Is suicide ever okay?

[DevonTexas]

It's a personal decision but it's the last, worst personal decision you'll ever make.

 

[Endued]

Wally, seriously, from your posts here it does sound to me a lot like you've got depression, and this isn't a good thread to see from someone in that position. As has been mentioned, it's an illness that can be cured. Speak to your doctor, they can talk through things with you.

 

[798686]

To ask if suicide is OK makes it sound like it's a well-thought-out option. However, most people who start considering suicide do so because they are in incredible pain of some sort.

Depression is a crippling disease, and when depressed folks ask "Is suicide OK?" often the REAL question is, "I don't see any other options, what can I do?"

Great post, I agree.

Wally, seriously, from your posts here it does sound to me a lot like you've got depression, and this isn't a good thread to see from someone in that position. As has been mentioned, it's an illness that can be cured. Speak to your doctor, they can talk through things with you.

Good call - hadn't spotted that. :redface:

 

[B_Hickboy]

My answer to anyone who contemplates suicide is to ask them to reconsider. If they insist, then I tell them to get on with it and try to make as little mess as possible.

 

[alx]

A high percentage of suicides are by those with mental health issues, long term, short term. Even those with light symptom of mental illness could potentially flip on a 'bad' day/week.

The amount of people I know who have commited suicide (ages 12-55) is crazy.

For people to say suicide is wrong should step back and have a think. It annoys me that people say "I would never commit suicide". How do you know you won't when your mind is in an altered state.

 

[toolman4897]

I had it set up for assisted suicide when I was told my cancer was terminal, which is the main reason why I moved to Washington State. I was in pain, puking every hour, couldn't eat, my hair was all but gone, my system was fried, my skin (yes, my skin) was brittle. Hospice was going to be set up for me to suffer my final days in a 'homey' place where someone might get attached to me and watch me suffer until I die, since I don't have family that wanted to deal with it.

So do I condone suicide? If you kill or rape children, by all means, take yourself out. Please. If you're suffering from cancer, terminal, sick, miserable, puking, 100% sure you are going to die from it, weigh your options. I was going to die. The doctors knew I was going to die. I'm still here.

Other than that, no. Nothing is going that terribly that you have to take yourself out.

Gad your still here...

 

[deleted15807]

I'm at a loss to figure out how it's a selfish act. If ending your life is a selfish act is eating, drinking a selfish act as well? Is cutting down a forest to make room for agriculture so that mankind can feed itself a selfish act or depleteing the sea of many species of fish a selfish act? Is having sex a selfish act? Is mankind's mere existence a selfish act? Everyday we are responsible for vast acres of wildland lost to human activity. Is that selfish?

 

[B_Hickboy]

I'm at a loss to figure out how it's a selfish act. If ending your life is a selfish act is eating, drinking a selfish act as well? Is cutting down a forest to make room for agriculture so that mankind can feed itself a selfish act or depleteing the sea of many species of fish a selfish act? Is having sex a selfish act? Is mankind's mere existence a selfish act? Everyday we are responsible for vast acres of wildland lost to human activity. Is that selfish?

YOU are selfish.

 

[curioustitan]

One of my best friend's father committed suicide several years ago. To this day, my friend's family still have unresolved issues of guilt and constantly question themselves as to whether or not they could have done something more and why they didn't recognise any of the possible signs leading up to his decision.
It definitely plays havoc with the lives of family, friends and loved ones left behind and while i'm inclined to say 'Yes, it is selfish', i have to give pause and consider what terrible state of mind or emotional turmoil the person in question must have been going through to commit such an act.

I think many of us (if not all) have considered/fantasized/romanticized the idea of suicide at some point in our lives. That's not to say that all those that did would ever follow through with the action of it, but it does help to empathize more readily with those in deep slumps of depression, anxiety or a sense of hopelessness that is incredibly emotionally and psychologically debilitating.

Too often, many of us don't realize that depression is not just a temporary condition that we can simply 'choose' to snap out of. Chemically speaking, many sufferers of depression will have to spend the rest of their lives medicating themselves to produce certain 'feel good' enzymes that the body is no longer capable of producing. If however, this is not picked up upon early enough in certain cases, certain case sufferers of depression will opt for suicide as they are not in the best state of mind and cannot exhibit the same rationale that a non-sufferer would under similar conditions/circumstances.

As a side note, many of the women on my mother's side of the family suffered with mental illnesses akin to depression and two of them died in institutions. My mother suffers with bi-polar and severe depression and is one of those patients incapable of producing certain enzymes to cope.

 

[curioustitan]

I had it set up for assisted suicide when I was told my cancer was terminal, which is the main reason why I moved to Washington State. I was in pain, puking every hour, couldn't eat, my hair was all but gone, my system was fried, my skin (yes, my skin) was brittle. Hospice was going to be set up for me to suffer my final days in a 'homey' place where someone might get attached to me and watch me suffer until I die, since I don't have family that wanted to deal with it.

