I want to thank everyone for their very thoughtful input on this thread. And thank you jacq10 for posting it.

Since a member requested some clarification on what is acceptable discussion about suicide at PC, I'll be happy to try to explain. Of course, if there is something anyone doesn't understand or has questions about, please feel free to ask!

DocJohn has made a Community Guideline regarding the discussion of suicide strictly for the safety of the membership. The guideline states the following:

So, in other words, a member cannot come onto the forums and say for instance, "Tonight is the night I will do myself in", or, "I attempted suicide by ingesting too many pills last night".

I believe that a discussion such as what you are having here is absolutely fine. Talking about the difference between ideation and actual planning may help someone who is teetering on the edge to understand that they may need to ask for help and to actively seek it.

By allowing anything other than the ideation discussion or such as what you are talking about here would set our membership up for a very difficult triggering time. Since this is the internet and we are not with an individual who is threatening to harm themselves, we would be sitting here worrying and wondering and being highly triggered for this individual. Not to mention that the majority of us are not trained in how to talk down an individual from following through on their acts. Even the mods/admin are not trained in that area. While we would do our best to help, there is only so much anyone can do.

PC does not want to make suicide a taboo subject by any stretch of the imagination. It is a sad fact of mental illness. But we certainly want to keep the membership as safe as we can.

Take good care!