[hlgxx3]

When I was 16 years old I tried to end my life by overdosing on medication, mixing alcohol, and also cutting in one night. Well, I was young and underestimated my body's resiliance. So I lived through it. The mental recovery took years. I was hearing voices and constantly paranoid. Even after admitting my suicide attempt to family members I went still untreated. And to this day have not had any medical attention.
I am 22 years old now, and I can honestly say my mental condition has recovered. I spent a lot of time coping and learning to love life. Although I have never felt the same physically. I can't eat normally, I've developed lactose intolerence and acid reflex, I get chronic numbness in my extremities, I faint frequently (at least monthly), I see image trails frequently, along with spaciness, short term memory loss, visual and auditorial hullicinations, and outter body expirences. Now maybe these symptoms are related to something else but I have never seen a doctor or therapist for any of this. So I figured I'd ask you guys and see,
Can living from a suicide attempt cause neurological brain damage?

[LiteraryLark]

My dad used to work in the jail and he would tell the story of how one of the inmates attempted suicide by buying meds from another inmate. He turned into a vegetable. You are very lucky you are not a vegetable yourself!

[hlgxx3]

@literarylark you're right I've very lucky. I mean after I attempted I felt like the most unlucky person. But now I value my life. I'm just concerned. I have a feeling as though the attempt may have given more time here but I'm worried it will come back and smack me in the face.

[kecanoe]

Probably an attempted overdose that didn't require medical treatment would not cause the symptoms you have related. I would suggest you talk to a therapist or psychiatrist to get some answers about how to cope

[Thunder Bow]

Best ot get medical attention to help you manage all this.

[amandalouise]

depends upon the severity of the suicide attempt. in order to cause brain injury a person must stop breathing during suicide attempt which would deprive the brain of the oxygen that the brain cells need. or land on their head when jumping from a great distance causing physical harm to the skull (fractures/broken bones) that surrounds the brain from physical harm.

Im taking a guess here since your family members did not know about your attempt until after you told them that you did not stop breathing\end up in a coma (both of which would require emergency intervention of 911/ CPR and hospitalization.) you did not damage your brain.

there is also the fact that you are able to write a clearly thought out and organized post. people with traumatic brain injury have problems with things like organized thinking, reading and writing difficulties, sometimes speech difficulties, ...

lactose intolorance isnt a brain injury problem its a situation where the body has an ...allergy... against the chemical called lactose which is in diary products. in short a milk allergy.

acid reflux is also not a brain injury problem. its a condition where a persons stomach due to eating the wrong diet causes the stomach to produce an excess of stomach acid needed to digest that food. many people get this when they eat spicy foods. this problem is solved by adjusting ones diet to a more bland\less spicy containing diet and an over the counter anti acid called tums, (usually found in the aspirin isles of stores here in the USA) and other over the counter anti acids found in the same area of the store.

many of your posts say you have been hospitalized and diagnosed with schizophrenia. since your treatment providers (doctors) did not diagnose you with physical brain trauma/ injury Im taking a guess here again that you can relax. just go according to what your treatment providers are treating you for and you will soon be feeling better.

[Pikku Myy]

Yes. Its called psychosis pending on your individual evaluation. I am not qualified to say anything about you sweetie... I ended up with a label for a reason. Better now and wish you well