# Disturbing Suicide Advice **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 4, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551 "2003-06-04T09:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/1 "2003-06-04T09:50:37Z")
After reading Cecil’s answer to [this question](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_204.html) I have to say I was a little disturbed. Cecil pretty much tells you the best way to commit suicide (if you’re slashing your wrists anyway) with this little gem: > [@](#): > > One other common detail of movie suicides is quite accurate, however (at least as depicted in movies of the last several years, such as Ordinary People): if you’re serious about self-destruction, slash your wrists parallel to the arm, not at right angles. A right angle slash can be stanched and sewn up much more easily than a longitudinal slash. Another helpful hint from your friends at the Straight Dope. I seriously doubt the intent was to tell people how to commit suicide more efficiently but still, :eek:. I thought giving advice on how to commit suicide was frowned upon on this board. And that’s the bottom line ---
**Author:** ![Nate\_the\_Great](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ea924/32.png) [@Nate\_the\_Great](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nate_the_Great)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/2 "2003-06-04T17:22:32Z")
I almost threw up when I read that column. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2003, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/3 "2003-06-04T23:46:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by And that’s the bottom line \* > \*\* > I seriously doubt the intent was to tell people how to commit suicide more efficiently but still, :eek:. I thought giving advice on how to commit suicide was frowned upon on this board. > > And that’s the bottom line \*\* In that case, how does one punish a Perfect Master? ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/4 "2003-06-05T03:36:46Z")
Well… (1) The direction for wrist-slashing is very commonly available. (2) Cecil’s column is published. People can read it or not, but it’s a factual statement. There’s only one author. The Message Board is an interactive exchange of ideas, thoughts, and information. Some of the information is accurate, some is provided by flakes. In short, there is a difference between a column by Cecil describing wrist-slashing techniques, and a person posting on the Message Board saying, “I’m depressed and I’ve got my head in the oven, how do I turn on the gas?”… and people responding. ---
**Author:** ![And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/5 "2003-06-05T05:06:08Z")
Okay, what I meant was the Straightdope website, but I get your point about the distinction between the board and the columns. That being said, whether the wrist slashing technique is fact or not does not really excuse telling people how to commit suicide more efficiently. Information on how to make bombs and other weapons is also readily available, that doesn’t mean it should be posted so people can learn how to kill other people more efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/6 "2003-06-05T06:36:32Z")
There’s a difference between killing oneself and killing others. ---
**Author:** ![dogawful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@dogawful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogawful)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/7 "2003-06-05T07:28:01Z")
just google for bus stop, this kind of information as always been availabe. ---
**Author:** ![And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df788c/32.png) [@And\_that\_s\_the\_bottom\_line](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/And_that_s_the_bottom_line)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/8 "2003-06-05T07:37:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr2001 \* > \*\*There’s a difference between killing oneself and killing others. \*\* Yes and no. To me, the end result is the same. Death. It’s not something we should be helping people achieve. ---
**Author:** ![fgarriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c6cbf5/32.png) [@fgarriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fgarriel)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/9 "2003-06-05T11:38:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \* > \*\*…posting on the Message Board saying, “I’m depressed and I’ve got my head in the oven, how do I turn on the gas?”… and people responding. \*\* I’d have to advise getting the laptop out of the oven first. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2003, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/10 "2003-06-05T12:53:37Z")
Well, the column was written back in 1974 or so – a more helpful and less politically correct era. And welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, **dogawful**. I take it when you say “always been available”, you mean since the internet. But it was widely known in detective fiction in the 1960s, as well. ---
**Author:** ![cletus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@cletus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cletus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/11 "2003-06-06T06:59:21Z")
Adults should be treated like adults, not like little children. I believe in fighting ignorance and that’s why I love this place. I also believe the best way to fight ignorance is through more knowledge, not less. No matter the intent, withholding information from someone is wrong IMHO. You can only hold someone’s hand for so long before it becomes harmful to that person. Granted, this particular information can only be used for one purpose (suicide, of which I personally disapprove of) but it should be up to the person to decide **for himself** what to do with it. It shouldn’t be up to others to decide for him. ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/12 "2003-06-08T19:42:26Z")
There’s a disturbing website out there (dont’ remember the URL) that catalogs different suicide methods and their efficacy. Believe me when I tell you that this is bad news for someone actually contemplating the act. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/13 "2003-06-08T21:00:41Z")
The book “Final Exit” also evaluates suicide methods for terminally ill people. I’ll only mention it advises against any violent methods (like wrist-slashing) or poisons. ---
**Author:** ![stoyel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@stoyel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoyel)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/14 "2003-06-10T04:19:48Z")
The Hemlock Society is a non-profit (I should hope so!) organization devoted to helping people, invariably the terminally ill or extremely old, off themselves with a minimum of pain and hassle for everyone involved. They offer legal advice and publish booklets (although many of them, you have to have been a member for a fair amount of time before they will send to you). The information’s out there, and I think it’s a little… idealistic to assume that there are no situations in which the information might be useful, appreciated, and even appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![FyreFiend](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/919ad9/32.png) [@FyreFiend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FyreFiend)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/15 "2003-06-10T13:19:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aaslatten \* > \*\*There’s a disturbing website out there (dont’ remember the URL) that catalogs different suicide methods and their efficacy. Believe me when I tell you that this is bad news for someone actually contemplating the act. \*\* I think I know the same site. I won’t post the URL but had something to do with the newsgroup alt.Suicide.holiday (I wasn’t looking to off myself. I was just bored one day and thought up odd google searches). I thought it was kind of interesting in an off way. Anyway. As for the OP: It’s not like **The Master** write a step by step guide on how to knock yourself off (first write the note. Make it as hate filled as possible, next…) and anyway, I saw that as a bit of gallows humor. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disturbing-suicide-advice/179551/16 "2003-06-11T13:16:26Z")
One thing that I think Cecil missed about movies always using water is that the shot of the blood flowing into the clean water is quite ‘nice’ in a cinematic sense. Unless you are the type that likes it spraying onto walls.