The following is a comment to this piece on deviantart. Yeah, it's long. I've had a few years to think about this.

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Like the image, though to be honest, the text in the description is quite thought provoking.

I'm 23. In my teen years and in my early 20s, suicide was practically a hobby. The concept was considered or "felt" as a useable and valid option on more than one occasion, and the tendencies towards expressing this become markedly increased after a non consentual homosexual encounter. I attempted once, using the remainder of a bottle of high-octane painkillers and half of a bottle of liquor. The fact that I got the most restful night of sleep in my life and woke up feeling physically normal for the first time in years as a direct result gave me pause for thought (please not that I REALLY DO NOT RECOMMEND ANYONE TRY THIS- I was LUCKY!).

From my reading and experience on the subject, I can venture the following.

The slashed wrists seem to almost invariably indicitive of wanting attention, being in a state of intense emotional distress, or a possible combination of the two- family and home situations need to be taken into consideration. Slashing across the wrist is inefficient- easily treated and easily surviveable with a nasty scar that makes the intent obvious. A real arm bleedout is done in a deep incision between the tendons on the underside of the forearm (where they connect to the wrist) and is a cut that runs from the base of the wrist to the elbow. Doing this, one has barely enough time to get the second arm before passing out from blood loss. It's messy, and almost 100% effective. It's not an "Attempted" suicide by any stretch- part of the psychology you describe is a need or desire to be found near death and brought out of it- the urge to know that someone values you enough to actually save your life. Hence the most popular routes of shortwise slashing of the wrists and the pills and alcohol trick- the second can work in extreme cases (eg, say a bottle of Hydrocone chased with a bottle of Jaegermeister), but will inevitably make you incredibly weak, light headed, and sick as a dog- a situation in which you'll probably actually wish you were dead, but are anything but.

Guns, jumping in front of cars, and taking a fall are different means of exit which, while used in popular entertainment, don't seem to be terribly common. Likely because these methods are used by people who are truly serious about what they're doing, and have thought it out at great length.

Contemplating suicide is definitely different than being suicidal- I'm not suicidal (though some would debate this, given my lifestyle), so I can't speak on the mindset... but I can say that they're a completely different class of mentality, and being so depressed in high school that I lost any kind of concept of value for my life was one thing that set me apart from my tormentors- come ninth grade, I took everything they threw at me without flinching or reacting- at one point walking into my english class with a 2" diameter gash in my kneecap from gym class, soaking my sock and sneaker red. I remained aloof and distanced from the fact I was bleeding until the teacher for the class sent me to the nurses office to get cleaned up- I didn't care, and I wasn't about to let my tormentors get the reaction they wanted, which was to see me freak and get pissed about being pushed down a hill.

How you're treated in high school can definitely influence this thought process. There is an excellent essay that details the psychological heirarchy of public education, from which these feelings and tendencies seem to inevitably arise located here - I strongly suggest that anyone curious about the subject of suicide should give this a read, as the subject seems to be the most "trendy", for lack of a better term, in high school.

As for treatment options... as implied above, there's a vast difference between the serious and the confused. In my own case, the weight of negative emotions- incessant social torment through high school, the concept repeatedly shoved up my nose that popularity mattered and I didn't- followed by being raped- was a hell of a lot of crap to try to work through and carry around. I found my own solutions without resorting to therapy or drugs, which are things I refuse to consider, as the affects of pyschotropics on the creative process aren't something I'm willing to experience first hand.

The important thing for anyone who has contemplated suicide to realize is that it's the easy way out. The options from there are to just live with it, or to treat the source of the problem- not the problem itself. Treat the source and the urge dissipates. The benefits of having conquered these urges and overwhelming negative tendencies will make you a much stronger person, with a much higher tolerance and understanding of the negative shit that people go through.

Treating or helping someone who is contemplating suicide- meaning trying to keep them from accomplishing the act- is a varied process that can be incredibly draining. The one simple rule is to just be there for the person, keep them engaged in conversation (about anything but Why My Life Sucks) and get them to talk about things they like- this can get awkward with members of the opposite sex, as the person may possibly develope an emotional attachment, but it's still sound advice- those in that mindset can be slowly brought out of it by restoring their concept of self worth and endowing them with an understanding that their presence in your life and the lives of others is appreciated, valued and wanted. It's not an overnight cure or an instant solution, but a little of the right kind of attention will go a long way compared to a lot of the wrong kind.

Ultimately, it's up to that person to snap themselves out of it- they have to want out of that mindset... which is possibly the hardest hurdle to cross. After that, it's a matter of time and building enough positive life experience.

Hope this helps.

-DH