When did you first become aware of suicide?

freshpopcorn

I couldn't give an exact age but I was about nine or ten when I found out somebody could kill themselves. I may have heard about the word before that but I wouldn't have had a clue how somebody would do it then.
I remember when I was in 5th or 6th year somebody older that us committed suicide and it was discussed in school and the person beside me asked me what was suicide, he didn't have a clue about it.

When did you first become aware of suicide?

Gatling

7 or 8 at the time a friend's dad went missing during the last week of the run up to our first communion ,his body was found the morning of ,
Our parents were asked to attend the school and it was explained what had happened to our friends dad ,
The week after a teacher tried her best child like way of explaining what suicide was ,

Kurt Cobain at age nine, a classmate blurted out to me that "the coolest thing just happened". I'll never forget it.

Princess Calla

Gatling wrote: »

7 or 8 at the time a friend's dad went missing during the last week of the run up to our first communion ,his body was found the morning of ,
Our parents were asked to attend the school and it was explained what had happened to our friends dad ,
The week after a teacher tried her best child like way of explaining what suicide was ,

Jesus that poor child

bitofabind

I remember going to the Galway Races with my Dad, must've been ten or eleven. We met a friend of his and stopped to chat. He was with his daughter who was a new mum and had her baby with her. She was probably late 20s, early 30s.

A few weeks later I heard my parents discussing her in the kitchen, she was struggling to cope and had died by suicide. I remember hearing the method too and being utterly shocked and disturbed - how could someone do something like that to themselves? What was going to happen to her baby? I thought about it for weeks. Couldn't get my head around it.

Princess Calla

I honestly don't know.

I think I was young enough though.

My siblings are alot older so alot of conversations in the house that were probably not the most age appropriate.

r93kaey5p2izun

I think around 3/4. My neighbour hung himself and we were told about it.

Lewis_Benson

They day Kurt Cobain died, I was 12.
I'd never even heard about suicide before that

ILoveYourVibes

I was about 3 or 4.

I never spoke about it to anyone. I just have a memory of the room i was in when i knew. Then i never spoke about it.

A few years later my mother was surprised i was able to remember.

NSAman

13, best friend in school, without warning, committed suicide. Still to this day, wonder if there was anything I could have done....

chopperbyrne

Either the 8th or 9th of April 1994. Whichever day Irish media started reporting on Kurt Cobain's suicide.

ILoveYourVibes

NSAman wrote: »

13, best friend in school, without warning, committed suicide. Still to this day, wonder if there was anything I could have done....

Im sorry. There wasnt i promise you. If they are going to do it they are going to do it.

x

Better Than Christ

I think I was around six or seven. A character in Home and Away jumped off a cliff. The next day, me and some friends made up a game called 'suicide' which consisted entirely of us taking it in turns to dive down a grassy embankment while all the others screamed in faux-horror. Bleak stuff.

Just did a search for the clip on YouTube, over thirty years on, and it's exactly how I remember it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZMIOWm1ado

branie2

In an encyclopedia article about Adolf Hitler

arybvtcw0eolkf

NSAman wrote: »

13, best friend in school, without warning, committed suicide. Still to this day, wonder if there was anything I could have done....

One of my best mates died by suicide, and that's the question on my mind all the time too.. I keep wondering if he even thought of giving me a ring just before doing it, and decided against it in case I talked him out of it.

We'll never know.


To the thread, I'm not sure when I became aware of it but my first first hand experience of it was a suicide in work. I was on duty in Lebanon (a village called Hadatha, that's the only specific I'll give) when I heard a gun shot.. It wasn't unusual to hear gun fire, but then one of the lads ran into the duty room looking for a medivac (medical evacuation).

Closest suicide to me besides my mate was my brother in law, done it on his birthday too.

BuboBubo

M*A*S*H theme song, when I was about 6.

AllForIt

I am the only one that finds this a strange question? Like totally random, and what difference does it make anyway.

ILoveYourVibes

AllForIt wrote: »

I am the only one that finds this a strange question? Like totally random, and what difference does it make anyway.

maybe they have to discuss it with a child.

