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Posted: 10/19/2019 6:15:09 PM EDT
It was just under a month ago. I couldn't sleep. So I got up to go take a drive at 4:30AM. Next thing I knew, I was in a parking lot with a pistol pressed against my head, and was riding the wall of the trigger break.
This wasn't the first time in the last year. Actually the fourth. But this one was the scariest, because I'm not even sure what exactly brought me to that point. I had just had an amazing week. I didn't set out with suicide in mind. The next few days were rough. Really rough. I opened up about my suicidal thoughts to a friend who was staying at my place(who had to drag it out of me). The was the first time I had ever told anyone, and I have been dealing with it since I was a kid. She helped me talk to my close family members, which was even tougher. Little did I know that two of them had also been dealing with the same issues, and straight up told me if I did it, they would have too. After talking to friends and boss, I made the decision to voluntarily admit myself to a Mental Health Clinic. I was there for a little over a week, got some diagnoses, and loaded up with meds. It helped some. Everyone there was dealing with their own issues, but a lot of it was substance abuse and consequent depression because of their circumstances. I couldn't relate to most people, because I'm high functioning, don't really party, don't have any issues with drugs, not in trouble with the law, etc. I left there incredibly optimistic, and returned back into life. It went well the first day. Second day was a little less so. Third day I was back at ground zero. My thought process was "when you just want to die, but no longer even have the freedom to fantasize about killing yourself." But I worked myself back up. Mainly writing. An insane amount of writing. Started interacting more with people I hadn't seen in a couple weeks. Posted my whole situation on social media(mainly because I knew details were being spread around about it, and wanted it to come from me). I've just been incredibly open about the situation with those around me, and I found help and support in the oddest places. People I never would have expect coming to me crying because they've been through it too, or are actively going through it. People extending a hand or ear. The worst part of my depression was always the loneliness and isolation. I always felt alone with the issue(and shame surrounding it), but I see it a bit different now. There are still some of those looks from people I know who obviously don't understand or know how to talk to me because it makes them uncomfortable, but that is far outweighed by the support. By far the best decision I made was taking off work for a bit, and taking a spontaneous road trip with a friend. We covered almost 2750 miles in 130 hours, hit two national parks, and overall had a great time. Nature has a really funny way of putting things in perspective. Just got back yesterday, and am already rethinking so many parts of my life. There was already a lot of things changing, but now they are even more. Priorities have completely shifted. Undoubtably someone reading this is going through it too. Find someone to talk to. It won't solve all your problems, but it will help. I'm pretty sure I will have to deal with these thoughts the rest of my life, but not being shameful of it certainly helps your ability to deal with them. I've still had some really rough patches, even over the last week. I've gotten sucked down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts quite a few times... but I've also had people randomly reach out throughout and help pull me back up. I honestly am not sure if I would have made it to the end of the year had I not opened up about it. I feel like I'm at step one of a new journey right now, but have a renewed sense of purpose that I have been lacking over the last few years. Just know, there's a lot of people going through it too. Some shots from our "Mental Health Roadtrip". One Month Update: The last month has been much harder than I ever anticipated. I thought I had finally gotten my mind to the right state, but retrospectively it hasn't been at all. Really, my mind has just been wandering through the past and the future. Energy and motivation is extremely hard to come by. I've been incredibly temperamental, had a few falling outs with close friends, have done and said a lot of things that I regret and have been making amends for. Adjusting back into work life has been a struggle. Sleep sucks. Started therapy. Had a friend/incredibly generous person set me up with her Therapist, and offer to cover the insane costs, but have a concierge service which gets me 24/7 access to my Therapist. Been to two sessions, and it has been interesting. It is looking like there is more to my situation than just Major Depressive Order, Anxiety, and Dysthymia. It would appear that I'm trending more towards the Bipolar/BPD side of things, which does make a lot of sense to me. Despite the last month feeling like I'm just restarting the same day over and over again, there's been a lot of positive things happen to, on the mental side of things. Finally got closure on a relationship that abruptly ended, got a lot of details and information about why it happened which helped me offload a lot of pent up stress/resentment. Reopened some important friendships to me that were faltering. Had a lot of people come out of the woodworks and have extremely positive conversations with me, some of them incredibly insightful. I've been so open with people in so many situations, that I think it makes reconciling reality so much easier, especially when talking about the past. I'd be lying if I said the suicidal thoughts have stopped, or that the desire to just disappear was gone. That being said, I know it is not an option, now. I haven't done anything even close to be considering taking a step towards it, nor will I. There has been a tremendous amount of pain and struggle, and I'm fairly certain a lot of it has to do with exposing myself like I have, but I think overall in the long term it will be the difference that makes the steps I'm taking right now a more permanent change in my life. I thought a month ago I saw the path moving forward, but I didn't realize that a small detour was about to take place in order to get to the right starting point. I feel like I'm at the same point on the path as I was a month ago, but my spirit is in a much better position to start the trek, now. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” View Quote |
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Wow. Thanks for sharing your story. No doubt there are others that will benefit from your words. Stay strong.
