Which doesn't mean that any attention whatsoever that they receive will fail to disappoint.
If a person encounters a stranger who tries to talk them down, the scenario MoreOn originally brought up, and they get someone who tries to explain to them the principles of singularitarianism, then unless they're a really unusual person, they got a crap draw. Roshni was right, right or wrong, singularitarianism is weird. An ordinary person is not going to want to be consoled in the depths of their suicidal depression by this strange, outside-tribe person. While a person is suffering suicidal depression is the last situation in which you should be trying to introduce someone to singularitarian ideas, and the last situation in which they are likely to want to hear it. They're liable to pattern match you as some crazy cultist person, and you'll be about as comforting as someone who's trying to pick them up by telling them the good news of Scientology; not just insensitive, but predatory given their emotional state.
Honestly, I've wanted to avoid being confrontational about this, but since you're pushing the issue, I'm just going to say it flat out. As someone who's suffered suicidal bouts in the past, has coaxed other people down before, and has such an alarming number of acquaintances who suffer from bouts of suicidal depression that I've made a point of familiarizing myself with the appropriate protocol for dealing with it, the advice you're offering is some of the worst I've ever heard.
100% disagree. You're generalising from a few examples. Option theory is questionable (depending on the person) but the long term hope offered by the singularity (the world doesn't have to be this way forever is kind of a big deal for people who think the world is shit), as well as the concrete option of trying medication provide hope.
Not all suicides are anguished can't take this any more. Some are see no acceptable possbilities.
There are plenty of people around to hand out hugs and cry and bla bla bla. relatively few are actually going to respect, take s...
Last month, two people far at the periphery of my social circles have threatened suicide. Seems like a sign for me to learn some ledge-fu.
I reviewed the stuff I'd learned back in high school ("Listen." "Be supportive." "Don't argue." "Etc etc etc.") I have trouble believing that this would work outside of movieland, especially on strangers. More so, in person I'm an awkward, fidgeting introvert---the impact of everything I say is thus diminished, and I sound very insincere or clinical, like I'm following a bad movie script, when I say anything like, "You are not alone in this. I’m here for you." or "How can I best support you right now?" I doubt that this would sound any better in writing.
I suppose I could split my question into two related ones: what would you say to a person threatening to commit suicide, 1. in person, and 2. in an email?
I'm looking for out-of-the-box ideas that don't rely on charisma or compassion shining through. Personally, if I ever need to talk myself out of suicidal thoughts, I apply the "bum comparison principle": if my life is so crummy that I'm willing to commit suicide, then I should be willing to just walk out on everything I value and drift off in a random direction, survive by dine-and-dashing out of cheap restaurants and wash dishes if I get caught, maybe take odd jobs or hitchhike or gather roots and berries or blog from public libraries. I don't see this possibility in a negative light, and yet I still haven't done it. To me, it means that however bad my life may seem, I'm still too attached to it to walk out; therefore, suicide isn't on the menu.
People have different reasons to want suicide, and I understand that what works for me with my first world problems probably won't work for a person who is in too much physical pain from an incurable disease. To the best of my knowledge, the two people I mentioned earlier are both unskilled laborers who had lost their jobs, one of them so long ago that he's no longer eligible for unemployment benefits. I don't think I'll meet these particular people again, but I'd appreciate everyone's thoughts on what I could've said if my brain hadn't frozen.