So do I condone suicide? If you kill or rape children, by all means, take yourself out. Please. If you're suffering from cancer, terminal, sick, miserable, puking, 100% sure you are going to die from it, weigh your options. I was going to die. The doctors knew I was going to die. I'm still here.

Other than that, no. Nothing is going that terribly that you have to take yourself out.

You are incredibly brave and serve as an example to many that 'there's always a choice and often another way.
You inspire me to be better and i just wanted to say that i'm glad too that you're still with us.:smile:
You're one of the many reasons that i still recognise the world as a beautiful place with incredible people. Thank you for not allowing me to be jaded and cynical.

 

[DiscoBoy]

Context. It depends entirely on each specific case, but I think under the right circumstances, it's more than acceptable.

I'm at a loss to figure out how it's a selfish act. If ending your life is a selfish act is eating, drinking a selfish act as well? Is cutting down a forest to make room for agriculture so that mankind can feed itself a selfish act or depleteing the sea of many species of fish a selfish act? Is having sex a selfish act? Is mankind's mere existence a selfish act? Everyday we are responsible for vast acres of wildland lost to human activity. Is that selfish?

Because the death of any individual impacts a massive network of people. It's incredibly traumatic for someone to have to deal with the death of someone close, and by killing yourself, you force people to have to experience that. You put people through [figurative] hell.

 

[witch]

medically assisted suicide .......... my family has a history of cancer, several have died hard and everyone of them would of taken suicide to stop pain

 

[petite]

Wally, are you considering suicide?

 

[B_Hickboy]

Mmmm... I'm fortunate in this regard, I guess. I have thyroid hormone replacement I take every day. If I every reached the point of wanting or needing to check out, I can just stop taking my meds. In a few weeks I'll go to sleep and within a few days of that I'll expire.

 

[D_Etienne Neerdowell]

Why do you ask? Is everything ok?

 

[helgaleena]

In some cultures it's okay, as hara-kiri for example. The main reason it is frowned on is that if the workforce kept dropping dead instead of staying in a drudgery situation, there goes your source of wealth.

Babies will die spontaneously if they are not given enough nurture, in institutional nurseries for example. It takes rather a lot to make a death wish succeed against one's biological life-wish though. Humans are surprisingly resilient overall.

Those who say suicide is selfish are those who have experienced Threats of suicide as a way of getting attention. Such threats are to be considered a call for help which is sent through indirect channels because the one needing the attention has not developed more appropriate ways of getting it. Sadly, many of us wrongly learn that our basic emotional and biological needs are to be stifled and denied, which leads to acting out against others or against ourselves.

It is NOT selfish to be desperate, but it is certainly confused.

As one who also has tried to die many times, it finally dawned on me that I would not succeed until my learning tasks this life were achieved, like it or not. Just because I don't want to try anymore does not mean I can opt out early. Those whose suicide has been successful were very careful, deliberate and calm. Suicides in a turmoil state usually get botched anyway.

 

[deleted15807]

YOU are selfish.

Our mere continued existence is arguably selfish.

Context. It depends entirely on each specific case, but I think under the right circumstances, it's more than acceptable.

Because the death of any individual impacts a massive network of people. It's incredibly traumatic for someone to have to deal with the death of someone close, and by killing yourself, you force people to have to experience that. You put people through [figurative] hell.

And the death of for instance massive amounts of people would have in incredibly beneficial on the planet. As for the other context ultimately it's not enough to live simply so that others may not experience pain.

 

[helgaleena]

Wally, if you feel like giving up on existing, it's time for some self cuddles.

 

[Bbucko]

Wally, seriously, from your posts here it does sound to me a lot like you've got depression, and this isn't a good thread to see from someone in that position. As has been mentioned, it's an illness that can be cured. Speak to your doctor, they can talk through things with you.

When I saw who the OP was, that was my first thought, and it makes me more uneasy contributing to this thread than I might otherwise be.

However, I will say that my sister and I have had "the talk", if and when the moment ever comes, it would be my last possible act of autonomy. She will not experience self-recrimination and would recognize it as such.

Ideation is not a first step nor necessarily a slippery slope any more than any other planning and prep for one's end of life in any other way (like securing a grave site, for instance). But when ideation turns into a sort of mental "loose tooth" that you keep moving with your tongue, qualified professional help is in order ASAP.

 

[wallyj84]

Do I really come off as that depressed? This thread isn't a cry for help or attention, it's just a general question about your views on suicide.

I do thank the people who have given very interesting replies to my question.

Wally, if you feel like giving up on existing, it's time for some self cuddles.

I already self cuddled a few times this morning.