When I was 11 my father put a gun to my head and three times pulled the trigger on an empty chamber, then shot my mom's husband, shot her and then himself. My mother and her husband survived, my father did not. It was the 4th of July. I also lost a friend years ago to suicide by intentional overdose.

Now I understand why older people commit suicide. No friends, forgotten by family, and feeling of worthlessness. I'm now in that situation.

I've been treated for major depressive disorder for almost three years. I've been close to suicide so many times. I became an organ donor, and looked into euthanasia in Norway. I paid for funeral plots. Everyday I'm ready to die.

Three things that seem to be missed: 1. The highest rate of suicide is found among gay teens. Bullying/harassment by peers and non-acceptance by family seem to be the major precipitating causes. 2. Inadequately treated, unrelenting pain is a cause of suicide. I have had a friend who killed herself for this reason. The American medical system chronically under-medicates and discounts the effect of pain. 3. Refusal to treat a treatable condition is also a slower method of suicide. I am definitely in that place, and #2 is a major factor in that.

I know someone who always threatens to commit suicide.