mod note: this has been added to the
suicide resource compilation at the top.
This has been made in response to the ever increasing amount of posts made about highly unlikely methods. Please read before posting about one of these methods or feel free to link if someone does post about them.
This thread is meant to prevent people from trying methods that are almost certain to not kill them but likely to cause harm, whether temporary or permanent. Any method listed in this thread should not be attempted by anyone, and should not be considered a method. I do not give advice on methods that will kill you, as it goes against my personal beliefs, so I will not be responding to any questions asking about them. This has been made for harm reduction to prevent people from ending up in a worse off situation.
Tylenol/paracetamol/acetominophen
An overdose of Tylenol has a probability of ~5% or less of killing you. That is an incredibly low chance. If you succeed, odds are it will be slowly over the course of days to weeks, or even months, as your liver slowly shuts down. This would be an excruciatingly painful death. Liver failure causes your skin to turn yellow, nausea, vomiting, severe abdominal pain, fowl smelling pale stools, and even the potential for massive esophageal bleeding. More than likely, however, you will throw up for several hours before returning back to baseline over the next few days. If you do seek medical care, you will be given the reversal drug and then sent to the psych ward after being medically stabilized.
Other over the counter medications
While over the counter availability differs from country to country, the rule remains that if it can be purchased without a prescription, it is not a method. These medications have been deemed safe enough by your country's government through rigorous testing that they feel confident giving free access to them. This means that the odds of you being able to overdose on it are very low. Once again, less than 10%, though the exact statistic will vary from drug to drug. Generally, no matter what medication you chose, the answer will be waking up in your vomit feeling like you're more hung over than ever. Things such as ibuprofen or other NSAIDs will do nothing but make you vomit. The amount that you would have to take in order to reach toxic levels is high enough that you will throw up before your body gets to that point. If you manage to reach lethal levels, it will be painful and slow, often resulting in severe abdominal pain, seizures and other neurological symptoms. Your kidneys will work overtime to flush it out of your system and you have a very high chance of waking up in a pool of your own vomit. Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is another common overdose (this is over the counter in the US, though I know it is prescription in other countries, however the consensus stands) that results in severe hallucinations. These are often described by people who have survived as absolutely terrifying. Following that is likely seizures and coma, however the odds of it being lethal are not in your favor, especially if medical attention is given. It has the potential to cause cardiac side effects, however all of this considered, the fatality rates are considered low, the highest death rate I was able to find was 14%, however this varies from source to source.
Prescription medications
This method has a lot more nuance to it, as certain prescriptions have a high likelihood of lethality when taken in the right doses, while others have next to 0 chance. Generally, most prescriptions have a low chance of killing you. Psychiatric medications are the most discussed on this forum, and are also on the lower end of having any shot at killing you. Antidepressants vary in chance of killing you, though even the most toxic (tricyclics) have only about a 14% chance, not a very good statistic. At worst, certain antidepressants have only a 0.5% chance. Other medications, such as those taken for chronic conditions, vary wildly, however the list of those with a high chance of killing you is significantly shorter than the ones with little or moderate chance. Obviously it would be far too tedious to go and list off all of them.
Cutting
This method is often sought out by people who have seen it in movies or TV shows. It should not be considered a method, as it is only in these shows to play it up for the movies. With a success rate of ~1-4%, the odds are the opposite of in your favor. While they make it seem like you can take a razor blade to the wrist and peacefully slip into unconsciousness in the bathtub, in reality it is nothing like that. The human body is wired to not be able to harm itself in this way. In order to die from blood loss you would have to cut an artery. The arteries are meticulously located beneath several layer of muscle, tendons, and other tissues. They are not meant to be cut, especially not on purpose. Even with wonderful understanding of anatomy, such as healthcare workers, you would have a very, very poor chance of reaching them unless you were in a state of psychosis. If you attempted to, you would find yourself halfway there before realizing you mentally and physically cannot get yourself to go any further. Your mind will stop you without you having any control over it. Many people argue that if they get drunk or high beforehand they will be able to overcome it, however this would impair your ability to properly locate and cut to the arteries. The biggest risk with this method is permanent nerve damage to whatever area you attempt to cut. Depending on how deep you get before aborting, you may end up with severe scarring and potentially anemia or other blood loss related conditions.
VSED (voluntarily stopping eating and drinking)
This method is often sought out by people who hear about it use in terminally ill patients on hospice. These patients are under the care of medical professionals who are prescribing them heavy sedatives and pain killers to ensure that they are in as little distress as possible, as well as likely in the late stages of dying in which thirst and hunger cues are lost. It is also rarely done in people who have reached extreme states of spiritual enlightenment. In general, someone who does not meet either of these criteria will not be able to succeed in VSED. There are currently 0 confirmed cases of this on this site, despite many, many attempts, myself included. While people are under the impression that consuming absolutely no food or fluids will kill you within 3 days max, that is a myth. The body has the potential to make it much longer on absolutely nothing. As you get further and further into dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, your mental state will begin to suffer. Your body will go to extreme lengths to get some sort of fuel. If you have any access to food or water, you will eventually be overcome with an ravenous, primitive desire to eat and drink anything in your path. You will eventually cave. And will then have put yourself through days and days of this for nothing.