BrianBoru00

AllForIt wrote: »

I am the only one that finds this a strange question? Like totally random, and what difference does it make anyway.

It's after hours and THIS is the question you find strange? ??

freshpopcorn

AllForIt wrote: »

I am the only one that finds this a strange question? Like totally random, and what difference does it make anyway.

In the past few years I've heard of a few kids committing suicide or saying they want to. When I was a kid I hadn't any idea it was even possible to do such a thing until I was a little older. I was wondering was I in a minority.
It's a discussion forums and I asked it.

wakka12

I actually dont have any strong recollection of learning about the concept as a child. I dont think it was something I found too hard to comprehend for some reason, which is strange as I was quite a naive child and believed in santa etc until a fairly old age

wakka12

AllForIt wrote: »

I am the only one that finds this a strange question? Like totally random, and what difference does it make anyway.

Strange but interesting. 'What difference does it make' could be said about 99% of things human discuss! And I think it makes a difference anyway as it is an important and tragic issue that most of us will experience the effects of during our lifetime and it is interesting to consider when is an appropriate time for a child to learn about it, if they are emotionally able to etc.

punisher5112

NSAman wrote: »

13, best friend in school, without warning, committed suicide. Still to this day, wonder if there was anything I could have done....

Honestly no. And don't even ponder on that...

It's an absolute devastating situation and it's sometimes just that and no matter what one does they just won't change their mind.



I came close myself around that age till around 20..... School was no fun and honestly the worst time of my life.

You can be happy that you were friends and I'm sure he knew you cared.

An Ri rua

freshpopcorn wrote: »

In the past few years I've heard of a few kids committing suicide or saying they want to. When I was a kid I hadn't any idea it was even possible to do such a thing until I was a little older. I was wondering was I in a minority.
It's a discussion forums and I asked it.

It's well worth reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point in this regard. Fascinating stuff. Re social viruses and social validation. Study of suicides among Polynesians. Utterly fascinating when you detach the study from feelings of anyone you've known.

I recall hearing about lemmings jumping off cliffs. When I was around 6 I'd say. I found it utterly bizarre. It only made sense a few years later.

My heartfelt wishes to all who wonder could they have helped someone. It's not ours to give unfortunately. They have to see a way forward.

Church on Tuesday

Obviously I was aware of it by the time I hit my mid twenties but when my cousin passed by suicide around that time it made it very real.

I hope he's at peace. Talk to people if you feel down.

AllForIt

freshpopcorn wrote: »

In the past few years I've heard of a few kids committing suicide or saying they want to. When I was a kid I hadn't any idea it was even possible to do such a thing until I was a little older. I was wondering was I in a minority.
It's a discussion forums and I asked it.

Well fair enough. What you said in the first sentence is rather worrying, it's not something I've ever come across and if that's what you've experienced then your right to bring the subject up. Sorry if I came across insensitive.

wakka12

freshpopcorn wrote: »

In the past few years I've heard of a few kids committing suicide or saying they want to. When I was a kid I hadn't any idea it was even possible to do such a thing until I was a little older. I was wondering was I in a minority.
It's a discussion forums and I asked it.

Are you talking about the Australian boy that there was a recent video of? I found it really disturbing that such a young boy was talking like that, the use of "I want to kill myself'' rather than something like 'I dont want to be alive anymore' that you might expect from a distraught child

Plumbthedepths

13, a school friend took his life. Found by his dad who a few years later did the same in the place where he found my friend. Broken heart he never got over it.
35 years ago, I still remember him. Sadly he was the first of 4 school friends who did this all within a few years.

TheBoyConor

When my father came in shaking after cutting a fella down from a bridge at the back of our land.

freshpopcorn

wakka12 wrote: »

Are you talking about the Australian boy that there was a recent video of? I found it really disturbing that such a young boy was talking like that, the use of "I want to kill myself'' rather than something like 'I dont want to be alive anymore' that you might expect from a distraught child

That was one of the instances and you do hear about similar stuff going on hear in Ireland.

TheBoyConor

What I'd be more concerned about is the bullying of the parent towards that child, and them opportunistically videoing and spashing it all over social media for the world and it's aunty to see for the sake of a few likes. Jesus Christ like.


