My best friend attempted suicide.

[Dumb]

Sorry for the blunt title. I don't really know how to mince these words. My best friend, the one who turned me towards the left in the first place, my Mentor in Communism, tried to take her life about a month ago.

She and I don't exactly live in the same town, so our correspondence is almost entirely via e-mail these days. We were writing back and forth about once a day, then it slowed down to a couple times a week when she moved and had to get a second job...and then it just stopped altogether.

I e-mailed her a couple times over the last month, enough to expect a response but not so much as to be harassing. Then, today, I broke down and e-mailed her cousin. He told me what I'd feared and suspected - she'd attempted to kill herself on her birthday, but was discovered by somebody before she was gone all the way.

My Mentor's in a psychiatric ward now, and reportedly getting better.

[Aurora]

Im sorry to hear that, it's a pretty awful thing to happen, how are you coping?

Moving can be pretty stressful, if she didn't know anyone there it's easy to become isolated, combined with working two jobs :(

Would it be possible for you to visit her? I'm not sure how much of a good idea that would be but perhaps it's something to think about, if you two were best friends i'm sure she'd love to see you.

[Principia Ethica]

I'm very sorry to hear about the tough time that your friend is going through. . . but I'm glad she is getting help and recovering.

Speaking as a person who has had multiple attempts at suicide as a teen (I'm in my 30s now and have never considered it since) the best thing you can do is just be there. Not as a lecturer, not as a pseudo shrink. . .trust me she will get plenty of that from her doctors and family. Be there but give her space if that makes sense. Give her a wide berth so that she can open those huge flood gates. . .and be ready to hug and cry with her. Just be her best friend. Be on her team.

[PhoenixAsh]

@Dumb,

I am sorry to hear this. Must be rough. Especially sinceyou don't live in the same town. But maybe it is a good idea to visit. And, yes, I think PE gave some very good advice....try to be there for her as a friend with kindness and understanding and plenty of room.

good luck. Wish you and your friend all the best.

[Jimmie Higgins]

That's terrible, I'm glad she seems to be getting better.

[praxis1966]

PE definitely gives good advice... I've been through some traumatic shit in my time so I can say from experience that not pressuring your friend to talk is probably the best policy. She'll open up on her own eventually, in the meantime your job is just to be a good friend.

[OhYesIdid]

PE all the way. Suicidal people need someone they can talk to, not be talked at by.
Solidarity :star3:

[Rafiq]

Why are so many communists depressed people? I haven't tried to commit suicide, but I myself have thought about doing it in the past several times

[AmericanCommie421]

Really sorry to hear about that. I hope she gets better and everything in her life goes better. Also, I hope her friends and family are able to cope with this and help out.

[Broletariat]

Why are so many communists depressed people?
Ignorance is bliss, it's not easy understanding what Capitalism is and knowing that, we can't do a damn thing about it (unless the working class starts to do stuff too of course).

[Misanthrope]

Ignorance is bliss, it's not easy understanding what Capitalism is and knowing that, we can't do a damn thing about it (unless the working class starts to do stuff too of course).

Yep, we realize how fucked society is and how far fetched it is that anything will change in our life times. That... and people being typical shitty people...

[The Dark Side of the Moon]

sorry to hear.







Ignorance is bliss, it's not easy understanding what Capitalism is and knowing that, we can't do a damn thing about it (unless the working class starts to do stuff too of course).
yea, i agree with that very much

[Fulanito de Tal]

It's super sad to have a friend commit suicide, even more a best friend. I'm sorry that this happened. If it helps, I had a friend commit suicide about a year ago and I just felt numb for a while. Not in the sense that I couldn't feel something on me, but that I wasn't sad or depressed. It's a weird feeling. Trying to makes sense of my friend's intentions didn't help. What did was that I had to realize that it happened. I had to accept it. My friend lived and he did what he did because that what he felt was best. I focused on the good times we had and was happy for that.

[Tablo]

I'm sorry to hear this. A childhood friend of mine killed himself shortly before his graduation from high school. I don't understand why he would want to do it.. I've been thinking about it for awhile and it just doesn't seem to go away. I'm glad your friend survived. Losing a friend is a painful ordeal... :(

[coda]

really sad... my heart goes out to you.. I hope she is now getting the support from friends and family and everyone else that she needs...

Birthdays are significant times for things like that... On my 16th birthday (many years ago) my good friend ended his life... we had elaborate plans to go out and party big time and unbeknown to me he had a whole set of other disastrous plans...

Keep being a good friend is the only advice I can give...