What do people think they are doing when they take their own lives?

Answer 1

sometimes they are in physical and psychological pain and have tried so many medications and treatments that they need the pain to end
no matter what the cost. It is not usually or attention and the person usually has a well thought out plan however they rationalize the impact on others such as it will in the Long run better for all if I am gone. This is if the person has been sick for along time and they are exhausted and frustrated that nothing has worked therefore this is the last option even though it is selfish and the person knows this. This person may have a will and things in order to make it easier on there loved ones. The other extreme it may be totally impulsive but unlikely. You are expecting an answer as the same as why do some people have cancer, Diabetes, Heart disease, etc., while others don't. There is no easy way to express what one feels when they feel the only way out is suicide. The above poster left a great post on some of their reasons. Think of it, you are in such emotional pain (it could be genetic depression) and doctors or the general health system haven't helped you and you live trapped in your own mind and body. Not nice is it? There has been little to no help in the not so distance past for mental illness and it's slow on the up-take so some people have had enough of the emotional pain and what they see they are putting their loved ones through. Oh yes you say, but the loved ones are left in worse pain when the person has committed suicide. Really? Just rent the movie 'The Bridge' on DVD and it's about several cases of suicide (one young man surviving) that jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004. There were 26 jumpers in that year. It's a depressing movie, but a must see if one can't understand the emotional pain some of these people go through and the way their loved ones handle it after. One person's strength isn't always great as another person's strength, but never mistake it for being a weakness!!!