That sad smile, though…
 
Interesting little rope configuration with two crossed over like that… I wonder what kind of knot would even lead to that. But I wonder: with two crossing in front over the throat, but spread out elsewhere, I wonder if that would double the pressure on the throat but not elsewhere, resulting in a higher chance of choking / lower chance of cutting off blood flow and causing a fast pass-out from blood choke…

@Background Pony #3BC2  
Well enough, but may I note, that the thought of how much it’d cause others to suffer, and remembering my Mom telling me how cruel and selfish suicide is - those have gone a long way to keeping me from attempting, so at least in my own experience, saying that calling suicide selfish only makes them want to do it more, I know that sometimes that’s not the case, and in my case it was quite the opposite. It forces you to re-think your own life, and realize that it’s not really yours to take.
 
The victims of a murder are really the ones left behind, who must deal with the loss. The same is true of a suicide, and so the biggest person you’re hurting is others if you do it - which is why you shouldn’t, and a realization that’s gone a long way to keeping me from trying.

@Background Pony #7B87  
Suicide might be cruel and selfish, but telling those who are suffering from it merely reinforces their desire to end their life. All this chant of how “selfish” they are…
 
…especially when they’re suffering because they were utterly selfless and gave entirety of themselves away - but no other has stepped in to fill the resulting void in return. And the void has called to them.  
Now, it’s not always that way, but those who are suicidal and try are not to blame. I wouldn’t blame someone for breaking in half if a house collapses on top on them - and neither I will blame someone for snapping when the unbearable weight is psychological, often added to by those who should be kin.
 
How I see it, is that said weight should be removed first - and then added in manageable amounts, bit by bit, until the sufferer’s will is strong enough to shoulder it all and walk out unscathed. Trying to avoid it all will just cause them to never grow strong - but so will not removing the weight.

@Background Pony #3BC2  
Still, though, getting the neck to actually break can be rather tricky, and even then, you have to damage part of the brain in the right way to make it instant. A skilled executioner could do it with fair reliability, or a system in general that’s well-established, but it will be rather difficult for someone trying it at home.
 
With a bit of a hanging fetish, myself (questionably teetering more around a haunting/disturbed fascination), if I were to off myself I’d probably do it that way just to finally know what it’s like, but that’d be an intentionally slow suspension death. Not out of desire for pain so much as just curiosity.
 
I would go on about what the best method for avoiding pain is, but I’d rather not inadvertently promote something I’m very much opposed to on principle. Suicide is a cruel and selfish thing to do to those around you, when the issue can almost always be solved with time, attitude, patience, etc…

@Background Pony #7B87  
Only if done correctly, yes. But botching any way of suicide is generally painful, while only few are also painful if done right.
 
 
If someone isn’t instantly knocked out by part of their brain tearing apart, they’ve got something really and fundamentally wrong in said brain. Because generally brain is a panicky beast ready to shut consciousness down at the slightest provocation. Not sure if it’s even true, but I’ve heard stories of people with brains so stupid, they died from head wound obscuring their eyes with blood. Not actual blood loss, no - brain shutting itself down permanently so there’s less lost blood - like how it can shut down other organs, except for heart with its autonomous drive, and with no ability to “reboot”.

@Background Pony #3BC2
 
If done correctly. Otherwise, if botched, they can be far more painful, even, due to tearing of flesh and muscle, and THEN choking out.
 
Plus, it actually takes a really surprisingly long drop to do. Bones are strong. It’s hard enough to find a place with enough space for full suspension, and a support beam that can take the weight, never mind enough space for suspension plus a few yards, and a beam and all strong enough to take the weight plus the jerk of the stop. And on top of all this, if the material used for the makeshift noose is too elastic, it won’t stop hard enough to break the neck even if the drop is right.
 
And finally, one must consider that nobody actually knows what it’s like to die by a “successful,” well-executed long drop hanging. We have survival stories of other kinds, but I know of no survival stories from broken necks.
 
We call it painless and instant death, but really, while the shock and force may instantly cause unconsciousness, it’s really impossible to tell whether it actually does or not (there’s no question about death - that definitely takes a few minutes for the brain to shut down / be destroyed from hypoxia). There’s a distinct possibility that sometimes it may be no different from breaking your neck outside a noose, only in this case you’re in one so you can’t breath and wait for rescue.

@Background Pony #7B87  
Drop-hanging is painless, being an instant neck snap. Suffocation-hanging, which is more likely to get used in aforementioned Iran and Saudi Arabia, is more painful than suffocation by virtue of also pulling your neck muscles.
 
So not always, but if you do it right, it is painless. The problem’s in doing it right.
 
Generally actively suicidal depression means the person’s lost all hope, because if they still have it, they’ll be passively suicidal - not taking measures to prevent accidents instead of actively seeking death out, that is.

Never practice Autoerotic asphyxiation without a buddy! In some instances, the rope can cut off blood flow and increase blood pressure in your head in such a way as to instantly induce unconsciousness, so that even if you’re not even completely off the floor, you’ll be unconscious, thus limp, and will thus still choke to death even if your legs are touching the ground - when all you meant to do was figure out what it was like to be hanged. So never do it alone ~ [citation]
 
Also, lest you get the false impression that hanging is always painless, not true: while experimenting can be accidentally lethal because it can be quick, if you’re thinking of offing yourself with it, you need to realize that other times it can be extremely painful, as many executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia will attest to, where the victim writhes and kicks for minutes. If you want the citation for that, google is your friend. It’s really a crapshot in terms of how painful it is, with how your specific neck is grown making all the difference in the world.
 
(The reason then that Popular Science claimed it’s painless in the 1800’s as that earlier article says is a scientific curiosity that would take a good deal of research to answer - as a quick google result will tell you that this is most certainly not the case universally)
 
And never give up hope of getting through suicidal depression. I’m not this linked commenter, but I have gotten through it, and am quite happy to be alive, and with enough introspection, perspective, and time, you can, too.