ETA: Pictures are great. |
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Lots of good people here to speak with if you need it.
May I recommend writing down your plan for change and goals when you get back from your trip so you have an objective going forward? Plan your next road trip now, set a date and stick to it. We’re headed to Utah next summer. Yosemite was awesome trip we just took. |
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Glad you've made it this far. It is a tough disease. I had for probably 25 years. Now I am much better but still there's bad times but somehow I deal with it much better. Hang in there and I am praying for you brother.
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Lots of good people here to speak with if you need it. May I recommend writing down your plan for change and goals when you get back from your trip so you have an objective going forward? Plan your next road trip now, set a date and stick to it. We’re headed to Utah next summer. Yosemite was awesome trip we just took. View Quote We did Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Definitely go to Zion. Absolutely stunning experience. |
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Thanks for sharing. Best of luck to you moving forward. Life really is worth living and I hope you find peace.
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Glad you've made it this far. It is a tough disease. I had for probably 25 years. Now I am much better but still there's bad times but somehow I deal with it much better. Hang in there and I am praying for you brother. View Quote I'm 25 right now, think it started at 10 or 11. |
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Glad you are still with us!
And you've taken a great leap here telling us and I'm hopeful that there will be hundreds of us to encourage you in the best ways possible! That is an amazing trip you got to take and I'm blessed by your efforts to take some time off and just to explore our Creator's creation. God bless you, narphenal. |
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You showed pictures of your trip that impressed you, right? The beauty that is from The Creator. Guess what? That same being created YOU. Don’t discount the beauty of your own existence.
Glad you are ok. |
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Thank you for posting this. I’m sorry for what you are going through but glad to hear that you’re getting better. I’ve been battling some demons myself lately. Im not exactly sure what to do at the moment. I gave my notice at work last week as my job was not helping any. But because of that, I have other stresses to worry about.
You’re post gives me some positive reinforcement though. The pictures you posted are gorgeous. I was thinking of doing a road trip myself to see if I could clear my mind. |
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I'm glad you decided to stay with us.
We lost a brother, and it unbelievably hard on the family. Remember that even when you feel the worst, your family and friends all love you and want to be with you. Reach out to one of them and talk about it. This may seem crazy, but hows your vitamin D? before I started taking a bunch I had some crazy mood swings. |
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We all have our demons looming over us. The Lord knows I have my own. You just gotta find the light through it all. And I’ll be the first one to tell you it ain’t easy. Just fight for that light one day at a time.
I’m glad you’re still with us and thanks for reminding me, and the rest of us, that we’re not alone. Keep fighting brother! |
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I am fortunate that despite my faults and personal issues, that thoughts of suicide is not one of them. I do feel horrendously for those that feel like it is their only way out, that must be horrible.
