what counts as an attempt?

[Scacie]

If I was going to jump from a height, but eventually backed down from the ledge, does that count as an attempt?

 

[kagebunshin]

It probably depends on personal opinion but to my mind there's a difference between surviving a jump and not jumping at all. The person who jumped and survived due to circumstance genuinely attempted suicide. They let go of this world and their life and faced death. The person who stood on the ledge and backed down didn't give up their life. That isn't to say that they weren't suffering as much or aren't valid, I just feel the psychological effects are different. I'm saying that as someone who has experienced both.

 

[GlassMoon]

I was thinking about this some time ago to gauge what my actions would qualify as. I read that when you climb on the ledge for the purpose of jumping and then climb back down it's called an "aborted attempt". The example was given for climbing over the fence on the side of a bridge and then back, but I reckon a ledge would be similar.

Edit: Here's the article I read:

https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ajp.155.3.385

 

[Manic Panic]

Any action that was intended to end your life. Doesn't matter how small , because sometimes small can be enough.

 

[Forveleth]

I agree with above.

I just hope you are not asking this to think you need some sort of validation. An attempt is an attempt. It does not matter what method you used. It does not matter if you stopped at any point. Does not matter if you were saved. Does not matter why you did it. If you took actions with the goal of ending your life, it is an attempt.

 

[TheVanishingPoint]

Defining what truly counts as a "suicide attempt" is more complicated than it seems.
Technically, it should refer to an act carried out with a real intention to die, which failed only due to external or accidental causes (a mistake, an unexpected rescue, etc.).
But in medical, legal, and social contexts, what really matters is the narrative: if you say you wanted to do it, if you stage something that can be interpreted as a suicidal intent, even without completing the act, you are already counted as a "suicide attempt."

If you climb on a stool with a rope around your neck and then call for help, you're in the statistics, even if you never really intended to go through with it.
For society, an attempt isn't what you did, but what you claim you meant to do.
What counts is the story, not the act.
The performance, not the real risk.
The language, not the proximity to death.

And that's exactly where the famous 20 attempts per successful suicide come from.
News reports are full of people "saved from suicide" who were standing on a bridge, waiting even thirty minutes for authorities to arrive and talk them down.
But if someone really intends to jump, do you think they wait half an hour?
A desperate act is swift, silent — it doesn't wait for applause or sirens.

And so, the statistics swell with announced attempts, stage plays of anguish that often speak the language of pain more than that of death.