Say someone wants to die by suicide so badly that they go to the Golden Gate Bridge to jump off. But then they are stopped from jumping. What happens to them afterward?
You might think that, once freed from the authority figures who prevented their suicide on the bridge, they still went on to by suicide. After all, they were intent on dying. It would be logical to assume that being prevented from jumping merely delayed their death.
Such an assumption would be wrong. In the 1970s, a researcher named Richard Seiden wanted to find out what happened to 515 people who came to the Golden Gate Bridge to die within the previous 35 years, but who were stopped by California Highway Patrol officers. He published the results in an article titled “Where Are They Now?: A Follow-up Study of Suicide Attempters from the Golden Gate Bridge.”
What Dr. Seiden found is a remarkable testament to the fact that a suicidal crisis is often – very often – temporary.
Of the 515 people whose attempt was interrupted, only 35 later died by suicide in the years to come. Taking into account suicides that might have been missed by researchers, Dr. Seiden stated that 90% of people who tried to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge did not go on to die by suicide.
Living After a Suicide Attempt: Other Research Findings
This research, though 35 years old, still holds true. Even though a prior suicide attempt dramatically increases the risk for future suicide, studies have demonstrated that most people who survive a suicide attempt do not go on to die by suicide:
- In a study out of Finland of 224 people who attempted suicide and were treated at a health care facility, 8% died by suicide within 12 years.
- Researchers in Sweden followed 34,219 people who were hospitalized following an act of intentional self-harm. During 3 to 9 years of follow-up, 3.5% died by suicide.
- One study followed 100 people who had survived a suicide attempt by overdose. At the end of the 37-year follow up, 13% had died by suicide. (This study’s mortality rate is higher than others, almost certainly because of the long follow-up period and the serious nature of the attempt, which warranted admission to a hospital.)
- Overall, a recent review of 177 research studies around the world found that 4% of people who survived intentionally hurting or poisoning themselves went on to die by suicide within 5 years.
Why Do Suicide Attempt Survivors Stay Alive?
There are different possible reasons why people who attempt suicide, or try to make such an attempt, might choose afterward to stay alive. The most intuitive reason is that suicidal crises are, by their nature, temporary. More often than not, the crisis passes.
Too, people who attempt suicide may receive the help they need afterwards. Friends and family may rally to their side. Therapists and doctors may help provide relief. The person’s reasons for dying may begin to fade.
Another possibility is that the instinct to live kicks in once someone comes close to dying. Until then, that instinct may have been obscured by depression, stress, hopelessness or despair.
The Instinct to Live after a Suicide Attempt
The story of Kevin Hines demonstrates the clarity that can finally appear when someone’s life is on the line. In 2000, he actually did jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. Precious few people survive such a fall; the water about 200 feet below acts the same as concrete when a person lands on it at high speed.
Although severe depression led him to jump off the bridge, Kevin Hines has stated:
“The very second I let go, I knew I had made a big mistake.”
For Kevin Hines, the will to live kicked in immediately. He managed to turn himself upright in the few seconds it took for him to hit the water; this way, he did not land on his head. After he was rescued, he continued to live, and lives still, serving as a suicide prevention advocate at the national level.
Life and Death After a Suicide Attempt
Obviously, the will to live does not reassert itself in everyone who has tried to die. We cannot overlook that 10% of people who survive a suicide attempt do go on to die by suicide. And half of people who die by suicide had attempted suicide at least once previously.
The tragedy of suicide is indisputable. The ongoing survival of people who attempt suicide is not (always) inevitable.
Yet it gives me great hope that the vast majority of suicide attempt survivors remain just that – survivors. This is perhaps the best argument for preventing suicide. It is true that suicide sometimes defies even the best efforts to thwart it. But overall, the evidence is that prevention is not simply a temporary delay of death.
Suicide prevention can save lives. And for most of those whose lives were saved, life goes on for many more years to come.
© Copyright 2013 Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW, All Rights Reserved. Written for www.speakingofsuicide.com. Photos purchased from Fotolia.com
Edited on April 26, 2017.
I am so glad my attempt did not end in my death. I was able to make it out of the hopelessness and despair that led to my attempt. My hope for others feeling like that is they tell someone who can help them.
Thank you for sharing, Stacy. It is always wonderful to hear from someone who made it out to the other side. You provide inspiration to others who still are stuck in that hopelessness and despair.
I know someone who hanged themself 18 months ago after a buildup of personal problems and much alcohol that night, but rescue services were called and saved him. He recovered physically, but mentally he is now depressed and on anti-depressants,has anxiety attacks, is too emotional for working, and keeps saying he wishes he had succeeded with his attempt as he feels a burden to everyone.
That is so sad, Julie. I hope that he is able to get effective help, both psychologically and pharmaceutically. I wonder what psychotherapy he has tried. Has he tried cognitive behavior therapy? Dialectical behavior therapy? Those two have shown some effectiveness at reducing suicidal ideation and behavior.
It certainly sounds like your friend’s antidepressants are not working. There are so many types of antidepressants these days (around 40), plus mood stabilizers, plus antipsychotic medications that can also be used to treat depression. And these different medications can be combined at various dosages. So there are many, many more medications and medication combinations that he can try. I hope he is seeing a psychiatrist for his medications, not a PCP, because psychiatrists are much more well versed in the benefits, risks, side effects, etc. of the different medications.
The sad thing is that, as I say in my “letter,” some of what your friend thinks and believes may actually be true, but his mind is probably also shutting him out of other truths that could balance out his pain. For example, he may be telling himself that the way he feels and is now is the way he will feel and be forever. It may feel 100% true to him. But in reality, he can’t know what the future holds. None of us can.
I often think that if we are going to make up what we tell ourselves about our future, we might at least make it good. Or, at least, balanced!
Good luck to your friend, Julie, and thanks for commenting. Maybe some of the posts on this site could be helpful to him?
I am a three time attempt suicide survivor and it has been a year since my last attempt and the ideation has pretty much left me. I am a 60+ year old woman with four grown kids and six grandkids and when the darkness set in I could no longer see the effect this would have had on their lives. Found it was in part due to hormone imbalance along with sugar imbalances, throw in that it’s winter along with little sleep, emotional bombs going off and I had the perfect storm. I am so very grateful now to be alive and I hope to find ways to assist others going through the deep abyss that can sometimes take over your entire being… take another breath, and another……….
I have battled the thoughts of suicide for many years but after I had children those thoughts died. I live with a higher purpose now, but prior to my children I went through hell and constantly entertained the thought of killing myself.
I wish you all the very best and I pray you each find a way to manage and control the thoughts of suicide.
Hello Tony, so sorry for my belated response. It is wonderful that having children seems to have inoculated you against suicidal thoughts. Children are a major reason for living for many people who battle suicidal thoughts. Parenthood does not protect everyone, though. There are many people with children whose pain or distorted thinking overrides all else, in spite of their best wishes. The memoir “Half in Love: Surviving the Legacy of Suicide” captures very well, to a painful degree, how someone who deeply loves their children can simultaneously feel pulled to end her life. Whether one’s anchor to life is children or some other passion, it is a gift to have a reason for living that outweighs suicidal thoughts. I wish everyone could receive this gift, and I am grateful that you and others have done so!
Your message here is a good one. I think this message needs to be made more clear and put in ads, etc. similar to cancer ads, etc.
Thanks for sharing, Anne. We certainly do need to continue educating people about suicide prevention, including the reality that most people who survive a suicide attempt choose life afterwards. I know that this surprises many people.