The greatest and most ignored problem
of discussing suicide methods is this:

Everyone concentrates on the mechanical aspects such as which pills to take, where one can jump, where to aim, but hardly anyone makes it clear that the most important thing is to have a practical way of overcoming the instinct to live and the fear which is present. Most people, if they honestly consider the matter that there is, in the first place, *no* such method, simply ignore the problem.
For example: When using a shotgun the critical point is that the moment one pulls the trigger is very difficult and requires unbelievable will power.

General discussion of methods

This is important: the implements should be already on hand so that one may carry out the method if one wants to. Everyone** knows this terrible, beautiful moment when one says to oneself: "Now I would gladly kill myself".

If you have the gun in the cabinet, the poison in the nightstand etc.., it is much easier to do then if you plan way ahead of time to die on a particular day. I think everyone [who is contemplating suicide] should settle on a particular method that he is reasonably sure he can follow through on.
For instance, I am afraid of water, and therefore do not plan to drown. Another person likes to half-strangle himself while masturbating, and would find it easier to hang than shoot himself...
Note: **[everyone who is suicidal, that is.]

General discussion of methods- Poisoning

There are certain plants and mushrooms that, properly applied, can lead to death. The problem is finding a supply and knowing how to properly prepare it and how much to use.

One should know what one is doing, as neither lying on the floor in convulsions nor having one's stomach pumped at the hospital's emergency room is particularly pleasant.

General discussion of methods- Poisoning Mushroom/Plant poisoning ("homeopathic suicide"): Much knowledge and experience [with plants] is required to accomplish an expert poisoning. One needs to join a mushroom club or read extensively in the subject matter. However, in doing so there is the serious danger of finding one's life's work. :)

Incidentally, I'm acquainted with a person who is very knowledgeable about mushrooms. He can easily bake you a mushroom souffle that would kill you (or so it is said). However, if you ask him-innocently, of course- about specific poisonous mushrooms, his response is almost always a qualified one, such as: X can be deadly, but only if one uses large quantities, prepares it properly, etc..

I recommend you forget about this. [The original text is unclear as to what the author is recommending one forgets about...whether he is saying one can forget about pumping an expert for info or whether one ought to forget about mushrooms altogether is open to interpretation, though in the context of what is here i would favor the former over the latter. Given what I know of this form of poisoning, the method acts by damaging the liver...this is neither slow nor painless.]

General discussion of methods- Poisoning

Substances truly suitable for overdosing oneself are at least as difficult to get a hold of as a shotgun. Failed attempts can be brutal, and with a little (not a lot) of bad luck you will be stuck with permanent damage that has resulted from the attempt.

This is not the case with a shotgun; if you follow the rules, you will die.** Whether you end up more or less decapitated and ugly to behold is beside the point. If you wish to use "sleeping pills", you'll need to go abroad to get them [keep in mind the intended readers of the original text are probably concentrated in Germany].

The more underdeveloped the country the better, as the laws will be more lax and bribery will be easier. It is also possible to forge prescriptions. ***
Notes: **[Of course, if you don't follow the principles you'll wind up disfigured and still alive. Given the reported cases of botched attempts, firearms are not as sure-fire a method as some make them out to be.]
***[Forging prescriptions is not without its hazards. Pharmacists are known to phone the prescribing doctor to verify a prescription...]

General discussion of methods- Poisoning

I would like to issue a very urgent warning concerning the use of sleeping pills: the readily obtained varieties are not suitable for assuring a certain death, and are most unsuitable when not used in conjunction with the plastic bag method. It only makes sense to use this method when one can obtain a good sedative such as a barbiturate, and accomplishing that is unlikely.

Poisoning methods: Hemlock

Has anyone ever really considered a cup of hemlock to be a common, humane, and nonviolent method? It's a sad fact for me that I've yet to even see a hemlock plant despite having searched long for it. The plant is supposedly "widely distributed in wastelands, hedgerows, fencerows, and byways", but is seldom seen in Germany.

For example, it is on the list of endangered plants in Baden-Wuerttemburg. By the way, does anyone know of a region where the plant is thriving? Perhaps there is a street somewhere where the entire byway is overgrown with it and one can simply help one's self to it. It is also difficult to correctly identify the plant as there are about two dozen or so similar, nonpoisonous plants that grow in large numbers.

Based on what I've read, the preparation is as follows: one needs about 200 grams of the fresh, whole plant (including roots) the plants are hung in a warm, dark place to dry when they are thoroughly dry, the plants are pulverized and can be stored this way for up to one year mix the powder in a large glass of wine, and it is ready to drink.

In the book of Thucydides (not sure if spelling is correct) there is an interview with the jailer who supposedly prepared the drink for Socrates. In it, he says that he pulverizes as much of the dried plant as seems sufficient for the particular person in question who is condemned to die. When the condemned has drunk it, he should pace about the cell to make the poison work faster.

When the legs feel heavy and numb, he should lay down and wait. The entire body will become numb, and when the numbness reaches the heart he shall die. If, however, death does not come, one only fidgets [convulses??] a bit, and one needs to try again using a higher dose.

Should one survive an attempt, no lasting damage has been done and most will fully recover within 24 hours. Poisoning methods: Hemlock It is a general rule that dried and powdered herbs can be stored for up to a year and still retain their potency. They need to be stored in a dark place.

Whether one finds the preparation tasty or not depends on one's opinion; one way to identify the plant is that is smells like mouse urine. Poisoning methods: Monk's Hood The second plant that is found in Germany (poisonous mushrooms are being excluded from consideration because of the very painful death they cause), the blue Monk's hood, doesn't have as much appeal [as hemlock].

An old report concerning an execution with this plant says: (two hours after the poison was ingested) "...the eyes became hideous, the mouth and throat contorted, the condemned fell backwards off the block he had been sitting on and onto the earth as the executioner had not restrained him. Because of this the condemned's face was sprinkled with wine vinegar and his hair was plucked.

He then returned to his senses and dirtied himself [in other words at this point he regained consciousness and lost control of his bowels]. So he was lain upon straw and he shuddered as if he was being beaten. Then he vomited, spewing out foul-smelling filth and liquid that was yellow and gray colored. After that he said that he felt better.

Not long after that, however, he turned onto his side as though to sleep, but he was not allowed to sleep; he died quietly without further movement or incident. His face had turned gray."