How to commit suicide

If you Google the title of this blog, exactly, you will find my name in the fifth entry. The entry dates back to 1981 and a discussion I had with the author, Art Kleiner, about doing an article on the subject of suicide.

Let me say unequivocally, I have not, and I will not help an individual to commit suicide.  For me suicide is a moral issue that requires the concurrence of not only the suicide themself but all people directly related and involved with that individual.

On the other hand I have always had great sympathy for individuals who commit suicide using inappropriate methods: many are painful, sloppy and ineffective.

Of all the methods for committing suicide, the one that is least painful, least sloppy and most effective is the ‘exit bag’, described in Wikipedia.  The exit bag is filled with either helium or nitrogen. Neither helium nor nitrogen gas is readily available.  Getting the gas remains the only barrier between a suicide’s intent and death.

The reason the exit bag works is not adequately explained in Wikipedia.

The mechanism that lets us know we have inadequate oxygen for our brain and for survival are the sensors that tell us the CO2 level in the atmosphere we are breathing.  If the CO2 level is too high we panic. If the CO2 level never increases, and there is really no oxygen available to breathe, which is the case if we are breathing pure helium or nitrogen, then our body has no sense that it is about to fall asleep and die. That is how and why the exit bag works.
 
This blog does not violate my moral code. I have provided information to keep suicide from being painful, sloppy or ineffective for the reader but I have not personally helped the suicide in ending his/her life.  That requires getting helium or nitrogen gas.