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Suicide in asexuals


Zora

Suicidal because of asexuality?  

10 members have voted

  1. 1. Have you ever seriously considered committing suicide

    • No
      89
    • Yes, but I haven't attempted it
      181
    • Yes, and I have attempted it
      75
    • Other
      9
  2. 2. Was your asexuality connected to your thoughts of suicide?

    • Not at all
      149
    • Very loosely
      53
    • It was just everything, so asexuality was included
      68
    • My asexuality was one of the main reasons
      24
    • My asexuality was the main reason
      3
    • It wouldn't have bothered me if I didn't already have depression
      37
    • Other
      18
    • Have never contemplated suicide
      75

This poll is closed to new votes


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Ok, so, I've seen people online referring to a poll where 70 percent of us said we had considered suicide. So, I guess that's pretty high in a population, but everyone was taking that as proof of asexual oppression- because asexuality drives people to suicide. But I know that I'm asexual and I when I wanted to commit suicide it had NOTHING to do with asexuality and everything to do with the fact that my brain was out of whack, and I just don't want to make that kind of assumption about everyone else either. Even though it would seem logical that if there is a high rate of suicide contemplation in a group, to assume that the group's shared traits would significantly factor into that, but.. you know... there's that whole... correlation does not imply causation thing.

So, I'm asking directly!

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dooomninja

for me it was i such as everything was, i just didn’t understand myself and i felt alone i was told by almost everyone i was a failure and louds of other crap -_- . How life changes in just 2 years ^_^

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I think you should add the option "I have never had thoughts of suicide" below your second question. That would make things easier for me to answer the poll.

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Even though it would seem logical that if there is a high rate of suicide contemplation in a group, to assume that the group's shared traits would significantly factor into that, but.. you know... there's that whole... correlation does not imply causation thing.

Yes! Thank you for saying this! "70%" of asexual having seriously considered suicide is not the same as "70%" of asexual seriously considering suicide BECAUSE they're asexual.

Regardless I am still weary of Aven polls as representative of the asexual population, as they only take into account those asexual active on Aven and who chance to see the poll.

Also you could say that those who have considered suicide are more likely to vote in a poll on the topic than those who have not.

But yes, thanks for raising this.

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I think you should add the option "I have never had thoughts of suicide" below your second question. That would make things easier for me to answer the poll.

Whoops, you're right! Done. =)

Even though it would seem logical that if there is a high rate of suicide contemplation in a group, to assume that the group's shared traits would significantly factor into that, but.. you know... there's that whole... correlation does not imply causation thing.

Yes! Thank you for saying this! "70%" of asexual having seriously considered suicide is not the same as "70%" of asexual seriously considering suicide BECAUSE they're asexual.

Regardless I am still weary of Aven polls as representative of the asexual population, as they only take into account those asexual active on Aven and who chance to see the poll.

Also you could say that those who have considered suicide are more likely to vote in a poll on the topic than those who have not.

But yes, thanks for raising this.

*gasp* Oh my gosh! You're THE Ninny!

Maybe you can try raising the question on tumblr? Although, I'm not sure how people would go about answering... unless there's a website you can make a poll on that you could link to? Still, I don't suppose you reach an audience much outside of AVEN, do you? I guess we don't have enough.. resources to create a survey with real validity.

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Yes, have attempted suicide, no not because of asexuality. It's because I'm a chronically miserable fart.

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Yes, have attempted suicide, no not because of asexuality. It's because I'm a chronically miserable fart.

Aw, I'm sure you're a completely normal smelling chronically miserable gas. :cake:

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SquirrelCat

I contemplated suicide a few years ago but never attempted it, during that time in my life I suffered from a bad depression which I later found out was connected to my Bipolar Spectrum Disorder.

The reason I probably never attempted it is that I didn't see salvation nor redemption in it.., it was more like an "I wanna quit this shit world" thing.

My asexuality might have been loosely related (I donno) but most of it steamed from a feeling of insecurity and inability to connect with people and the world, a sense of being trapped in a thick fog with no secure point in life. I felt as if I observed the world rather than participated in it, Disconnected and unwanted, (that is a feeling which I still somewhat battle with but it’s no longer as strong.)

My ability to make contact with other people, whatever it was in person, on the phone, or the internet, was pretty much nonexistent; a few years back I would never have written something like this.

Fortunately most of it has changed enough to make me able to function on a daily basis, I don’t contemplate suicide any more.

