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What are your thoughts on suicide?

Basem 7 May 26
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40 comments

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1

I'm all for it in other people but not for myself at the moment. The problem is the fallout on other people, that's the real issue because the person who commits suicide successfully is now dead and it is the survivors who are left with the mess.

What if the person who suicides doesn't have anyone else.......?

7

I fully support a more compassionate Euthanasia program and Death with Dignity. People should have a choice but they need to find one that works and does not traumatize others. Read the book, "Final Exit".

Excellent book. I first read it when I took a job as a Hospice RN because I wanted to hear the other side of the things they teach in Hospice.

6

People should have the right to end their life on their terms. The phrase "cruel and unusual punishment" always comes to mind for people who are in constant pain (physical and/or mental) and are not allowed a way out.

Colorado just passed the Death With Dignity Act allowing assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

6

I do not believe that suicide is a crime. It seems to me that if a person does not want to continue their life, they should be able to end it. I also believe in assisted suicide if the individual requires assistance.

Here's the thing: How stupid is it for it to be a crime? How would anyone ever punish the person who comitted it?

5

Its sad but being a person who almost did it and planned it out I understand why people do it. Sometimes you don't see a way out and feel you are a burden to everyone. People blame themselves if a loved one does it but they shouldn't. That person is at peace now and not fighting their depression any longer, or whatever the case may be. Most people also say its selfish but I do not.

5

If I don't die from an accident or sudden illness, I'll probably commit suicide some day. If nothing else, it'd be nice to have a little control over the circumstances of my death

5

Unless a person is terminally ill and suffering, in most cases suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

A study was done on every person who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge and survived. Every one of them changed their minds right after jumping.

peopel create a lto pf psychological barriers for themselves that will psychological box themselves in or paint themselves into a corner. The way out is usually to not be as concerned with upsetting others and do what is right for oneself. People who become suicidal seldom look after themselves or their own wants and needs.

In Durkheim's study of suicide, he found that people who belong to a religion with rigid beliefs are at least three times as likely to commit suicide. Obviously, for those people religion isn't suited to their nature. They wold be happier leaving religion altogether or at least finding a religion with a less rigid belief system.

5

personal and permanent choice

4

It is important to distinguish between rational and irrational suicide. Most suicide that comes to our awareness is irrational and despair-driven, but that doesn't mean it all is.

Right now my neighbor is processing a fatal pancreatic cancer diagnosis and has 3 to 9 months to live. Her options are no treatment, conventional treatment, or experimental treatment. Or those are the options she has been given. Another option is to chose the timing and manner of her death, and thus to minimize physical and psychological pain and family expense. In her situation I would set my affairs in order and when my quality of life becomes unacceptable, would end my life. That would be my right. I respect people who fight to the bitter end as that is their choice. But I also respect people who do not -- that is also their choice.

Said from the comfort of your armchair.

@Ellatynemouth Would it automatically be more true if I said it from the discomfort of a torture rack? Either determining the timing and manner of one's death to the extent possible is a personal right, or it's not. Either it's relatively rational or irrational in any one instance.

In any case, death is an old frenemy of mine; I've lost four immediate family members "before their time" in addition to the ones who died "naturally" and I've made peace with my own mortality. One of those family members was also a rational suicide so I've had personal practice with the concept.

@mordant

Have you ever been suicidal?

@Ellatynemouth No.

4

To every armchair moralist out there who feels unapologetically entitled to shame those who've already chosen suicide by labelling them 'selfish', please read this:-

[johnpavlovitz.com]

4

Thoughts on suicide?

If they occur, time for evasive action:
take CBD oil,
cannabis oil,
5-htp,
St. John's Wort,
iodine drops,
magnesium,
derris scandens,
get a cuddly pet,
start a garden-either outdoors, or an inside one, i.e. an IKEA hydroponic garden
take long walks early in the morning, etc.

4

I find it more interesting to ask you why are you interested in such topic?

My thought exactly...

i can't take it anymore

@Basem well thanks for taking the time to answer however (and I'll have to apologise in advance just in case) but, its now hard to tell if you're serious or sarcasm. Which one is it?

@PhitDoctor50 i have lost all that i tried to build during the past 10 years, and im back to square 1 where it was never what i wanted for my self.. its too hard to face what im facing knowing that in not all that motivated to restart..
no wife, no money, no kids... i think you can imagine.

@PhitDoctor50, @IamNobody i don't know how serious i am.. but im 100% sure that im not joking.

@Basem understand. I think you are taking the correct step into the right direction which is to reach out. We don't know you and vice versa, and that may be the best advantage for you to vent. You have to let steam go someplace and wait for the next day every day. I am not going to tell you what I have done or gone through myself, it will mean nothing to you. There are things you are going to have to solve yourself and I would like to think that you will since you are talking about it. Talk and keep talking, even more if you feel it's helping. If you come out stronger out of this low in your life then you can always pay it forward to someone else. Wish you well.

@IamNobody i do really appreciate it. your words are good.

