Is suicide painless?
September 11, 2008 2:05 PM Subscribe
I am trying to write a short story that involves a clever suicide. It's harder than I thought. I need help coming up with a suicide method that is 1. Painless, 2. Foolproof, and 3. plausibly accidental. Any ideas?
This post was deleted for the following reason: this is too borderline to be okay in AskMe -- jessamyn
Best answer: Carbon monoxide leak. Everyone assumes it was a tragic accident, and if it was in your sleep I wouldn't think you'd feel a thing.
posted by peachfuzz at 2:17 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by peachfuzz at 2:17 PM on September 11, 2008
Why painless? Is this fundamental to something else in the story?
Foolproof and plausibly accidental are easy. Painless is hard.
posted by three blind mice at 2:17 PM on September 11, 2008
Foolproof and plausibly accidental are easy. Painless is hard.
posted by three blind mice at 2:17 PM on September 11, 2008
Response by poster: Yes, painless is necessary, and hard. I can get any two of the conditions easily, but the suffocation theme is looking good.
posted by RussHy at 2:21 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by RussHy at 2:21 PM on September 11, 2008
Kitchen trash: wrappers from five microwave burritos, one empty six pack of Corona.
Bathroom counter: one bottle antacid pills next to one very similar bottle, now empty, of sleeping pills.
Bathroom floor: RIP.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 2:22 PM on September 11, 2008 [2 favorites]
Bathroom counter: one bottle antacid pills next to one very similar bottle, now empty, of sleeping pills.
Bathroom floor: RIP.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 2:22 PM on September 11, 2008 [2 favorites]
Injecting yourself with air. Causes (probably) a terminal stroke. And you have time to dispose of the accoutrements (ie tying off the artery like a junkie would do). Cant take credit for the idea, read about it somewhere as a murder weapon and I have no idea if strokes are painless.
posted by elendil71 at 2:22 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by elendil71 at 2:22 PM on September 11, 2008
I second the carbon monoxide leak, and it's painless even if you're not asleep.
posted by dolface at 2:23 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by dolface at 2:23 PM on September 11, 2008
but the suffocation theme is looking good.
Yes, but you said clever. Falling asleep in the garage with the engine running has been done to death. So to speak.
posted by three blind mice at 2:25 PM on September 11, 2008
Yes, but you said clever. Falling asleep in the garage with the engine running has been done to death. So to speak.
posted by three blind mice at 2:25 PM on September 11, 2008
Hire someone to kill you, get a hold on some general anesthesia, and once you pass out let that suicide hitman have his/her way.
posted by sixcolors at 2:25 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by sixcolors at 2:25 PM on September 11, 2008
Carbon monoxide also isn't foolproof, and can be made so only by risking plausibility -- you need a lot of output and/or lack of ventilation to make it a gimme. Of course, lots of people die from it, but I think many victims do so only because of gradual exposure, and those people often experience (and ignore) unpleasant symptoms.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 2:30 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 2:30 PM on September 11, 2008
Related antidote filter: As for the gas leak, this happened to my aunt. The stove's gas line corroded, the house filled with gas, and she came downstairs in the morning and flicked a cigarette lighter and kahboom! The whole house blew up. And she survived!
posted by luckypozzo at 2:32 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by luckypozzo at 2:32 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
Drowning always seems accidental.
Or a clock radio falling in the bathtub? (Does that even work?)
posted by rokusan at 2:46 PM on September 11, 2008
Or a clock radio falling in the bathtub? (Does that even work?)
posted by rokusan at 2:46 PM on September 11, 2008
*Eat a bunch of Mentos followed up by a big swig of Diet Coke. Not sure if that qualifies as painless (or if it would really kill you).
*Have something really heavy that would crush you instantly in the floor above you (think of a ton of free weights, anvils, etc). Introduce termites, and have the floor/ceiling slowly rot away, until one day you're instantly crushed. Not sure if that qualifies as foolproof.
*Engineer a mix-up with a fumigation company where they do your house instead of the neighbors (the kind with the big circus tent surrounding your house).
posted by BobbyVan at 2:55 PM on September 11, 2008
*Have something really heavy that would crush you instantly in the floor above you (think of a ton of free weights, anvils, etc). Introduce termites, and have the floor/ceiling slowly rot away, until one day you're instantly crushed. Not sure if that qualifies as foolproof.
