By David Stephen
All consciousness are brain states. There is the overall brain state. There are different brain states for respective functions. Several brain states are momentarily. Though the intervals of some last longer than others, suicidal thoughts are brain states and the [decision or] act of gun suicide is a brain state too. What are these brain states? How does a vulnerable individual see the progression and be aware of the slide towards that end? How do some counties, organizations or institutions shape this awareness? What is the offer of conceptual brain science, for brain states against suicides, including those from firearms?
There is a new [June 26, 2025] report from The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and The Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention, Gun Violence in the United States 2023: Examining the Gun Suicide Epidemic, stating that, “Gun suicides continued to reach all-time highs, increasing by 1% from the previous record in 2022, resulting in a total of 27,300 people dying by gun suicide in 2023. Gun suicides have accounted for the majority of all gun deaths each year since 1995. Gun suicides have increased in the last three years, while gun homicides have declined. Someone died by gun suicide every 19 minutes. Guns accounted for the majority of all suicides across the following 10-year age groups: ages 20–29 (56%), ages 50–59 (53%), ages 60–69 (59%), ages 70–79 (73%), ages 80–89 (77%), and ages 90+ (75%). Elderly people ages 70 and older were at higher risk to die by gun suicide. Seven out of 10 elderly suicides were by gun in 2023. Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, and Idaho not only had the highest gun suicide rates but also had the highest overall suicide rates in the country in 2023. Guns drove the overall suicides among these states as six out of every 10 people who died from suicide used a gun.”
There is an accompanying new [June 26, 2025] report too from The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and The Johns Hopkins Center for Suicide Prevention, From Crisis to Action: Public Health Recommendations for Firearm Suicide Prevention, stating that, “[For Individuals:] Safe and Secure Storage Practices. Voluntary Out-of-Home Firearm Storage. Voluntary Do-Not-Sell Lists. [Relationship:] ERPO Petitions by Family and Household Members. Out-of-Home Firearm Storage by Family or Friends. [Community:] Gun Storage Maps. Gun Shop Projects. Lethal Means Counseling Planning. Safety Planning. [Societal:] Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws. Firearm Purchaser Licensing Laws. Child Access Prevention Laws.”
Conceptual Brain Science
All approaches to mitigating suicides are necessary, but the most decisive is the brain. While suicidal thoughts are risky, there are several of such thoughts, by some, that never become actions — even when there is the means. Suicidal thoughts can be assumed to be mental disorders as well. Or, negative mental states. Suicidal planning and action too are dangerous mental states. The opportunity, in conceptual brain science, against suicide is to display these states [when many seek support, or see it] so that they come to know what might result. For some, even though they may be disconnected from loved ones, it is possible to show the likely devastation in the minds of their loved ones — if they followed through.
The first thing to note is that suicide is a mental position. This mean that there are positions that the components of mind get to be, that would result in the thoughts and actions. Why this is important is that in seeking to solve the problem, it is possible to compare that state with almost any other mental state, across life experiences.
Every function is a mental state. Mental states, position, architecture or mental situations are the locations [and directions] of components of mind, at instances. The placements for the state of appetite are different from those of satiation — so to speak. The placement for the mental state of emptiness is different from that of trauma, and so forth. Although for some minds, there could be aberrations in how quickly they reach some states or how long some intervals last, mental states are present in all experiences, conceptually.
In the human brain, there are several components. However, which ones are the closest to mind operations? Neuroscience has established, by evidence, that neurons — with their electrical signals and chemical signals — are involved in all functions. Neurons are also in clusters. Signals are said to be used for communication [or transmission] by neurons. But it can be theorized that signals are the assembly, formation or configuration for functions — not communication, refuting the term communication subspace.
How? If signals are communicating an emotion or a feeling, what constructed what they are communicating? Neurons? How were [signals] able to convert what neurons constructed into what they can transmit? If neurons were to construct an emotion, what would that be like? It could involve their shape, their alignment, or their moves. Now, how would signals take summaries of these and transmit, to distances from the construction cluster without losing the format? Also, neurons are already connected [or synapses]. With the varying types of functions that are ongoing at any instance, why aren’t there significant changes among neurons or synapses, but mainly signals?
It is theorized that the basis of all functions are electrical and chemical configurators. Simply, what is termed signals are configurations, assemblers or formations for functions. Transport is possible electrochemically because constructions of functions are electrochemical, conceptually. So, there is no need for conversation, update or adjustments along the way, or major disruption to the highway that neurons [with their synapses] provide. Electrical and chemical configurators are the components of mind, conceptually. Neurons and synapses contribute, being speedways for configurators to interact and transport. Neurons are not the basis for functions. Synapses are not the human mind. Genes are not the human mind.
