Are suicide attempts more a cry for help than an actual want to die?

Every attempt at suicide should be taken very seriously. At the time of doing the act people really see no other solution, but then can have clarity very soon after doing so. Your brother is obviously in a great deal of emotional and psychological pain. There are some people who are very determined to end it and can just see no way out and have thought about nothing else before they do it but that does not make their attempt any more valid... only sadly successful. I hope that you and your brother are receiving the counselling and support that you need

When it comes to a sincere attempt that your sole purpose is to die, nothing will stop you. You will have planned it and actually pay full attention to make sure the plan will not fail. You will find out any clean way or dramatic way to die as well. You will find the style that best fits and that will best represent the reason to which you have done so. If you cut yourself, you are angry at yourself and so the cuts are punishment. If you hang yourself you want to suffer (since hanging might not snap the neck right away) and want to hurt the people who caused you to do it. If you overdose you kept quiet about this pain and have decided to keep it the same way by dying in silence. B and C are the same. My sister attempted it to get attention. The thing about a cry for help and attracting attention attempts is that the person isnt planning anything. They just want it to seem like they were getting ready to do it but really had no intention to go through with it in the end. Which results in hesitant cuts on the wrist or an overdose that is found out by someone. Usually these attempts are stopped by someone, something, or the person doing it changes their mind mid way. thats my theory.

The majority of people think about suicide at least once in their lives and there are as many reasons for that as there are people. Thinking about it and acting on those thoughts are very different.

Usually when someone acts on the thoughts they have about suicide the cause is severe unhappiness or depression. Often it can be a spur of the moment decision. In your immediate family you've already had suicide attempts and it lowers your thresh hold, ie it has become a more acceptable way to deal with problems and feelings than it might be in another family where there had been no suicide attempts. In addition you have a borderline PD, which means you are more likely to behave in a more reactive way than someone who doesn't have PD.

As you already said yourself, many suicides are a cry for help. In my experience, people who suicide successfully, plan it, don't tell anyone and have often made preparations before hand. A few are cries for help that go wrong. Fewer are spur of the moment decisions.

If you have thoughts about suicide, make sure that take steps to keep your self safe. If you think about jumping in front of a car, make sure you avoid going near any roads, try to distract yourself from those thoughts by listening to music or reciting something in your head so that you're blocking those suicidal thoughts. If you do this often enough, you will find that you can avoid those thoughts more easily and then they will pass.

TC

Para suicide or non-lethal attempts are usually carried out, especially by those with BPD, as a way of externalizing and validating to one's self that the pain they are experiencing internally is real. In some cases it's a cry for help, but not an actually attempt to kill themselves. I am a recovered BPD. During my twenties and into my thirties I made approximately 75 para suicide attempts where I took enough meds to knock myself out for 24 or more hours, drank myself into unconsciousness, injured myself and so on. Each was a way of taking back control, putting an end to the enormous anguish I was feeling at the moment, and relieve the tension so I could go on living. Afterward I would feel relieved and able to go on. When you have BPD your perception of circumstances is and the emotions gone awry are nearly impossible to communicate. You are not saying "protect me from dying", but rather "this is how bad it is in my mind". Maybe that doesn't make sense, but it is a common symptom in this disorder.

If one is truly suicidal they don't cry for help, they plan out the attempt secretly and carry it out in such a way not to be saved. Like you said if one really wants to die, they can.

In some cases, it might be both.

I've already said some of the things I've gone through in my life. I came very close to suicide one night. One of my hobbies is experimenting with high voltage...I've been doing it for years. I've always loved science, ever since I was a kid. And I've loved building things. I've built devices like a Jacob's Ladder, Tesla Coil, etc. One night, I sat in my bedroom with the lights turned off. I watched the arc climb up and down on my Jacob's Ladder. I just sat there, mesmerized by it. It was 15,000 volts. I was going through a depression and the worst time of my life. I was at the end of my rope. I sat there, staring at the transformer. I went to the bathroom and wet my hands in the sink. I came back and sat there and stared at the high voltage transformer, and I moved my hands closer to the transformer without realizing it. I sat there for a couple of minutes, with my hands just inches from the terminals. I could have grabbed the terminals...the voltage and current was more than enough to be lethal. I just kept thinking how easy and instantaneous it would be. I realized that if I stayed in that room by myself for any longer, I was going to die. I knew I wasn't going to make it through the night. So I picked up the phone and called 911. That literally saved my life.

My near attempt at suicide wasn't a cry for help. I sat completely alone in my room and I came pretty damn close to ending my life and no one knew about it. But at the last minute, something stepped in...maybe a guardian angel? I don't know. I keep thinking and hoping that I was kept alive for a reason. Maybe I just haven't figured out what yet.

It can be considered a bit of both. Usually people who attempt suicide feel as if there is no other alternative, no other way out. They're lost and just don't know what to do. Most of the time, they genuinely want someone to help them, but they just don't really know how to ask for it. They just need someone to be there. I know of cases where people were getting ready to jump off a bridge, and either police or passersby managed to talk them out of it by just letting them know someone cared and that they could get help.

But, there are cases where the person does not want any help at all, and they just want to die.

Suicide attempts are in fact a cry for help. No one really wants to die, they want to feel better and not be depressed anymore. Sometimes death is the only way to get away from the sadness.

it depends...

if you truely want to die, you will kill yourself the first time. it is honestly not that hard. attempting suicide i think is more of a cry for help. i am a firefighter/paramedic, and i see these situation more than you can imagin. anything from a teenage girl cutting her wrists to a young man drinking bleach, to someone hanging themselves. there are many different forms of suicide, the first and final attempt, or the many slow and frequent attempts. either way it is heartbreaking and difficult to know why someone would want to put themselves through such a situation... no matter how difficult the problem may be, it can always turn around, and if your at rock bottom, then there is nowhere else to go but up, suicide is too perminant of an action for something that eventually can turn itself around. even if it may not be right away but over a period of time.

Its a little of both.. cause I have felt that way. I want to die, but I know its not the answer, so really its a cry for help. I cry that says- I can't do this alone, and that why people need to get help when they have thoses feelings

It would depend on the person and the method. No one could argue that a shotgun was a cry for help, but maybe an overdose.