Quote:
Originally Posted by loramin
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But (I hear you say), who cares if someone in my family kills themself, or me? I'm magically 100% certain no one in my family will ever have a mental health issue, and guns protect me from bad guys! NRA-funded studies told me so:
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Very good points sir
But you are discounting people's own autonomy and ability to care for one's mental health just like we care for medical
The reality is that there is a process, a buildup, leading to most suicide attempts. I work in behavioral health these past 14 years so I know quite a bit about them. First, there is a crisis, which is just defined as a level of life stress exceeding one's ability to cope. This causes what we call mental decompensation, which is when someone's mental state continues to worsen. Negative thought patterns develop, then someone's physical functioning is affected, such as their eating and sleep patterns, their energy level, their ability to care for hygiene, and they typically begin to isolate
The safety element typically begins with what we refer to as a deathwish, which is the thought that "I wish I would fall asleep and not wake up", or "I wish something would happen to take me out" but the person doesn't yet want to kill themselves. Then if they continue to decompensate, the thoughts shifts into thinking about how they could kill themselves. From there, the planning stages begin, and the end of life preparation begins, such as writing a suicide note, giving away one's possessions, some people start donating all their money, etc
There is no guarantee that this is the same process for everyone, some suicide attempts are more spontaneous, typically those are often influenced by drugs or alcohol
But for the majority of attempts, it is indeed a process, and along the way, the person has two things going for them: 1.) A basic human survival instinct. For example, the human jaw has enough strength to bite off your own finger right now. But you won't do it, because you have a survival instinct telling you not to. and 2.) What we call "motivations for living", which is most often the effect the suicide would have on family members, one's own personal goals, or their religion
Anywhere along this process, a person who recognizes they are decompensating mentally has the autonomy to be proactive and give up access to their firearm. This happens ALL the time in my job. People either do it themselves most often, or else they get professional help who strongly recommends they do it. EVEN IF, the person has zero supports in life, there's no one they can give it to, they can still contact police and request police take the firearm from them and give them a ticket, which they can later use to request it back
There are probably more people who recognize they are becoming suicidal, but are early on in this process I outlined, who give up their firearm temporarily, than ones that complete suicide with it. The reason it doesn't seem that way is because you aren't going to hear about the ones who give up their firearm and seek professional help, because that isn't news-worthy. Only the deaths are news-worthy
So TLDR: yes firearms are a risk. But most people don't just flip into a "I'm going to attempt suicide right now" like you or I would flip a lightswitch. It's a process, and along the way, people can and do become proactive and give up their firearms to their supports