I do get straight up panic attacks sometimes though, so I have felt that "the world is closing in on you, but it's all in your head" type feeling, at least on some level. God bless you bro, hit me up if you ever need someone to talk to, I am just an IM away. |
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Wow. Thanks for sharing your story. No doubt there are others that will benefit from your words. Stay strong. ETA: Pictures are great. View Quote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGlx11BxF24 |
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It was just under a month ago. I couldn't sleep. So I got up to go take a drive at 4:30AM. Next thing I knew, I was in a parking lot with a pistol pressed against my head, and was riding the wall of the trigger break. This wasn't the first time in the last year. Actually the fourth. But this one was the scariest, because I'm not even sure what exactly brought me to that point. I had just had an amazing week. I didn't set out with suicide in mind. The next few days were rough. Really rough. I opened up about my suicidal thoughts to a friend who was staying at my place(who had to drag it out of me). The was the first time I had ever told anyone, and I have been dealing with it since I was a kid. She helped me talk to my close family members, which was even tougher. Little did I know that two of them had also been dealing with the same issues, and straight up told me if I did it, they would have too. After talking to friends and boss, I made the decision to voluntarily admit myself to a Mental Health Clinic. I was there for a little over a week, got some diagnoses, and loaded up with meds. It helped some. Everyone there was dealing with their own issues, but a lot of it was substance abuse and consequent depression because of their circumstances. I couldn't relate to most people, because I'm high functioning, don't really party, don't have any issues with drugs, not in trouble with the law, etc. I left there incredibly optimistic, and returned back into life. It went well the first day. Second day was a little less so. Third day I was back at ground zero. My thought process was "when you just want to die, but no longer even have the freedom to fantasize about killing yourself." But I worked myself back up. Mainly writing. An insane amount of writing. Started interacting more with people I hadn't seen in a couple weeks. Posted my whole situation on social media(mainly because I knew details were being spread around about it, and wanted it to come from me). I've just been incredibly open about the situation with those around me, and I found help and support in the oddest places. People I never would have expect coming to me crying because they've been through it too, or are actively going through it. People extending a hand or ear. The worst part of my depression was always the loneliness and isolation. I always felt alone with the issue(and shame surrounding it), but I see it a bit different now. There are still some of those looks from people I know who obviously don't understand or know how to talk to me because it makes them uncomfortable, but that is far outweighed by the support. By far the best decision I made was taking off work for a bit, and taking a spontaneous road trip with a friend. We covered almost 2750 miles in 130 hours, hit two national parks, and overall had a great time. Nature has a really funny way of putting things in perspective. Just got back yesterday, and am already rethinking so many parts of my life. There was already a lot of things changing, but now they are even more. Priorities have completely shifted. Undoubtably someone reading this is going through it too. Find someone to talk to. It won't solve all your problems, but it will help. I'm pretty sure I will have to deal with these thoughts the rest of my life, but not being shameful of it certainly helps your ability to deal with them. I've still had some really rough patches, even over the last week. I've gotten sucked down the rabbit hole of negative thoughts quite a few times... but I've also had people randomly reach out throughout and help pull me back up. I honestly am not sure if I would have made it to the end of the year had I not opened up about it. I feel like I'm at step one of a new journey right now, but have a renewed sense of purpose that I have been lacking over the last few years. Just know, there's a lot of people going through it too. Some shots from our "Mental Health Roadtrip". https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/IMG_5950-1130216.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/DSC08003_JPG-1130228.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/DSC07880-1130222.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/DSC07894-1130225.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/DSC00775-1130226.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/DSC00683-1130227.jpg https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/275845/DSC08072-1130217.jpg View Quote |
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Great pictures. View Quote I've been suffering from a pretty case of depression myself for the past few months. Nearly half the people I knew died in February of this year. Accidents, disease and certain peoples utter unwillingness to seek medical assistance even if their fingers are turning purple. Didn't think I could see a way through it. It seems I also had a pretty serious case of heavy metal toxicity. My system is still purging that crap, but the effect has been astounding so far. |
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I've never been there but my brother was on the brink. Was leaving for a trip to Hawaii and apparently was gonna off himself there. Can't remember what changed his mind. He's better than he's ever been now and doing well for himself and I love seeing the optimism out of him.
thing can always turn for the better. Sometimes it takes a trip like you took or time with friends and family. I wish you the best OP. I don't know you but I can say fairly certainly that if you were gone it would not be the same for many people. |
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Thanks for sharing, good luck to you OP in your struggles and journey, depression is a bitch...but it is one you can live with. Sometimes it takes effort to enjoy life, and you're on the right path.