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the 70 % thing is skewed

why? because most of our membership is young adults and ask any forum, asexual or not with a high percentage of young adults and you will find most have THOUGHT about it at some time or another.

are asexuals prone to suicidal thoughts? no more than another other group I suspect

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Ok, so, I've seen people online referring to a poll where 70 percent of us said we had considered suicide. So, I guess that's pretty high in a population, but everyone was taking that as proof of asexual oppression- because asexuality drives people to suicide. But I know that I'm asexual and I when I wanted to commit suicide it had NOTHING to do with asexuality and everything to do with the fact that my brain was out of whack, and I just don't want to make that kind of assumption about everyone else either. Even though it would seem logical that if there is a high rate of suicide contemplation in a group, to assume that the group's shared traits would significantly factor into that, but.. you know... there's that whole... correlation does not imply causation thing.

So, I'm asking directly!

As the creator of the other poll, I approve. :) I think it's pretty important to hammer out any biases in this poll, so we can get a number that we're sure of. I know I didn't really believe the 70% figure.

Note, however, that just because people perceive that their own suicidal thoughts are unrelated to asexuality, does not make it so. For example, a person may be depressed for unrelated reasons, but because she is asexual, she lacks a support network. The lack of a support network may cause her depression to worsen and reach suicidality. She may perceive that her suicidality was unrelated to asexuality, and in a way she is right. And yet, it is causally linked to asexuality.

In the other poll, I cited figures for other groups:

Suicidality rates

Bisexual women: 45.4%

Lesbian women: 29.5%

Heterosexual women: 9.6%

Bisexual men: 34.8%

Gay men: 25.2%

Heterosexual men: 7.4%

Note that the 45.4% figure for bisexual women also includes those cases where the suicidal thoughts have nothing to do with bisexuality. So if it has nothing to do with asexuality, why is the percentage so much higher for asexuals?

And yes, we should also think about confounding factors. As PiF pointed out, AVEN is skewed towards young adults. It's skewed towards people who have access to and feel comfortable in internet forums. It's skewed towards people who have some reason to stick around AVEN and continue talking about asexuality. Are any of these groups more likely to be suicidal than average?

Another issue I was worried about was the fact that "suicide" is in the title, making it more likely to catch the interest of people with experience in the matter. We can correct for that in the next poll I guess.

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*gasp* Oh my gosh! You're THE Ninny!

Maybe you can try raising the question on tumblr? Although, I'm not sure how people would go about answering... unless there's a website you can make a poll on that you could link to? Still, I don't suppose you reach an audience much outside of AVEN, do you? I guess we don't have enough.. resources to create a survey with real validity.

Hehe, aww, wow, yes I am "the" Ninny :blush:

I could try spread awareness of this on Tumblr and Facebook. I know you can create surveys on survey websites, but I've never made one, I'll look into it though.

I know as part of Asexual Awareness Week we plan on making a census, which will hopefully reach the wider asexual population beyond Aven. I will suggest we make a question regarding suicide/mental health. :)

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Ok, so, I've seen people online referring to a poll where 70 percent of us said we had considered suicide. So, I guess that's pretty high in a population, but everyone was taking that as proof of asexual oppression- because asexuality drives people to suicide. But I know that I'm asexual and I when I wanted to commit suicide it had NOTHING to do with asexuality and everything to do with the fact that my brain was out of whack, and I just don't want to make that kind of assumption about everyone else either. Even though it would seem logical that if there is a high rate of suicide contemplation in a group, to assume that the group's shared traits would significantly factor into that, but.. you know... there's that whole... correlation does not imply causation thing.

So, I'm asking directly!

As the creator of the other poll, I approve. :) I think it's pretty important to hammer out any biases in this poll, so we can get a number that we're sure of. I know I didn't really believe the 70% figure.

Note, however, that just because people perceive that their own suicidal thoughts are unrelated to asexuality, does not make it so. For example, a person may be depressed for unrelated reasons, but because she is asexual, she lacks a support network. The lack of a support network may cause her depression to worsen and reach suicidality. She may perceive that her suicidality was unrelated to asexuality, and in a way she is right. And yet, it is causally linked to asexuality.

In the other poll, I cited figures for other groups:

Suicidality rates

Bisexual women: 45.4%

Lesbian women: 29.5%

Heterosexual women: 9.6%

Bisexual men: 34.8%

Gay men: 25.2%

Heterosexual men: 7.4%

Note that the 45.4% figure for bisexual women also includes those cases where the suicidal thoughts have nothing to do with bisexuality. So if it has nothing to do with asexuality, why is the percentage so much higher for asexuals?

And yes, we should also think about confounding factors. As PiF pointed out, AVEN is skewed towards young adults. It's skewed towards people who have access to and feel comfortable in internet forums. It's skewed towards people who have some reason to stick around AVEN and continue talking about asexuality. Are any of these groups more likely to be suicidal than average?

Another issue I was worried about was the fact that "suicide" is in the title, making it more likely to catch the interest of people with experience in the matter. We can correct for that in the next poll I guess.

Yeah, all very good points. I know this won't help much, but I can edit title of this, so if you have suggestions... bring them on. For any real results..