*Engineer a mix-up with a fumigation company where they do your house instead of the neighbors (the kind with the big circus tent surrounding your house).
posted by BobbyVan at 2:55 PM on September 11, 2008
(No, it doesn't. Modern electronics won't allow it.)
posted by crickets at 2:55 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by crickets at 2:55 PM on September 11, 2008
I second the carbon monoxide leak, and it's painless even if you're not asleep.
Unless you consider vomiting and seizures to be painless, no, it's not.
posted by Airhen at 2:56 PM on September 11, 2008
Unless you consider vomiting and seizures to be painless, no, it's not.
posted by Airhen at 2:56 PM on September 11, 2008
I've an uncle who tried CO suicide a couple of times. Third time was the charm, but he was a (more than a) little (?) crippled after the failed attempts. Making it look accidental is difficult.
Drowning is *no fun*
Explosions can be quick enough that your brain's scrambled before you feel the pain, I would imagine. Lots of things can be made to explode and look accidental; a propane bbq stove in a solarium with a leaky rusty propane tank. Someone lights up a cigarette...
Massive head trauma's, I'd also imagine, would be fairly painless. There was that guy with a booby trap (big iron I-beam set up to crush anyone who opened his barn door).
Is your character a more white-collar or blue collar type person? Heavy machinery is very hazardous and going head-first into many of them would be quite fatal. Pulp and paper mills are very dangerous.
Hmm, maybe pretend to work on a car on bricks or a jack with a ton of crap (an engine?) in the trunk. Place head underneath a particular edge that would hit the (concrete) ground. Arrange for a catastrophic failure of the jack.
posted by porpoise at 2:59 PM on September 11, 2008
Drowning is *no fun*
Explosions can be quick enough that your brain's scrambled before you feel the pain, I would imagine. Lots of things can be made to explode and look accidental; a propane bbq stove in a solarium with a leaky rusty propane tank. Someone lights up a cigarette...
Massive head trauma's, I'd also imagine, would be fairly painless. There was that guy with a booby trap (big iron I-beam set up to crush anyone who opened his barn door).
Is your character a more white-collar or blue collar type person? Heavy machinery is very hazardous and going head-first into many of them would be quite fatal. Pulp and paper mills are very dangerous.
Hmm, maybe pretend to work on a car on bricks or a jack with a ton of crap (an engine?) in the trunk. Place head underneath a particular edge that would hit the (concrete) ground. Arrange for a catastrophic failure of the jack.
posted by porpoise at 2:59 PM on September 11, 2008
Response by poster: I considered the guy working under the car and having the jack slip, crushing him, but the broken ribs would hurt. This guy is supposedly smart enough to do this without hurting himself.
posted by RussHy at 3:06 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by RussHy at 3:06 PM on September 11, 2008
The best clever suicide is faking your own death, but leaving clues behind that make it plausibly look like you went missing in an accident where there's no chance of recovering your body. This is called pseudocide.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:08 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:08 PM on September 11, 2008
Shotgun blast to the head while "cleaning" it. If it's painful, you'll probably only feel it for a nanosecond.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:12 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by Thorzdad at 3:12 PM on September 11, 2008
FWIW, I've gotten knocked out several times, and I don't remember feeling any pain, my memory just stops at a certain point, where I felt a jolt.
posted by qvtqht at 3:12 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by qvtqht at 3:12 PM on September 11, 2008
I'm a bit worried about you. I hope you are really writing a story and not looking for a way to off yourself. Insurance companies know all the tricks. You are probably already red flagged!
posted by Pennyblack at 3:18 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by Pennyblack at 3:18 PM on September 11, 2008
Response by poster: I'm a bit worried about you.