If the child was in such a state would you not just comfort the child and ease their pain and prioritise that? No, I'll stream it up on social media for the likes and so everyone can see how woke I am.

I thought that was an absolute disgrace and shameful parenting and a gross violation of that poor child's dignity and privacy. What a cock of a parent.

RandomViewer

6 neighbour hung himself, knew who he was but no real impact,

Strumms

A kid on our street killed himself, he was mid teens, hung himself. He’d been on the periphery of the circle of friends but nobody could truly warm to him or feel comfortable around him. If he’d be playing football with us he’d just be focusing on fouling and kicking the fûck out of anyone he’d get near and the violent tendencies eventually spilled over into non sporting endeavors too so he was shunned... looking back, with the maturity you’d say you’d take him aside and see what the issue was but kids don’t really see that as the way to handle things... he was an aggressive little fûcker, obviously something wrong somewhere with his psychology, family issues, something...he’d been abusing solvents before he was found dead too.

Galwayguy35

I was about 15 I think when a relation hung herself, she was in her 70s at the time and her childern were all grown up so nobdody could understand it at all.

Her next door neighbour went to her funeral and then he also hung himself.

This was nearly 30 years ago and Ireland was very different so everyone did the usual thing that was done at the time and just refused to talk about it.

Bishop of hope

I was about 10 I think, 2 suicides happened, firstly Pete Duel one of the stars of Alias Smith and Jones shot himself and then a neighbour up the road did it a couple of days later.
I loved Alias Smith and Jones, my dad and me never missed it, I was so sad at the time. Never gave the neighbour a second thought.

TomSweeney

bitofabind wrote: »

I remember going to the Galway Races with my Dad, must've been ten or eleven. We met a friend of his and stopped to chat. He was with his daughter who was a new mum and had her baby with her. She was probably late 20s, early 30s.

A few weeks later I heard my parents discussing her in the kitchen, she was struggling to cope and had died by suicide. I remember hearing the method too and being utterly shocked and disturbed - how could someone do something like that to themselves? What was going to happen to her baby? I thought about it for weeks. Couldn't get my head around it.

Terrible thing for a 10 year old to hear about, I knew about it as a kid but was told innocently enough, first personal experience was a classmate hung himself - he was only 15, terrible time.

farmchoice

TheBoyConor wrote: »

What I'd be more concerned about is the bullying of the parent towards that child, and them opportunistically videoing and spashing it all over social media for the world and it's aunty to see for the sake of a few likes. Jesus Christ like.


If the child was in such a state would you not just comfort the child and ease their pain and prioritise that? No, I'll stream it up on social media for the likes and so everyone can see how woke I am.

I thought that was an absolute disgrace and shameful parenting and a gross violation of that poor child's dignity and privacy. What a cock of a parent.

absolutely, anyone who puts up videos like this is just looking for attention. i would have serious questions about the character of someone who wold do this.
indeed if you you were the kind of person who does this and you end up with a suicidal child then i think you need to be looking at yourself first and foremost.

statto25

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

This was nearly 30 years ago and Ireland was very different so everyone did the usual thing that was done at the time and just refused to talk about it.

They are still at the same thing believe me

Graces7

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

Im sorry. There wasnt i promise you. If they are going to do it they are going to do it.

x

Thankfully not always true; I twice have deflected that aim in others, as I was in the right place at the right time.

Lillyfae

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

This was nearly 30 years ago and Ireland was very different so everyone did the usual thing that was done at the time and just refused to talk about it.

I'm wracking my brains and I really don't know when I became "aware" of it, I would really put it down to this aswell. Suicide is a "mortal sin" and those who die by suicide are technically not permitted to be buried in consecrated ground. This was of course at the discretion of the parish priest, but nonetheless back in the day episodes of suicide were not widely publicised because of that stigma.

A friend in my class committed suicide just before the oral exams Leaving Cert year. We were a smallish group, mostly 18/19, so socialised alot together. He was repeating because he hadn't got in to Medicine the year before. Straight As the whole year and still felt he wasn't good enough.