*gasp* Oh my gosh! You're THE Ninny!

Maybe you can try raising the question on tumblr? Although, I'm not sure how people would go about answering... unless there's a website you can make a poll on that you could link to? Still, I don't suppose you reach an audience much outside of AVEN, do you? I guess we don't have enough.. resources to create a survey with real validity.

Hehe, aww, wow, yes I am "the" Ninny :blush:

I could try spread awareness of this on Tumblr and Facebook. I know you can create surveys on survey websites, but I've never made one, I'll look into it though.

I know as part of Asexual Awareness Week we plan on making a census, which will hopefully reach the wider asexual population beyond Aven. I will suggest we make a question regarding suicide/mental health. :)

That's very exciting! Do you know more about how the census can reach a wider population, how that will be achieved? And.. how can people help with AAW? (Oh my gosh. it's aww. That's AMAZING)

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It's something that's been on my mind regularly since I was 8, I'm pretty sure it's not to do with asexuality.

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Yes, attempted. I put loosely and everything. 'Cause one of the aspects was because I felt alone and different, which while not linked to being asexual, might have had something to do with it. Before I found AVEN, I thought there was just something wrong with me. So I guess maybe asexuality contributed to loneliness which contributed to suicidality. I don't know. But yeah!!! Yay for more accurate research method! :cake:

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Just a note: young adults are less likely to have considered suicide than older people, as older people were young once and have had time since then to potentially consider suicide too. Unless of course (1) this generation of young people is more inclined towards suicide than previous generations, (2) young people are more likely to say they've considered suicide as the depressive teenage years are fresher in their memory.

Another issue I was worried about was the fact that "suicide" is in the title, making it more likely to catch the interest of people with experience in the matter. We can correct for that in the next poll I guess.

It seems pretty hard to correct for interest in the topic, generally, unless it's a question in some much larger poll, which is more likely to be free of this specific bias.

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Mine never had any thing to do with my asexuality ( which I actually like )

It was to do with frustrations dealing with my future goals and inner demons -__-

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My asexuality contributed to my sense in myself that I was defective, and that the events I was coping with (sexual abuse and depression) had "broken" me. If the former hadn't occurred, I don't think my asexuality would have been a contributing factor to my suicidal depression.

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mylittlehazmat

Yes, I've seriously considered suicide. No, it has not been related to my asexuality.

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Just a note: young adults are less likely to have considered suicide than older people, as older people were young once and have had time since then to potentially consider suicide too.

I believe this to be incorrect

because during the phases of teen to adult and on that emotional roler coaster suicide is thought of by many, as to then going onto suicide I would agree that part that young adults upto about 30 seem to be the main age group should suicide attempts actually happen

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Just a note: young adults are less likely to have considered suicide than older people, as older people were young once and have had time since then to potentially consider suicide too.

I believe this to be incorrect

because during the phases of teen to adult and on that emotional roler coaster suicide is thought of by many, as to then going onto suicide I would agree that part that young adults upto about 30 seem to be the main age group should suicide attempts actually happen

We're talking about the amount who have considered suicide at some point in their past. Not the amount who are presently considering suicide.

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I voted "other" because I have considered it, but only in times of high emotion. I struggle with anxiety and never feeling good enough (for anyone, myself included) so I have thought about it, but never seriously, more in a frustrated 'maybe-everyone-would-be-better-off-if-I-wasn't-here, why-can't-I-ever-be-good-enough' type of way. *shrug*

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Trolley Girl

There have been times when I have felt that the entire world was against me, and for many reasons. Asexuality, however, was never one of them.

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Ok, so, I've seen people online referring to a poll where 70 percent of us said we had considered suicide.

Who do you mean by "us"? There is no way of measuring 70% of asexuals.

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Ok, so, I've seen people online referring to a poll where 70 percent of us said we had considered suicide.

Who do you mean by "us"? There is no way of measuring 70% of asexuals.

I mean.. asexuals who voted in the last poll. My point was.. that people are saying that's seventy percent of asexuals, and saying it's because of their asexuality, quite often, which is obviously not true, so I wanted to try and straighten out at least one of those inaccuracies a little/

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Yes, i considered it, and I was always single when I did. I never considered it when I was with a partner. Ironically, with every partnership I was involved in, after a while, I would just want to end the relationship, I am not completely sure why?

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Yes, I've considered suicide when I had untreated depression. No, it had nothing to do with my asexuality.

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I was suicidal on and off through most of high school. Asexuality was by no means the reason behind it, but since I had not heard of its existence yet, not feeling attraction when everyone else did added to my belief that i was horribly damaged and broken beyond repair. It was a relatively small factor, and probably would not have been as big of a deal if I had not already had major self image issues.

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