Don't worry, my insurance would pay out for a suicide as I have waited long past the initial required period. I have no need to be clever. As some forgotten MeFite once pointed out, 60 Tylenol are sufficient to kill yourself....if you don't mind hanging around for two weeks while your liver dissolves...
posted by RussHy at 3:25 PM on September 11, 2008
Don't worry, my insurance would pay out for a suicide as I have waited long past the initial required period. I have no need to be clever. As some forgotten MeFite once pointed out, 60 Tylenol are sufficient to kill yourself....if you don't mind hanging around for two weeks while your liver dissolves...
posted by RussHy at 3:25 PM on September 11, 2008
Look up "shallow water blackout" on wikipedia.
This passage seems to fit what you are looking for:
Hyperventilation artificially depletes this (CO2) causing a low blood carbon dioxide condition called hypocapnia. Hypocapnia reduces the reflexive respiratory drive, allows the delay of breathing and leaves the diver susceptible to loss of consciousness from hypoxia. Although the body is able to detect low oxygen levels for most healthy people the first sign of low O2 is a brownout or unconsciousness; there is no bodily sensation that warns a diver of an impending blackout.
At risk of being impolite, I will add that I seriously hope you are only writing a story and not asking to veil a search for a 1. Painless, 2. Foolproof, and 3. plausibly accidental way out of your own. On this note I will add that in something I recently saw where a survivor of an attempt at suicide by jumping off a bridge. In the case of jumping from a height to death, the individual has a span of time to think while death is imminent. The person in that article or video said they regretted the decision to jump on the way down. We can romanticize suicide as a solution very easily while the troubles of our life can make death appear as a relief. The trouble is the irreversiblity of the decision vs the way life and perspective can change. If a situation is truly as bad as it can get, then the only way for things to change is for the better.
posted by Vague_Blur at 3:32 PM on September 11, 2008
This passage seems to fit what you are looking for:
Hyperventilation artificially depletes this (CO2) causing a low blood carbon dioxide condition called hypocapnia. Hypocapnia reduces the reflexive respiratory drive, allows the delay of breathing and leaves the diver susceptible to loss of consciousness from hypoxia. Although the body is able to detect low oxygen levels for most healthy people the first sign of low O2 is a brownout or unconsciousness; there is no bodily sensation that warns a diver of an impending blackout.
At risk of being impolite, I will add that I seriously hope you are only writing a story and not asking to veil a search for a 1. Painless, 2. Foolproof, and 3. plausibly accidental way out of your own. On this note I will add that in something I recently saw where a survivor of an attempt at suicide by jumping off a bridge. In the case of jumping from a height to death, the individual has a span of time to think while death is imminent. The person in that article or video said they regretted the decision to jump on the way down. We can romanticize suicide as a solution very easily while the troubles of our life can make death appear as a relief. The trouble is the irreversiblity of the decision vs the way life and perspective can change. If a situation is truly as bad as it can get, then the only way for things to change is for the better.
posted by Vague_Blur at 3:32 PM on September 11, 2008
You mention in this AskMe thread from February that you've "been chronically depressed for a very long time". I'm not saying that you're going to use this information for anything other than a story, but I'm mentioning it here because I think it's something that people reading the question might want to consider before they answer it.
posted by xchmp at 3:33 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by xchmp at 3:33 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
Put a couple of live mice in your car. Have a friend on the phone. Scream bloody murder (make sure you say 'RATS!!!!'). Disconnect. Drive over a cliff. A very high cliff.
This could be painful. How does one become instantly unconscious in between 'disconnect' and 'drive over a cliff'?
posted by Pennyblack at 3:39 PM on September 11, 2008
This could be painful. How does one become instantly unconscious in between 'disconnect' and 'drive over a cliff'?
posted by Pennyblack at 3:39 PM on September 11, 2008
Making suffocation by gas leak look accidental is difficult, unless you've got hella incompetent investigators. You'd have to tamper with a supply pipe in a way that doesn't look tampered with. Perhaps replacing a length of pipe with one that had already corroded through?
posted by muddgirl at 3:42 PM on September 11, 2008
posted by muddgirl at 3:42 PM on September 11, 2008
I, too, have reservations about answering this question. Even if you are using this for a story I'd rather not be the person to provide someone else with a method (even though a dedicated searcher would find the information elsewhere.)
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:43 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Solon and Thanks at 3:43 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Tomorrowful at 2:12 PM on September 11, 2008