@IamNobody, @Elusia8 im not in the states. but thank you

@Basem good to hear, keep in touch. Again, we can't help but we can listen.

@IamNobody thank you once again

4

It is often a permanent solution to what is usually a temporary situation.
That said, I think people have every right to live their lives as they see fit.
That also means people have every right to end their lives as they see fit.

3

For people who are dealing with mental illness, it's troubling. For people who are in unbearable pain without any relief or possibility for quality of life, it's something I understand.

3

When I start thinking about it daily and it forms intrusive thoughts I go to my doctor and adjust my meds

3

I tried it once, wasn't for me.

All jokes aside I fully support the work of exit international and dr Phillip Nitschke

3

It’s on the individual to decide. Once they decline treatment or are unresponsive to treatment and determined to mentally sound a painless operation(?) should be available.

3

Not for me, can't see why I want to checkout of this beautiful life.

3

Assisted suicide became legal and was confirmed by our supreme court in 2015, and became legal in 2016. It was a decision which seemed to have the overwhelming support of most Canadians. [en.wikipedia.org]

So in effect, suicide under strict procedures is legal. It's the first step towards a society in which all people truly have power and control over their own bodies. One step at a time. Lol

3

I've been there once in my life and learned , that NOTHING and NOBODY is worth it to end your life. Yes, there are exception, like terminal illness and physical suffering. But because of heartbreak due to a loss of a partner or material reasons. No. But, I can understand that someone can get there. Just keep in mind how many people you will leave behind with a broken heart.

See comment above......... what if there is no-one to be left behind with a broken heart?

It's not about other people. And if it is... Where are those people for the person contemplating suicide?

3

I think it's a relief from a living hell

2

I can only comment based on my personal history with the topic it has affected every part of my life.
Long short: my first attempt was at 6. My dad beat us, shamed us, My older brother thought that killing me would satisfy my father. I thought I was worthless. I thought it would never stop. I was a super-overachiever in school. It made it worse. I worked full time, was president of the student body in school, and was in the honors program. My brother was obsessed with killing me and tried achieve this.
For over 35 years, I joined the chorus. I woke up every day obsessed with ending the hell they built in my identity in my formative years. Every day I stalked myself, because that was what dad and brother did.
My mother had the same ideas, my father had isolated her and beat her. She had no car, no income, never drove. Was an only child. I first thwarted her suicide attempt at the age of 3. I learned suicide young. The irony is that when I cared for her with painful terminal cancer, I obtained a bottle of liquid Phenobarbital. Every morning I poured new orange juice and placed it next to the bottle. Every day was her choice. She died at 49. Of cancer. Not suicide.
After 16 attempts, 4 nearly successful. A ruined life, failed relationships, and budding alcoholism, I od'd. I failed, as I had my stomach pumped, again, and went to AA. I still wanted to die. After a year I started taking meds. It took a very long time. One day I woke up, and I didn't think about suicide. I am 14 years sober. My life is not perfect. I have been paraplegic, had painful surgeries, I have been bankrupt, and I live with chronic pain. I was diagnosed with Lupus a week ago. Not once did Suicide enter my mind.

That is the readers digest version of my experience, strength and hope. I support anyone's right to make that decision. As a fellow human being who has made that choice 16 times, it is up to me to share my experience so that person has more information. Hope was given to me by others. I hope I passed some along here. Otherwise, sorry it was so long.

@Elusia8
Thanks, i really appreciate that, but it is very matter-of-fact in my head these days. I don't feel bad about my past. I am still hopeful about my present and future.. I mostly think about it when running across something like this. In this case, my past is a gift.
I know when I was contemplating suicide, I saw IT as a gift, not something damaging, I was doing for the world. There was nothing selfish about it. That is how sick I was. I know abuse survivors become self-obsessed adults, put mental illness on top, we can justify any act.
The simple act of enduring/overcoming adversity is your gift to the world. It is where all hope is manufactured. It keeps the world going. I pity those who have never had to endure adversity.

@germangirl90439 Thank You!

2

My uncle recently underwent a tragic death to cancer after they found him at stage 4 his treatment options were a joke and his life insurance wouldnt cover if he committed suicide so they watched this man for months let cancer eat his body until he passed. I don't think thats fair way for the system to treat such circumstances

Usually suicide clauses on life insurance policies expire after the first couple of years; insurance companies don't want you buying a policy with the deliberate intention of killing yourself so your family can have the money. I'm curious if you know that this was an non-expiring suicide clause, because that would be new to me and I'd like to research it.

2

Depends on the why.
If the person is in good health but depressed enough to contemplate ending their lives. I would hope they find the help or inspiration they need to keep going.
If the person is facing a long painful death due to health issues (cancer, dementia, etc.) I think they should not be prevented from seeking a more peaceful end should they so choose.

2

Sucks.
Hope I don’t need it.

Tomas Level 7 May 26, 2018
2

I don't have an emotional attachment to the issue - it's their life - they're free to do whatever they want with it. Not all life is precious and not all life is worth preserving.

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