Post-Attempted Suicide Counselling/Help

Life Health & Fitness
#1

Hi,
I wasn’t quite sure if this is the right forum for this, and I have searched but haven’t had any luck in finding any useful information.

Does anyone know where I can find a counsellor (or similar help) for someone (Taiwanese) who has just tried committing suicide?? Preferably in the south but any tips would be appreciated. The person is in the ICU right now and if she, hopefully, pulls through her injuries, then my concerned friends and I would like to try and get some help for her recovery.
She was seeing a counsellor already but they just made her feel shit and got angry with her all the time. She has been suicidal for a while and some of us had tried sharing our views on our love for life and the courage, hope and faith thats needed to keep ourselves balanced, but she was determined…

I have heard of the amount of suicide attempts that occur in Taiwan so I’m guessing there must be some support system around here.

Does anyone know any contacts??

Thanks for any help

#2

Try this:生命線 :Taiwan lifeline international
life1995.org.tw/
.
The branch in south:
life1995.org.tw/family/family_main.htm

#3

No more antidepressants and/or psychiatry/psychology “counselling”. That would be a good start.
Then a change of enviroment and a good diet should help her tremendously.
Good luck.

#4

[quote=“igorveni”]No more antidepressants and/or psychiatry/psychology “counselling”. That would be a good start.
Then a change of enviroment and a good diet should help her tremendously.
Good luck.[/quote]

WOW, igorveni the woman is critically ill in ICU for god’s sake this is not mild depression but severe clinical depression, which should always be treated by a medical doctor and yes a psychiatrist assHAT ! Alternative and C O M P L E M E N TA R Y treatments are useful and welcomed today by the medical community as complementary and ADJUNCT treatments but not as solely alternative therapies. What school of medicine did you go to ? Dr Kevorkian’s Upstairs Hollywood Moonbean School of Medicine? Would you tell a diabetic to stop taking his insulin and get some sun and fresh air and vitamins? Depression is a physical chemical illness just like diabetes but science is just :fume: too much hard work for you, how about some herbs and postive moonbeams DUDE!

#5

[quote=“taiwiener”][quote=“igorveni”]No more antidepressants and/or psychiatry/psychology “counselling”. That would be a good start.
Then a change of enviroment and a good diet should help her tremendously.
Good luck.[/quote]

WOW, igorveni the woman is critically ill in ICU for god’s sake this is not mild depression but severe clinical depression, which should always be treated by a medical doctor and yes a psychiatrist assHAT ! Alternative and C O M P L E M E N TA R Y treatments are useful and welcomed today by the medical community as complementary and ADJUNCT treatments but not as solely alternative therapies. What school of medicine did you go to ? Dr Kevorkian’s Upstairs Hollywood Moonbean School of Medicine? Would you tell a diabetic to stop taking his insulin and get some sun and fresh air and vitamins? Depression is a physical chemical illness just like diabetes but science is just :fume: too much hard work for you, how about some herbs and postive moonbeams DUDE![/quote]

Know anything about dealing with anger issues?

#6

Yes, good advice is worth listening to.

#7

I think Taiweiner’s anger is justified. The advice given earlier to shun medical intervention and assistance - well let’s just say it was extremely ignorant at the very least. A good diet etc. is good general advice, but as was pointed out it’s like telling someone with diabetes to stop taking their insulin and get more sunlight - taking that advice would kill a diabetic, and also someone with severe depression. Sometimes I wonder if those folks who recommend such therapies have ever experienced severe depression or known someone who has. It’s not the same thing as feeling sad or as grieving after the death of a loved one. These latter examples are temporary and normal, whereas severe depression can be chronic and is abnormal as well as life-threatening. Someone ill enough to try to kill themselves is someone who needs medical help as well as the support of family and friends. Please leave all armchair analysis at the door!! Stop encouraging people who need medical help to NOT get it.

Bodo

#8

Not arguing, but I did suffer from severe depression and got over it without meds. I’m not a big fan of keeping something at bay with drugs; rather tackle the problem.

Having said that, hopefully the OP’s friend is talking to a professional and he or she will prescribe what’s best, I’m sure.

#9

[quote=“Stray Dog”]Not arguing, but I did suffer from severe depression and got over it without meds. I’m not a big fan of keeping something at bay with drugs; rather tackle the problem.

Having said that, hopefully the OP’s friend is talking to a professional and he or she will prescribe what’s best, I’m sure.[/quote]

The conventional wisdom in the medical community today is to use pharmaceuticals in conjunction with some sort of psycotherapy - this is considered the optimal way to treat severe clinical depression. The therapy aspect of treatment is supposed to assist people in gaining insight into the “problems” underlying their depression, and to deal with them. The drug aspect is to even out the mood so the suffering and risk of suicide is decreased. There is disagreement as to whether or not to maintain people on drug therapy indefinitely or to stop it once the severe depressive symptoms have abated.

I am curious about your experience, Stray Dog, and how you were able to manage it. I too suffer with depression, have an extensive family history documented back to at least my great grandmother who got a lobotomy (msp?) late in life in hopes of controlling her symptoms. Luckily for her, she died not too long after this extreme “treatment.” Personally, I have taken meds to stabilize myself, and then have gone off them once I feel I have things under better control. It does concern me that science still doesn’t understand completely all the mechanisms that cause depression, and how the drugs that have been developed to treat it work. But, I do think that drugs can help many people. Additionally, I have also seen therapists - some more helpful than others - which has helped me gain insight, and develop analytical skills to deal with my illness and to develop non-pathological coping mechanisms.

Bodo

#10

I had problems at an early age – single digits - with anger, severe depression, and the like. I am guessing today that my parents would have been told to medicate me. It being the seventies at the time though, my diet was radically changed and my problems disappeared shortly thereafter. I find today that my diet still has a huge influence on my life, how I feel about it, and how I handle it.

I have seen a few close friends battle severe depression. I would never tell people not to seek professional advice. I also would not tell people to dismiss the effects of diet on their mental well-being simply because it is something that cannot be prescribed by a professional.

I do know someone who spent years on different medications for severe depression. It got to the point where there was little hope left for a normal life. Out of desperation the individual sought alternative treatment. The individual was told to cut out red meat, dairy products, gluton-containing grains, caffeine, and most processed foods (especially those containing refined sugars). The individual was also told to eat specific foods to counter for some imbalances in their body. (Overall, not much different from what my parents were told by my GP in the seventies.) That was all it took – a totally different person within a couple of months and no longer any need for meds.

Drugs help many people and, for some, appear to be the best option for long-term treatment. I really would not though dismiss diet as a contributing factor nor the effect that a change in diet can have on one’s ability to handle and enjoy life. We are afterall what we eat.

#11

Mind you, suicide is the ultimate cure for depression.

While I sympathise with the view that being eternally roped into the pseudo scientific quacks in psychiatry, or worse, psychology, and their myriad of new and amazing medications is a bitch of a cure, it is marginally better than having someone stupidly and prematurely terminate their life. Well, in most instances.

HG