and down stairs hurts every single day and I do that a lot. Add the PT and it will overflow me. I feel like I am drowning. I am out of the house at least 3 times a week. I just can’t keep up. I move I hurt. I don’t move I hurt. How can I win?

If I don’t get adequate pain control soon, I am just going to end it. Why bother?

Another twitter rant on suicidal thoughts

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders, suicide

Another twitter rant on suicidal thoughts

Severe pain is an apparent suicidal trigger for me as I am sure others with Chronic Pain are too. In that moment, you just want to die as you don’t know if relief is coming or not. With CRPS, pain changes. Bone pain could become foot pain. It is never ending. Suicidal thoughts are fluid in people with chronicity. I can feel it for a few minutes to hours to days. It just takes a spark to ignite. Add hopelessness and the longer it lasts. If I feel trapped, I start planning my death. Sometimes I will give myself a date. Having that date comforts me. I can act on that date if I am still as intensely suicidal as I was in the moment of planning my death. Otherwise, the day passes like an ordinary day. Tonight I just had the passing thoughts of death and intense feelings of Joiner’s interpersonal theory of burdonsomness, better off without me feelings. I still don’t know why I am still here. I don’t wish to be. Guess I am just a coward to act. I have felt intensely suicidal a lot. I’ve given myself so many dates it is not funny. I fantasize about my plans and going through with them. Yet I am still here. As long as I have the fantasy of death, it keeps me here. It is a great escape, especially when pain keeps you from moving. Hopelessness intensifies the suicidal feelings more than being depressed or sad. I don’t have to be depressed to think about killing myself.

every little thing

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, chronic physical pain, depression, mood disorders

Every little thing

Having a rough day. I woke up around 0430 in pain. What a surprise. I stayed up till the Neurontin knocked me out around 0700. I took my morning meds so the alarm wouldn’t wake me in two hours. I was having a weird dream. I was in the Oval Office with the Orange Buffoon and the Charmed Ones. Piper used an axe to cut his head off while there was a cabinet meeting going on. I walked to the basement of some sort and then woke up, shaking my head.

I had woken up to the sound of my med alarm going off for my pain meds. I was still in pain but in a Neurontin fog. I needed espresso and I was going to get some. I took a shower, which my ankle enjoyed (NOT). I was feeling so depressed and suicidal because this is the 4th day in a row of suicidally intense pain. The pain was kind of lower than it had been after I took the extra dose of Neurontin so I figure getting espresso would be a risk worth taking. Plus I wanted to get burgers for supper.

I timed the shower and the bus schedule just right. I rested a few minutes after my shower to get dressed to catch the bus. It came within 9 minutes. The bus was mostly empty so I think that was why it was so fast. Usually I have to wait 10-15 minutes when it leaves the station. I brought my own cup for the espresso. I am trying to go green this year so I plan on bringing a mug or cup with me for my Starbucks drinks, if I am able to remember. It’s a work in progress so I can’t do the mobile ordering for now.

I couldn’t stay seated after I had my sandwich and some of the espresso. I kept looking at things to buy. They had my coffee, Casi Cielo back. I will get that next week. I also looked at some French presses. They had a really nice one but it was $50. I will get the $20. They also had a nice mug and am thinking of getting it next week. The mug was 16 oz, which is their grande size. I usually like the venti, which is 20 oz. I had bought a nice 20 oz stainless steel thermal mug that I absolutely love but having a smaller size would be nice. It was on clearance for like $10 so I might get it if they still have it. They didn’t have the French press mug that I saw. I tried to find it online but I think the Starbucks store is closed and you can only get it at the locations. I might have to go around as different locations have different stuff. I found they had the straws for my cup so I got that. Those are hard to find so I am glad they had them.

I wrote about one page in my journal before it was time to go to the butchers to get the burgers. I like getting it from there rather than Stop and Shop because it is fresher. They had ground beef on sale but you had to buy like 3-4 pounds for the deal. I didn’t need that much meat. I looked at the steaks as I haven’t had one in a while. I wanted a bones Angus one but they didn’t have it so I got a London broil. It was a huge piece. I asked my mother if she wanted some for supper tomorrow night or if she wanted me to freeze half of it. She doesn’t usually like steak. She said she wanted it and I could tenderize it with the hammer. OK, whatever. I’ll figure that out tomorrow.

Came home and was minding my own business while my pain went berserk on me. I took a strong pain pill and then because the pain was so intense, I got an anxiety attack. So I took some Ativan. About a half hour later I hear someone scream at the top of their lungs my mother’s name. It was my psycho aunt. She literally made me jump and I didn’t know if my mother was sick or what. My mother was thankfully okay and the fucking idiot was just yelling to let her know she was here. Fucking pissed me off. The idiot locked all the doors as she came up the stairs and guess who had to go back down to unlock them?? Not like my foot hurt or anything. Damn bitch. She was talking so damn loud the whole time she was here for like 2 hours or so I could swear the neighbors could hear her. It was getting on my nerves so I put some music on. Then the visiting nurse came for my mother. Even in her “normal” voice I could hear my aunt as she talked to the nurse, in my room with the door closed! Like nails on chalk board. I couldn’t wait for the nurse to leave so I could make the burgers. I was getting hungry.

The nurse left and within a few minutes, so did my loud mouth aunt. Burger time! I made two for myself and one for my mother. I have one patty left. I will have that for lunch tomorrow. Burgers were good. I loaded mine up with pickles, cheese, and mustard, the three things I love on a burger. I was very tired after I cooked and finished eating. I think the meds made me tired. Hopefully tonight I will sleep through and won’t wake up between 3 and 6 am.

The weekly special papers came, There are some sales my mother wants. I told her I would go to Market Basket tomorrow. She wants some chuck steak as it’s on sale. If I get it, I won’t get the eggs because they might break on the ride home. I will be traveling by T. I am sure the supermarket will be jammed packed as it will be Saturday. I’ll try to go in the morning so there will be less people, hopefully. Only thing that sucks is the return ride home. I will have to go to the Square to catch the bus home. Oh well. It will be an adventure. I am going to check the price of a few items I get through my online shopping. On some of the items I regularly get, the price has gone up by 20 cents. If Market Basket has it for a lower price, I will get it there next week, even though that means lugging it on the T.

I’ve read four chapters in my baseball history book this week. I have five chapters left. I hope to read another three this weekend. I am finding that if I read after my blog or before I want to sleep, I can get one chapter done. I am making notes along the way as well as using the stopwatch feature on my phone to time how long it takes me to finish a chapter. It takes me about an hour and a half to read just one chapter as they are so long. It is fun though. I am laughing because the Skankees haven’t been formed as of yet and Boston has as of 1871, though they weren’t the Red Sox. They were called different names but started out as the Red Stockings. The oldest team still in existence is the Cincinnati Reds, who were also called the Red Stockings in 1869. I am learning a lot as I read along. It is the first book that I have enjoyed since reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. If I keep up the reading, I should be finished with it sometime next week. It will be my first book read this year. I hope to read 25. That is my goal. If I don’t kill myself, of course.