It is also theorized that electrical and chemical configurators are in sets or loops, in clusters of neurons. So, it is in these sets that they interact. Electrical configurators and chemical configurators have states at the time of the interactions. These states are their attributes. Attributes determine the limits [or extents] for those interactions.
Functions can be assumed to be the major divisions of mind, like memory, emotions, feelings and regulation of internal senses. These divisions have several subdivisions including thoughts, intelligence, hurt, cravings, regulation of digestion, respiration and so forth.
Attributes include attention, awareness [or less than attention], subjectivity, intent. Interactions of electrical and chemical configurators produce functions. Attributes determine the measure of those functions.
Interactions that produce an emotion are different from those of memory. Trauma, for example, is a type of emotion which has it’s effect because it’s [set of] configurators often have an angular displacement [that lingers] after interactions, resulting in a difference that makes it stay as an emotional state, conceptually. Feelings too, like pain, often have a very high intensity [of strikes of] electrical configurators, resulting in not just a fit but of continuous displacements of the set, making the experience [constantly subjective and to] sway urgency and response. Memory is often near regular, across their sets, as well as regulation of internal senses.
What Can Neuroscience Use Now, for Answers?
The brain is a complex organ. However, to attempt to understand the brain and explain observations, it will be important to extricate components, postulate their mechanisms and use those to explain mental states to advance some of the current understanding of confounding brain problems — including suicide and suicidal thoughts. Electrical and chemical configurators [or neuroconfigurators or neuroassemblers] provide a path.
Some people have had heavy mental states before sleeping but woke up light. However, it will be too cheap to just say remember when the mind was heavy and later became light, when there is no extrapolated mental mechanism to show, to make such near-repeatable, since it does not happen at some other times.
How Can the Mental States of Suicide Be Displayed?
Suicide can be described as a brain state where the set of [electrical and chemical] configurators for promptings, distribute summaries of their formation, to memory [sets] of the inability to go on and the [sets] of emotions of [say] heaviness or shame or burden and so on.
Simply, the prompting summaries must distribute to certain sets for suicide to be attempted. If there is the memory or the emotions, without the cravings to precede the action, then suicide maybe unlikely. In instances the thoughts [or the emotional sets] are present, without the cravings, it is possible that there was distribution to sets [for consequences or caution]. However, as soon as prompting hit the principal position [an attribute], the action, may follow.
In the mind, it is almost natural to flee from anything dangerous. This means that the set [of configurators] for fear often distribute their summaries to those of movement and those of internal signals to prospect safety. So, it is not simply natural [conceptually speaking in brain science] to just want to die. Now, there could be situations that allow that fear set [of neuroconfigurators or neuroassemblers], to be bypassed, resulting in the [mind] anomaly.
Suicide Prevention Display
The human mind, distinct from the body, can be conceptually described as the collection of all the electrical and chemical configurators — with their interactions and attributes, in sets, in clusters of neurons — across the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Simply, the human mind is the set[s] of configurators. Interactions means the strike of electrical configurators on chemical configurators, in sets.
Suicide prevention programs that do not involve how the mind works, even conceptually, through the stages and changes in mental states may not be strong enough, available quickly or independent enough to help some people that are vulnerable.
Say a display like this is available [starting from Arizona, the 11th state on the list, in the report], with disclaimer that it is conceptual, extricating from established knowledge in neuroscience, but postulated in parallel, it could become a way to have people track their own thoughts and see the world for the mind, not the world for the situations or the means, while ignoring the complete involvement of the mind.
This would not just apply to suicide prevention, but across mental disorders, consciousness, AI safety and alignment, neurotechnology and much more. AI can also be used to make this display better dynamic. In the mind, whatever is repeatedly sensed [from the external world] may come to be responsible for memory, emotions and cravings, but exploring how it is possible may contribute to preventing the helplessness [for action] in the face of it.
There is a recent [June 23, 2025] press release, Shapiro-Davis Administration Announces $1 Million in Funding to Reduce Firearm Suicides Across the Commonwealth, stating that, “The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) today announced the availability of $1 million in federal Byrne State Crisis Intervention Program (SCIP) funding to support innovative strategies that help communities prevent, respond to, and recover from firearm-related suicides across Pennsylvania. While firearm-related homicides have declined statewide since 2023, firearm suicide rates in Pennsylvania remain high and have continued to increase in recent years. In 2022, over half (55%) of all gun deaths in Pennsylvania were suicides, highlighting a growing public health crisis.”
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