A psychiatrist specialized in gamers
This is supposed to be humorous, but if it works to keep him alive, then it works.
Sometimes preventing suicide simply means reminding people that there are things worth living for and that is anything that makes you happy.
Halo 3 was really important for me in this way. I had to finish the fight.
Half-Life 3?
grants you immortality
Having shit to look forward to is absolutely the way people stay alive.
All people.
Like, it’s scientifically proven.
Having concrete anticipations also gives you a solid reference point against which you can check your mental health status.
The way I knew I had slipped from morbid ideation to suicide risk was when I realized that the release date of kingdom hearts 3 wasn’t enough to make me leave a bottle of hydrocodone alone. The moment of recognition that something I had been dreaming of for 14 years wasn’t enough motivation to make it through the night was how I knew I needed an intervention.
Video games just happen to have concerts dates and strong reactions from people. They’re an excellent and accessible tool.
Okay, so I’m on mobile and just wrote a huge thing that only half made sense, so let’s see if I can condense things… (also used my work computer to look up some sources – sorry if the links don’t work. I had to type rather than copy and paste, and may have made typos)
The Bloor Street viaduct was once the second most frequented bridge for suicides in all of North America. At least, until they installed an anti-jumping barrier. While there was an initial spike in jumpers at the nearest companion bridge, the long term rates of suicide have dropped city-wide by the average number of people who died every year at the viaduct.
Further, “restricting access to common means of suicide…has been shown to be effective in reducing rates of death in suicide.” (Source)
It is surprisingly easy for people to help the majority of individuals with depression and suicidal ideation live long enough to get the medical attention they need. We can do this by helping them find something, no matter how small or inconsequential it might seem, to live for, and by helping them remove easy access to their planned method of suicide.
This, in a nutshell, is what the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program teaches. There’s more to it than that, and I would strongly recommend everyone who is able to, take the training. Go here to find a session near you.
Please don’t belittle anything that is able to keep a person alive. Depression and suicide are nasty diseases, and it doesn’t take much effort to help make the world a little safer for those suffering from them.
(Okay, I think I’ve rambled enough for now)
DustAndFundamentalists 