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Already back from it. Spending the weekend tweaking main goals. We did Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Definitely go to Zion. Absolutely stunning experience. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Lots of good people here to speak with if you need it. May I recommend writing down your plan for change and goals when you get back from your trip so you have an objective going forward? Plan your next road trip now, set a date and stick to it. We’re headed to Utah next summer. Yosemite was awesome trip we just took. We did Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Definitely go to Zion. Absolutely stunning experience. |
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Thanks for sharing OP. I'm sure the post will help someone else. Great pics by the way!
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I have and are still with the scenario you described. I have no one to turn to, no reason to still be here, but continue to persevere. There are seconds each day that I decide to finish it but don’t. It is sad for me that there is no support, love, hope. I have always survived based on my own free will but sometimes it’s close to being too much.
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Glad you're still with us.
I don't know if it helps any, but I have thought that, if you're unhappy with your life, you can end it without killing yourself. Ditch old friends, hobbies, jobs, careers, relationships, whatever is putting your in a bad place, and find some new ones. I've done it a few times already. If you've only known one life, it's easy to think that there's no way out of a miserable situation than actually ending it all. But why do that when it's perfectly possible to start working on a new one anytime you feel like it? |
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I'm glad you decided to stay with us. We lost a brother, and it unbelievably hard on the family. Remember that even when you feel the worst, your family and friends all love you and want to be with you. Reach out to one of them and talk about it. This may seem crazy, but hows your vitamin D? before I started taking a bunch I had some crazy mood swings. View Quote |
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Don't know you, but I am truly sorry that that this is something you have to fight. Also glad that you did what you had to do to get here if it got you here. I've known a couple that did not find a ladder out of that pit. May your new path give you a way around or out again if you drop in later.
The pictures were spectacular. Been out west a good bit, but not that red canyony part. Moab? Adding to my personal list. BTW, as to the traveling...I've seen some of the most breathtaking parts. Stuff that inspires awe in most any eye the first beholds it, but the not so amazing places can offer amazing things if you get out in it and look. My brother lives in such a place...eastern Wyoming. At first glance, it does not inspire much wonder. Most would likely say: "Who in his right mind would live here on purpose?" On a visit out there, me and he took a long walk through that short sage country. I found a sea plant fossil, then he found a coyote skull, I spotted a strange patch of flowers, he finds an ancient hand wrought horse shoe, then we see pronghorns run by and a muley buck rise off his bed at their disturbance. I said: "Man, there is more to this place than meets the eye." He said: "I love this country here...it is full of gifts if you just go out and let them find you." That stuck with me. |
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In before the red flag...
But seriously thanks for posting and glad you feel better |
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Thank you so much for sharing your story.
It's very brave to bear your soul like that. I hope someone who needs help reads what you've written, here or elsewhere. I've lost two friends to suicide, one of whom was closer to me than just about anyone else and was my best man at my wedding. Im very glad you're here. |
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I have and are still with the scenario you described. I have no one to turn to, no reason to still be here, but continue to persevere. There are seconds each day that I decide to finish it but don’t. It is sad for me that there is no support, love, hope. I have always survived based on my own free will but sometimes it’s close to being too much. View Quote Keep looking forward to one thing each day. Set a goal each day, it shows you have purpose and strength. |
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I'm glad you found some truth and a way to deal with your black dog(Churchill's description)...
those are great pictures... looks like a beautiful trip. |
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Already back from it. Spending the weekend tweaking main goals. We did Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Definitely go to Zion. Absolutely stunning experience. View Quote Good for you OP for getting the help needed to move on. ETA: I just read that you are 25yo. You have your whole life ahead of you. Grab it by the balls and do everything that makes you happy. I wish I had the balls to ask different girls out when I was your age. I now know the worst thing they can say is 'no'. Like I said, life is short. Go for it. You have nothing to lose. |
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I'm very glad you're still here. I lost my dad to suicide 33 years ago.
