My friend just made an INSANE request. What the crap do I do?!?
By MissAmie
@MissAmie (717)
United States
August 19, 2009 2:11pm CST
A pretty good friend of mine, not someone I would call a best friend but a good friend, just called me and asked me to assist him committing suicide at the end of September.
I'm really glad he asked me, because I intend to call for help and have him put in a mental institution as soon as he tries. Of course I can't tell him that or he'll do it without me knowing and he'll be dead. On the other hand, I don't really want to be a part of any of it.
So here's what he's planning. He is going to buy a tank of carbon dioxide (don't ask me how...didn't ask) and basically suffocate himself. I'm really not sure why 1.) He told me about it unless it's a cry for help and 2.) Why the elaborate plan.
He did mention that he wants me to hang some kind of warning sign about the carbon dioxide. I was just completely dumbstruck. I didn't know what to say except that I would call him back. Probably not the right thing to say, but he doesn't plan on doing anything until later.
So my question to you, my Mylot friends, is how long do I wait to call for help? Do I do it today? The day he makes plans to die? Or maybe wait until he actually makes an attempt.
The only thing I'm 100% sure of is I can't let this happen. I have to let him believe I will, but how long can I carry on this charade? I don't know the name of his doctor, so I can't tell on him like that. This is tricky. I have to do and say just the right things or else he might do something without me knowing, and that would be tragic. He doesn't have a girlfriend or kids that I can convince him to stay here for. Good grief! What in the world do I do?!?
4 responses
@FFFrocks (306)
• Canada
20 Aug 09
Wow. His approaching you for this is most definitely a cry for help. He is reaching out to you MissAmie. You need to be a friend for him now more than ever. Not a counsellor or a doctor, just a friend. Sounds like that's what he needs most right now. It's unfair that this has been put on you, but at the same time it's amazing that he was trusting enough to let you in on this. There are many places that you can call for help and guidance on how to handle this situation and I would advise you to do that. Oh, and act now. Don't delay, that will just give him more time to spiral downward.
Good luck MissAmie!
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31634)
• United States
20 Aug 09
It was good that you could stall. You have to get the name of his doctor somehow or you could call your local mental health hotline if the community still has one. Don't wait till the day he plans because he may decide to do it at any time! Let him know that you love him as a friend and would miss him, perhaps you could convince him how selfish it is to go that way, leaving people behind that will never know why and feel guilty that they may have contributed.
It's very hard to get someone into an in-house program since nobody is allowed to do something against the will of the patient, no matter how crazy they are. That's why we have the homeless roaming the streets, we can't institutionalize them since the ACLU got laws passed "protecting" them from forced treatment.
Best of luck, I hope you'll let us know how it goes.
1 person likes this
@MissAmie (717)
• United States
22 Aug 09
Those laws you talk about are the exact reason I need a better plan than telling his doctor now. He won't do it until I say I'll help...I don't think. And I did tell him to wait until after the 22 of Sept. I just wish I could talk him into not buying the tank of CO2. Maybe I can convince him that a huge block of dry Ice would do the same thing and then it would be way easier to sabatoge the buying of the dry ice because he wouldn't be able to get it until the day of the event.
I have to be delicate with this guy's feelings becasue he already kind of has a crush on me even though he knows I'm married. I don't want to make him think that he's really special to me and him get the wrong idea.
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
23 Aug 09
In honesty, most ppl that talk about doing it, never do it. They tell ppl they are thinking about it or planning it for attention. They are usually lonely and depressed and need someone to pay attention to them. If you really think he will do it, then your best bet is to call your local mental health clinic and tell them...let them handle it, afterall their trained to handle it. The truth is though chances are that if your friend was really hell bent on doing it, he would have just done it and not told anyone about it.
[b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~
**STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]
@MissAmie (717)
• United States
22 Aug 09
I kind of have to wait because if I tell on him now, he'll go to a paych hospital for 3 or 4 days and then be out. He's not unstable to keep past the few days...or at least that's what he'll convince the doctors. Also, he'll never trust me again and when he does do it I won't know so I can stop it.
