Depressing ems story from England

[NYC-EMS]

Depressing ems story from England http://www.neenaw.co.uk/index.php/ambulances/251/suicide/

[emsweetheart]

That is depressing, the number of people that are trying to commit sucuide is unreal anymore. I have to wonder if its just poor coping skills that they never learn or is it just the society that we live in today? Are there too many pressures put on the population today? Good story brings a realism to the EMS world I guess and shows that some problems arent always just a American problem.

[Eydawn]

I seriously hope that this blog author and the medical professionals involved reported to the across-the-pond version of child and human services that this 10 year old had expressed suicidal intent. I also hope that *all* of the children received psychological care.

How can people lament that others commit suicide, and then be in favor of euthanasia or legalized assisted suicide? What are we teaching society? That it's ok to attempt to escape pain no matter what, that an end to pain or an escape from misery is the highest goal?

Sorry. I might be muddling threads a bit... but I think that we really need to readdress the whole idea of the psychology of suicide and think hard about it.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[letmesleep]

SAD? How does this not piss you off? As a medical professional, with very limited psych education and/or training I may come off a bit harsh, but as an adult and a parent the only sorrow I have is for the kids involved. I am not against listening to a depressed Pt and making an attempt beyond just transporting them to the hospital, but to feel any sorrow towards this woman is beyond me. I realize that the point of this story is to feel sad for these children, but I can't seem to get past the anger I have towards the woman that they call Mom. I do realize that there is more to the human psyche than purely self reasons for suicide, but suicide is exactly that, selfish. To do such damage to your own children is unforgivable, and I will admit that it is not up to me to forgive in this instance, it is up to these kids, but damn! Sorry for the rant, and I know I'm going to take heat for this post, but I just had to vent the anger.

[Dustdevil]

How can people lament that others commit suicide, and then be in favor of euthanasia or legalized assisted suicide? What are we teaching society? That it's ok to attempt to escape pain no matter what, that an end to pain or an escape from misery is the highest goal?

Psychology much?

Even simpler than Maslow, there are two purposes to human life:

• 1. To seek pleasure

2. To avoid pain

• Who are you to tell people that they cannot pursue either of those purposes? Were you put here to live your life, or to live other people's lives for them?

[Eydawn]

There is a difference between pursuing an escape from pain and horrifically ending your life in front of your own children. There is a difference between avoiding noxious stimuli by changing your circumstances or surroundings and doing so by ending your life- leaving your friends and relatives to deal with the grief and the aftermath.

Who here has not learned from the pain we all experience? At the basest level of existence, all animals seek pleasure and shun pain. What makes us *human* is the capacity to learn from both experiences and understand the aims of temporary pain for greater goal (medical school, or training for an athletic competition) or to overcome physical or mental pain as being less than the total sum of our existence.

The problem with the idea of condoning suicide is that it is directly contrary to one of the primary imperatives we hold at the instinctual level: SURVIVE. This is why suicidal ideations are considered to be a severe sign of mental disorder, rather than a simple response elicited by the desire to escape or avoid pain.

Humans seek more than pleasure. Humans do more than avoid pain. While diminutives of both of these may be portions of the more complex human actions and emotions, to distill motivation down to simply being "avoid pain, seek pleasure" seems ridiculous.

It's like saying that a heart attack is chest pain and scary. We all know that there are a myriad of factors and causes behind different cardiac conditions, and that it's not as simple as just giving nitro and morphine to make the scary pain go away.

Do you really believe that humans are only motivated by these two principles? If so... how much in life you might miss! I wouldn't trade the myriad of painful experiences I've had for any excess of pleasure- they have made me who I am and given me a base for empathy that I might not have otherwise had.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[Michael]

Wendy, you're slumming. Beautifully, I might add.

[Dustdevil]

There is a difference between pursuing an escape from pain and horrifically ending your life in front of your own children.

Agreed. However, you were making a sweeping statement about all suicides, not just commenting on this particular case.

And since I have been unable to get the link to work, I don't even know what this particular person did. But it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. It is his life to end or continue when he chooses.

[Chief1C]

That... is utterly horrifying.

[Eydawn]

Mom drank hydrochloric acid in front of her children. They tried to help her and also got burns. The 10 year old child told EMS that he was planning to commit suicide when he got home.

And thanks for only zeroing in on the single beginning sentence of my post and ignoring the rest of the content. Appreciate that. Obviously, if you had read the rest of the post, you would have picked up on the fact that I was in fact commenting on suicide in general, using that particular case as an example.

Way to dodge the discussion. *claps*

Wendy

CO EMT-B