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OP, you are a brave man. Thanks for posting. There are many here who suffer and need hope and encouragement.
You have given some. |
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I have and are still with the scenario you described. I have no one to turn to, no reason to still be here, but continue to persevere. There are seconds each day that I decide to finish it but don’t. It is sad for me that there is no support, love, hope. I have always survived based on my own free will but sometimes it’s close to being too much. View Quote I dont pretend to have words that can help you bring value and worth to your life life -- except -- understand that your life has value and worth. There is always someone, somewhere, who can benefit from your time, knowledge, and understanding. Really. |
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Glad you could find a friend to keep you company when you needed it.
Continue striving forward. |
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Thank you for sharing this, OP.
I've been there too - had a loaded 1911 with the hammer back to the side of my head not too long ago. And you're right - I had to reach out to others for help. I wasn't going to get through it alone, and I didn't have to - I had friends, I had family. There were people who cared, even if I found it hard to see that. |
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It's brave to share this about yourself. Lots of stigma still around it. I lost a brother to suicide, and I think about doing it weekly--even though no one really knows (and I am in counseling/group therapy). I understand the wanting to die but not having the freedom to fantasize about it. Let's just say if certain people (well a certain person more precisely--and not a romantic party) weren't in my life I am not sure I would be here.
Thank you again. I wish you well. keep up with the photography. |
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Trying to think a quote along the lines of "It doesn't get easier, you just get stronger". I'm 25 right now, think it started at 10 or 11. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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Glad you've made it this far. It is a tough disease. I had for probably 25 years. Now I am much better but still there's bad times but somehow I deal with it much better. Hang in there and I am praying for you brother. I'm 25 right now, think it started at 10 or 11. ETA: avoid alcohol. |
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i'm glad the word "almost" is in the title; and that this isn't a thread created by someone who knew you, or by someone else on here, talking about how you "did" do that terrible thing.
someone...somewhere...saw to it that you're time is not yet up on this planet. you have something more to do. there is something unfinished that needs you to complete it. and only you can find out what that is. maybe it's just going on awesome trips and telling others in the same situation about it and how getting out and experience nature helps with those feelings. maybe it's just putting yourself out there that may help someone else going through something similar. and maybe it helps them get their feelings out there for others to help them. one day at a time one step at a time keep moving forward find something to live for find something to fight for and when you can't find that something....BE that something. fight for yourself! LIVE for yourself! only you knows what's going on inside your head. others might can kind of understand it, but only you can really know you. so when those thoughts start creeping up, push them back down, blast them the hell out of there, whatever.....get rid of them. just do something that takes over your mind with thoughts other than the ones telling you it's not worth it. who knows? maybe on a trip you'll discover something no one else has. maybe you'll discover yourself. you just gotta keep moving forward, man. one day at a time..... |
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Personally, I think this thread should be tacked.
OP...very glad you found the strength to persevere. Count me among the folks who will take your call any time you want to unload. PM if you need to vent ever. |
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I used to think people who thought this way were just selfish until I understood what you are going through. The world needs folks like you in it OP, think of it as doing us a solid by hanging out on this beautiful blue marble we call home. Pictures are awesome by the way. The young lady in picture number two adds to the beauty of that shot. Hope that's the friend you were referring to ??
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Dude thank God you’re here with us! It’ll get better. Glad you got help.
Just throwing it out there but get bloodwork done to see if you’ve got something out of whack that can be treated. I can’t imagine!!! |
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