| | Facts and Fiction | | | | | | FICTION | People who talk about it don't commit suicide | FACT | Most people who kill themselves have given definite warnings of their intentions.
| | FICTION | Suicidal people are absolutely intent upon dying. | | FACT | Most suicidal people are ambivalent about living or dying; they gamble with death but may retain some desire to live.
| | FICTION | Suicide happens without warning. | | FACT | Suicidal people often give indications of their thoughts (sometimes before the thoughts have become intentions) by words or actions.
| | FICTION | Once a person becomes suicidal he remains suicidal forever. | | FACT | Suicidal thoughts may return, but they are not permanent, and in some people they may never return. | | FICTION | After a crisis, improvement means that the suicide risk is over. | | FACT | Many suicides occur in a period of improvement, when the person has the energy and will to turn despairing thoughts into self-destructive action.
| | FICTION | Suicide occurs mainly in the poor/rich. | | FACT | Suicide occurs in all groups of society.
| | FICTION | Suicidal behaviour is a sign of mental illness. | | FACT | Suicidal behaviour indicates deep unhappiness but not necessarily mental illness.
| | FICTION | You are either the suicidal type or you are not and that is it. | | FACT | It could happen to anybody. |
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Suicide Facts 
