Discussion What is an attempt?

[ElusiveFreedom]

So to start I've never considered myself as someone who attempted suicide and I am still not sure if I did. Few weeks ago I started cutting myself, then drank alcohol and I got to the stage where I really wanted to cut my veins. I've tried cutting myself on my wrist but I couldn't make myself go deeper even tho I really wanted to with the intention to kill myself. The next day I woke up with severly damaged top of my arm and some small cuts on my wrist. Since then I'm thinking if that's a attempt? I already did this multiple times and never succeeded nor did I tell anyone including my psychologist and psychiatrist. The reason I thought about it the last time was that I made a deal with my psychologist to have a crisis plan if I feel like its an emergency and when I was cutting I seriously considered calling one of those lines or an ER as it was written in my crisis plan by my psychologist. I still don't consider the stuff that I did as an attempt so I want to ask you guys.

My question is, what is an attempt, do you have to be hospitalize for it to be considered an attempt? Do you have to plan it before hand? Do you have to do something that's possibly fatal but failing it? Also feel free to share your experiences and if you fell it was an attempt or not.

 

[an alien]

imo an attempt is anytime you go through an action with the intent and hope that it ends your life. hospitalization, method, preplanning all dont matter. failing matters only cause its whats makes it an attempted suicide rather than a suicide.

 

[graveface]

I had a similar experience with finding out that what I thought were me being a coward were actually attempts.

-I tried to slash my wrists when I was a teenager and failed to comedic extent but I'd genuinely intended to die.

-In college I found a window open at the top of the big tower building on campus, and thought, "what the hell, why not?" I climbed out, up onto the roof with the intention to jump, but the class bell rang and suddenly the sidewalks were full of fluffy little freshmen who I didn't want to land on or traumatize.

-As a young adult I used to go home on lunch breaks, pick up my now-ex's firearm, and try to get the courage to use it. I even put it in my mouth.

I thought none of these were attempts because I didn't wake up in the hospital or whatever. No one even found out about them. Now I hear that at least some of these do qualify as attempts?

 

[metothemoon]

Had the same question. Sometimes I think an attempt only counts (for others) when you wake up in the hospital or get caught by the police. But I think there are a lot more "attempts" that people did not take seriously enough and ended up to be fatal

 

[Thisisnotaname]

I don't realize first time what's involve in my mood bc I liked every people I met this time in this psych ward but in fact when you left you don't stay in touch with them and the life you left after your attempt still here when you're "free".

And you realize that's suxx you're still here.

Edit : sorry I wanted to post on another thread but I had a sort of bug...

 

[Emeralds]

You don't have to be hospitalized for it to be an attempt. An attempt is when you do something with the intention of it ending your life. It doesn't necessarily have o be planned ahead of time. There are a lot of impulsive suicides.

There are different kinds of attempts if that's what you're asking. There are some people who don't have any real intention of killing themselves. They make a para suicidal attempt where they do something that they know won't kill them because they want help but don't know how to ask for it.

Then there are serious attempts where someone chooses a method with a high success rate because they really want to end it.