What’s ahead in sections 3-9:  In Section 3 (this section) there are questions about what you have thought or done about your own involuntary or voluntary exit. You are asked whether have taken steps such as making a will, and about any times in the past when you considered leaving voluntarily.

Sections 4-8 cover factors that could affect the decision to leave: your reaction to Very Old Age, your quality of life, your value to your family and society, and the possibility that leaving might be more accessible and socially acceptable in the future.

Section 9 offers you the chance to review all the factors that might go into a person's choosing whether or not to leave.

If you are not going to continue, I’d invite you to visit What to do after going through this Guide and Moving away from D&D: Getting back to life as usual. If you have comments or suggestions for improving this Guide, please go to Your reactions to this Guide.

       I'll wait until I sickness or treatment for pain dulls my anxiety about leaving.

       I believe I should let God's will be done.

       I'll maybe/probably/definitely think about it when I am older.

       The subject crosses my mind from time to time but I don't think about it much, and that's OK.

       I will spend time thinking about and planning for leaving life the way I do any other life stage.  I will try to get information about the area and decide how the information applies to me. Then, I will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of different courses of action.

       High

       Moderate

       Low 

       Non-existent

       ...knowing that I have communicated my wishes about how I want to leave life in a living will or in discussions with my doctor and relatives,

       ...having in place the means for painless voluntary exit that I can use if necessary,

       ... reading about people I respect who have had positive life-ending experiences,

       ...approaching the area gradually; thinking or discussing it in the abstract until I become more used to it,

       ...being able to stop thinking about D&D when I want to,

       ...using terms like “leaving life” rather than D&D or “suicide”,

       ...embracing positive thoughts or imagery about what happens after I leave,

       ...having beliefs that assure me that I will have a good afterlife.

       I have made a will.

       I have made a living will with durable power of attorney for health care and have sent copies to my doctor, hospital, lawyer, and executor.   

       I have discussed the wishes expressed in my living will with my doctor and with spouse, partner or close friend.

       I do not know how to do any of the above things and don’t know whom to consult to find out.

       I don’t have the money to consult an attorney.

       This kind of planning upsets me because it means facing the fact that someday I will leave.

       I don’t have the energy.

       There is no encouragement from others; no one I know has bothered with these things.

       I am too busy now, but I’ll do it sometime in the future.

       Discussing these things with my relatives would upset them.

Other reasons:

       In countries where there are periodic natural disasters such as famine, flooding or typhoons, or where there is continual warfare, people are surrounded by D&D and are desensitized to it.

       The religions most prevalent in those cultures focus on preparing for and looking forward to the afterlife.

       Life in those cultures is so miserable that people do not care as much as we do about hanging on to life.

       The culture or the religion promotes a “trust in God, Allah, or Fate” approach to any problem that seems too expensive or difficult to solve, leading to an acceptance of D&D whenever it comes.

3.8 Have there been times when you acted as though you wanted to leave life, but really didn’t want to or at least weren’t sure? If so, were any of the following part of the situation: 

       I was trying to express my desperation in the strongest possible way.

       I wanted to punish myself for being a bad or worthless person by imagining or taking steps towards hurting myself.

       I was angry at certain people or the world and wanted to show them what they had driven me to.

       I needed  help or sympathetic attention from other people.

       I could no longer be responsible for myself and needed to force others to take charge of me.

       I believed that God wanted me to end my life.

       I believed my leaving would benefit those I care about.

       I believed that my leaving would benefit mankind, perhaps by publicizing a cause or by exerting political power.

       Things improved because of steps I took.

       Things improved because of things other people did, or because something changed that I had nothing to do with.

       I learned what to do to stop thinking about leaving.

       I wanted to be dead; that is, to stop the pain, but I did not have the means for a painless exit.

       I couldn’t bear to part with those I love.

       I realized that my survivors would be terribly and permanently upset by my leaving; that they might feel as I though I didn't love or care about them.

       I realized that people would think I was bad or inconsiderate; my memory would be tarnished by my leaving voluntarily.

       The means currently available for voluntarily leaving life are so gruesome that I didn't want to leave those images with my survivors.

       I was ready to go but became too frightened to go ahead.

       Since that time, my situation has improved (Fate, God or treatment intervened; or, I took steps to change).

       I have gotten used to my unpleasant situation.

       I discovered I that I was worth more than I had thought.

       I discovered that people would miss me more than I had thought.

       I realized how much I would have hurt others, and that this hurt probably would not go away.