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Old Jan 13, 2010, 10:44 PM
wonderingmary wonderingmary is offline
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Member Since: Nov 2009
Posts: 145
Quote:
Originally Posted by fallenangel337 View Post
When I told her about the suicide attempt, she seemed concerned, but it wasn't horrible. I got through it. After we discussed it a bit more, she was briefly highlighting the good things about me, I guess. So in all that she concluded with "you're an adult...in the end, you get to choose whether you want to live or not."

I just kind of paused for a minute, confused. Okay, I get the whole unconditional positive regard and the "empowerment" deal, but really? She's basically telling me it's okay if I choose to kill myself? It made me wonder if she even cares whether I die or not. I mean, there was nothing. I felt like she just dismissed it. Kind of like "well, whatever you want to do...I don't care."

So really, does she not care what happens to me?

I think the fact that she seemed concerned does show that she cares. And I don't think that saying "you get to choose" is the same as saying it's OK to kill yourself or that she doesn't care whether you live or die. Still, it sure seems at best tactless to end as she did. It seems as though it would be just human to add, "but I hope you don't choose to" to the "you get to choose" statement. I would guess that her behavior might be acting according to some theory -- and frankly, a lot of the theories seem to go to extremes to me. But another possibility is that she just screwed up and kicked herself afterwards for not ending on a more positive note.

For what it's worth: Even though I know you have the right to, I hope you don't choose to kill yourself. I have learned that it is possible to endure a lot of pain, and I think it's worth it in order to have the opportunity to experience the good things as well as the pain. Also (and I hope this doesn't sound too weird or blaming), I am aware that suicide often just passes the pain on to others around us, even people we think don't care, so looking at the big picture, it may be better to bear the pain than to pass it on to others. Moonrise's idea of holding on to the ways you remember her caring is a good one. And similarly, holding on to any other good things you have experienced in the past and might experience in the future can help. Please hand in there.
Thanks for this!
fallenangel337, sittingatwatersedge