talk someone out of committing suicide

I’m thirteen and I, myself, have found myself contemplating suicide since I was nine (regretfully, I still do from time to time). I have long since devoted my time to helping others and I wish to become a therapist so I can continue to help others.

About a year ago, I found a teen help site (teenhelp.org, if you’re curious) and I immediately fell in love with it because I could help others. I became a part of the staff (a mentor, to be exact) in late June. Must I say, it was a dream come true for me. I have helped many people get over depression and suicidal feelings. I do it everyday, and although it is hard to do, I love it because it makes me useful. It’s well worth the time to sit back and talk to this person and help. They may be strangers, but you bond with them and I feel proud to know I prevented a suicide everyday.

This is only worth doing when the person threatening to commit suicide is SERIOUSLY going to do it, and not when they’re doing it for attention. How can you tell the difference? You can’t really. Better to be safe than sorry. It sucks to have that type of responsibility on your shoulders.

I sat & listened to the extreme amounts of pain & dispair my friend is experiencing. I held (& continue to hold) open the possibility that they may STILL go through with an attempt.

My goal wasn’t really to talk them out of it, but mostly just to be a compassionate ear.

I have spoken with COUNTLESS suicidal people in my life, have experienced the after effects of close friends going through with the deed. I have been devistated by the deaths, AND want to trust that MAYBE just MAYBE this was the best thing they knew how to do under the circumstances.

I myself have felt that desperate, but somehow held back, something let me trust that things would be better someday (& they have)—I can only hope that my presence w/ friends, acquaintances & family in pain will be a window out of the darkness…