Involuntarism Quotes

“Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with pain.”
― David L. Conroy, Out of the Nightmare: Recovery from Depression and Suicidal Pain

“Do human beings have an infinite amount of energy with which to resist death? It is kinder and more accurate to say that they fought until they had no more fight left in them.”
― David L. Conroy, Out of the Nightmare: Recovery from Depression and Suicidal Pain

“Both the suicidal and non-suicidal are often angry with others. One way to discharge this anger is to fantasize about violent revenge. The insults of daily life often cause fantasies of revenge to flare up and quickly subside. The people with these fantasies usually do not act on them; they are not motives or goals. They are involuntary responses to perceived insult—ways of coping with rage. The suicidal, whether or not they attempt, suffer tremendous and persistent pain and anger. That this pain should find its way into their fantasies and dreams is no surprise. This ideation is not a motive for action; it is an alternative to action. Fantasizing about suicide is an effort to delay or avoid suicide, not the activity of formulating a motive, goal, or intention. Fantasies doubtlessly succeed in preventing many attempts.”
― David L. Conroy, Out of the Nightmare: Recovery from Depression and Suicidal Pain

“To be subjected to pain that threatens to exceed coping resources is not something that people choose.”
― David L. Conroy, Out of the Nightmare: Recovery from Depression and Suicidal Pain