Committing Suicide Significantly Increases Family and Friends' Risk of Attempting Suicide

Welp... this is something I've never told anyone, but it might help someone. Screw it.

When I was much younger, peaking at around 10-12, I was incredibly suicidal but lacked the courage to do it. One of my main 'thought points' that led to me attempting was my mom. We didn't have any pets at the time, and my mom and I lived alone in poverty. I'll spare the details but a lot of stuff was going on in my life, and every day was living torture. However, one day, I came to the decision that if I were to do it, I'd ask my mom to follow my lead so that we could "escape" together. We're were both strongly religious at the time (I still am, but for new reasons), and I wanted the two of us to leave my hell on Earth and go to Heaven together. However, even if I wasn't, I was still in a state of forever dying slowly, and becoming more and more desperate. I assumed my family was suffering the same, or something similar. When I finally went to attempt, I chickened out writing my note because I was scared of going to hell without her.

I guess what I'm saying is that, in situations like these, it's possible that the person attempting knew what it would do to their family. However, the mindset is rarely selfish. In cases where the person perceives life as being universally unbearable, suicide is mercy, and they don't want their loved ones to suffer. Was I absolutely screwed up in the head to think this? Oh yeah. But it was a mental illness... one that I now understand and can dissect. In my mind, ending my life would be a thing that brought me peace and relief. In a roundabout way, I wanted my family to feel relief as well.

So... yeah.

TL;DR: In a strange way, there's a chance that the person knows that this could cause their family pain, but see suicide as relief, not agony. They may want their loved ones to be happy and share in the peace they feel in their final moments. Holy crap I feel strange writing this.

/r/science Thread Link - labroots.com