Honestly I still have slight trauma from it, as do other classmates. I often think about what he would be doing now, would he have a family, would he still live in Ireland. If we meet up he comes up frequently in conversation, this was more than 15 years ago. To put it in perspective, my grandmother (who I was very close to) died a few months before him and I was far more upset about a young man (who I'd only known for a year) with his whole life ahead of him dying so needlessly and so suddenly.

ChikiChiki

When a close family friend did it when we were around 7/8. We were the same age as the guys kids and we all used to get together. Then my uncle did it when I was about 15. Then one of my best friends brother did it when I was around 18. Then my dad did it few years back and then a childhood friend not too far back.

I'm quite traumatised by all of the above to the extent that my walls are severely up to protect myself and its very hard to let anyone into my life. Been very damaging to relationships.

TheBoyConor

I have had to cut two people down.

I guy in a house we came across while doing a survey in a rough area of Cork- we noticed the daughter out in the street screaming hysterically. We ran up, she was screaming "daddy's hanging, daddy's hanging". She had let the door close behind her so we tried to kick it down. Couldn't so we had to break in through a window. Found him hanging and threshing from a flex of a electic heater through the bannisters. Cut him down, still alive, called ambulance and he was taken away.
6pm that evening we were driving back down through the north side and who do we see coming up the footpath against us - yer man again with a big bag of cans ready for another night drinking himself to a stupor. Shocking that hospital will just eject a suicide survivor straight back out onto the streets.

Second one I had to cut a friend down after coming home from a night out. We knew he was troubled and he disappeared up the yard. We went looking for him and found him hanging from his belt off a wall. Cut him down and luckily he was ok.

My bachelor uncle also hung himself over in London and wasn't found for weeks.

von Smallhausen

The earliest I can remember was when I was in my early teens, maybe even 12. A friend of my brothers had killed himself and I was told about it . I didn't know the guy and it didn't have an impact on me. After that I would have been in my late teens, early twenties where my cousin hung himself and then my sisters partner overdosed and died. They were the only two that I would have been close to.
I have tried myself and failed a few times and alcohol was a part of the first few times. I could elaborate but that is not what this thread is about.

Your Face

Probably when I was around 10 years old.
A teenager killed himself due to bullying.
His younger brother was in our year.

neris

About 8 or 9 when a Garda called to a neighbours house when we were out playing on the road and found out next day one of the sons had thrown himself in front of a dart. He,d been drink driving and caused a serious accident and some one was killed.

TheBoyConor

A woman known to us who has the outward image of utmost respectability, in the church choir, led pilgrimages , always doing charity stuff, community leader, but was also a house devil at home. She was over protective of him and made him go to her restaurant for lunch each day during school lunch rather than go with his friends. He decided one day to skip her and go with his friends. She went mad at home and somehow forced an older brother to give him a good flogging with a length of garden hose for disobeying her.

A few days later he was found hanging at home. Only 14 or 15. Such a terror.

Yer one still swans around like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.

Montage of Feck

Japanese kamikaze attacks in the second world war. In documentaries, I'm not that old!

The Crazy Cat Lady

saw it on TV in soaps, documentaries etc

wasn't directly affected until a friend attempted a few years ago

Motivator

I was probably 8 or 9. There was a new phone book issued and there was a very close up photo of two local lads playing soccer on the back page. Not long after the phone book was issued, one of the lads in the photo committed suicide. It was terribly sad and it’s something that will always stick out in my mind. The phone book was on the hall table inside our front door and for years I used to think of his poor family and friends when I walked past it.

TheBoyConor

My brother knew that fella on the eircom phone book from college too.
I know the one you're on about. Fellas playing soccer on the cover.

OneArt

I don't remember ever not knowing the concept of killing oneself. If we were pretending to shoot guns as kids, we would sometimes pretend to shoot ourselves (i.e., one person was the baddie and was backed into a corner in the story). I also used to pick up a lot on the news. Obviously I didn't understand everything, but you'll be surprised how much kids actually DO pick up.

The first time I consciously heard the word "suicide", though, was when my mam's friend called the evenings "suicide time" because her kids would get hyperactive and drive her mad. Must've been 6. Asked what it meant and couldn't understand why on earth we'd use another word when "kill yourself" did just nicely.