You may not always know the back story to parental suicides. Some cases may be an (albeit misguided) attempt to make life better for the children, as was the case with me.

I had Postpartum OCD after the birth of my second child and had distressing intrusive thoughts of hurting them. It got to the point where I felt I had to kill myself in order to protect them. The attempt landed me in cardiac intensive care, but I eventually overcame the OCD. But at the time, it seemed like my only option. I had been in treatment and was getting nowhere and was terrified that I might do something to harm them. This was all before I understood what was going on and that women with PP OCD generally are not a threat to their kids because they are actually repulsed by the thoughts and go to great lengths to avoid hurting them.

Another situation where I had planned to end my life was after I became unable to work and we were facing foreclosure and homelessness. I won't go into it all here, but I have bipolar disorder and had a period of extreme illness in the past that tore my family apart for a period of time. Here I was, getting that sick again and facing another possible catastrophy. Then I saw that my life insurance would pay for suicide. The house and all our debts would be paid for with a significant amount of money left for my husband to live on. My family would be spared homelessness and the turmoil of my becoming extremely sick again. A disability decision in my favor saved my life.

Now, as I said, these reasons may be a bit misguided, but they are in no way selfish.