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Maelin comments on Open Thread, December 1-15, 2012 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 01 December 2012 05:00AM

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Comment author: Maelin 12 December 2012 03:45:25AM 3 points [-]

My father told me about someone he knew when he was working as a nurse at a mental hospital, who tried killing himself three times with a gun in the mouth. The first two times he used a pistol of some sort - both times, the bullet passed between the hemispheres of his brain (causing moderate but not fatal brain damage), exited through the back of his head, and all the hot gases from the gun cauterised the wounds.

The third time he used a shotgun, and that did the job. For firearm based suicide, I think above the ear is a safer bet.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 15 December 2012 08:11:10PM 3 points [-]

There should be a word for that kind of luck.

Comment author: [deleted] 15 December 2012 12:13:13PM 2 points [-]

The first two times he used a pistol of some sort - both times, the bullet passed between the hemispheres of his brain (causing moderate but not fatal brain damage), exited through the back of his head, and all the hot gases from the gun cauterised the wounds.

o.O

Comment author: vi21maobk9vp 14 December 2012 06:40:56PM 0 points [-]

Pistol to the mouth seems to require full mouth of water for high chance of success.

Comment author: [deleted] 13 December 2012 10:07:53PM 0 points [-]

Shotgun's not going to have the problems of a pistol, unless you're using slugs -- and I suspect the hydrostatic shock differential will still do the trick there.