Homicide/suicidal Statements

If some one in your group becomes suicidal, or makes statements implying they might be contemplating suicide. Or implies or frankly states they plan on hurting or killing another member of your group or family, DO YOU have a plan or SOP for that?

This person may be a family member or close friend and may be filling a vital role to the group. Possibly even a security role. Access to weapons will probably be everywhere.

I’m curious if you guys have thoughts on this?

 

I do not belong to any group, but for other reasons I can say that any statement regarding suicide should be taken very seriously. For suicide to even enter into a conversation is a reason for concern. I would seek whatever professional help might be available to get to the root cause, for why they felt that way. The individual would bear close scrutiny until you felt comfortable they weren't going to hurt themselves or others.

Mental Health is almost impossible to diagnose. Those of us who are really not very good at reading people's feelings are the worst judges. My wife has an uncanny knack to see those things and head them off. She would be a welcome addition to any group.

 

Don’t kid yourself, self harm and/or suicide are possibilities for anyone under the right circumstances. Can some candidates be vetted out? Absolutely. In my former line of work I encountered it in all types of people, even ones that were very “normal”. Trauma and traumatic injuries can undermine the strongest of us

 

What Innkeeper said.

SHTF can bring out the unexpected in anyone. PTSD is a bear to deal with in the aftermath of serious disasters.

The sufferer may feel like the situation is hopeless (and it actually may be!), and the desperate may resort to a permanent solution to end the incalculable pain they feel.

I have had success using this tactic with my brother and a close friend, and would do this again if I had to:

Convince the person to put off "The Final Deed" for 72 hours. Chances are, something may shift during that time that will dull the edge or change the picture enough to stave off the urge to end it all. If not, I will persuade them to go for another 72 hours... then another...

The "One Day at a Time" mindset can be a lifesaver.


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That is true and suicide rates will probably skyrocket after “the event”, my point was though ... that it can happen to quite strong normal people and no one will be able to screen out all the possible candidates. When push comes to shove it is possible that the candidate(s) Malay well be anyone on this forum.

In terms of self harm, cutting is more prevalent amongst the young, but often continues as they get older. Self harm can take many forms including excessive risk taking, self medication with drugs, alcohol etc.

 

In the novel "One Second After"........this is pointed out, when parents are giving their ration of food to their children, so as the enhance their children's survival, even as they starve to death.

We have men in Alaska who have never considered taking their own life. Then......riding an ATV they find themselves suddenly in a ditch with the ATV on top of them. Unable to extract themselves, at some point after hours or days, they draw their firearm and end their life.

Same-same-same riding a 800 pound snow machine. I have a lot of experience being pinned under snow machines.

 

In a post-apocalyptic world, insanity will have a lot of different definitions. Sometimes there is no "sane" way to deal with insane conditions and situations. Any time people are forced out of their "normal" ruts they start to have problems adapting. the fact that people like us spend time thinking about how to deal with different problems will make us a little more stable and a little less lost. For most people within just a few days, they will start to lose contact with reality because the reality of their situation will be totally unacceptable to them.

Most people have never in their life been hungry or thirsty. Their way of dealing with problems involve credit cards, money, and texting or calling someone to come and deal with it for them. All of their information is suddenly GONE and what little that they think that they know is mostly fiction from TV and Movies. Many people seem to have no ability to deal with a changing world. If you go into a violent messed up world and try to use the rules that you live by today you will not last long.

The laws, rules and most of the attitudes that people THINK are important and must be followed will have less than NO meaning within a mad world after things collapse. Without some rules, some people will not know how to act. Living in the rural countryside I have seen this many times. People move out from the city and since there are fewer laws they think that there are NO rules.

There are, for example, no leash laws requiring your dog to be on a leash or even kept in a yard. Over and over I have had to explain to those fools that while there are no laws that if your dog comes in my property and tears up my stuff, attacks my animals or growls at me or my family that I have the right to shoot them... AND WILL. That freaks them out. On three occasions I've had to explain this to someone new to country living. They all informed me that there are no leash laws in the country. These fools are going to roll out into the rural places thinking that they are gods and they are going to be in deep trouble. They are so sure about all of their rights and when things crash the FEW rights that they had will be gone.

People have sooooo many ideas based on TV and just stupid stuff that is going to make it almost impossible for them to survive for long. People THINK that if you don't eat three times a day you will DIE!!!! Even if they have some food they will eat it all up in one meal in one day. They are afraid of the dark and darkness is your best friend when you are trying to lay low and go unnoticed. A big gun does not make you safe or armor-plated. You don't want to be very aggressive. If you scare someone they may just shoot you. Thugs survive now ONLY because the cops protect them.

A lot of people are going to just go ape almost immediately. If you have lived your entire life on entitlements you are in deep trouble and rioting isn't going to work for you as it does now. To some extent, a lot of people are totally insane already. The liberals actually BELIEVE that violence never solves anything. People that can't distinguish between political correctness and reality NOW have no hope of dealing with reality on the level that we are talking about.

They are going to be hungry, confused and sadly liberals are probably the least likely to be successful with violence. I've watched them a few times when they have tried and it was more sad than scary. I suspect that in the first 6 months where I live the leading cause of death will be neck and neck between suicide that is self-imposed and suicide by attacking someone that is armed and totally willing to protect their place with lethal force. When they get hungry enough they are going to atry to TAKE what they want from those that thought ahead and prepared...