Discussion Did your idea of suicide come from culture?

[dogemn]

When I was a preteen dealing with depression and bullying I remember seriously considering the idea of suicide through identifying with certain "tragic" artists (like Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith) whose lives ended that way. It makes me wonder how much of my own thoughts were shaped by that and whether they came partly from a kind of cultural script rather than only from my personal experience.

I'm curious how it's been for others. Do you feel like your thoughts about suicide were influenced by cultural figures, media, or narratives? Or did it develop more independently from your own circumstances?

 

[Zizouaax]

independently

 

[avstin]

In my case, I think it came from my peers?? When I was in elementary school, self-harm was practically a trend; I think that's why I even started doing it in the first place tbh and then it all went downhill. Around the same time, in the park near my house, they found a woman hanging from a tree. That's when I started thinking about suicide at all ig, even remember talkin with my teacher bout best ways to go

 

[2106lvsk]

When I was a preteen dealing with depression and bullying I remember seriously considering the idea of suicide through identifying with certain "tragic" artists (like Kurt Cobain and Elliott Smith) whose lives ended that way. It makes me wonder how much of my own thoughts were shaped by that and whether they came partly from a kind of cultural script rather than only from my personal experience.

I'm curious how it's been for others. Do you feel like your thoughts about suicide were influenced by cultural figures, media, or narratives? Or did it develop more independently from your own circumstances?

im a huge elliott smith fan too and ive always wanted to do it the way he did but im too much of a pussy so im opting for an od

 

[iLikeFrogs]

somewhat. probably all these poets that we learned about in school who were great artists and ended their own lives surely impacted my art tho

 

[A Sit of Doubting]

i feel its bc of the circumstances little me was forced in, but with how suicide was so normalized back then def played a role. like a previous commentator said, sh was huge in elem, and i started bc of my bsf back then. with how normalized it was, i just settled with my suicidal ideation for the longest time bc i didnt feel like it was all that concerning, which made it fester even mmore deeply lol

 

[SoverignDreamer97]

I spent summer of 2015 binge-watching the Higurashi and Umineko series, thus... became the foundation of my 7-year long journey.

Frederica Bernkastel: "Do you want to live, or do you want to die?"

Tanashi Miyoko: "I want to live..."

Frederica Bernkastel: "I see... Then off you go. Even though your friends aren't home, off you go."

Tanashi Miyoko: "They're not home? Then what if I want to die?"

Frederica Bernkastel: "You will obtain another happy meal flag."

 

[if_i_make_it]

mine came from anxiety and feeling cornered in panic. Being so anxious I was paralyzed but also understanding inaction had serious consequences that made me more anxious... just felt like the only way to deal with it.

 

[UserFromNowhere]

I suppose in some sense, it came from culture, we can never exclude it as an influence on our psyches after all. The knowledge of it has been spread through society, all the various methods people have tried that worked (or didn't work), our media, people who died because of it, even "intervention" programs in schools. They all serve to make us aware of it. But I wouldn't say I was enticed to suicide for that reason. For the longest time, I had the knowledge of it, but didn't consider it an option or one I was willing to take until after I, internally, came to the thought about a year or so ago which led to my perpetual ideation. In short, to answer the question: no, I don't believe it came from culture.

 

[Praestat_Mori]

I've not been suicidal for most of my life. But it has always been clear to me that there might be circumstances that can require CTB.

I don't think I've been influenced by anything. It's just a logical consequence to consider CTB in unbearable situations or even before a situation becomes unbearable to prevent myself from further suffering.

 

[buriedinmyhead]

Initially learned of it through hearing about a TV show about it that other people watched. My reasons are my own though.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I definitely first found out about suicide via series, films,TV. Hearing that artists had done it. I'm not sure they really formed my ideas around suicide though. It's more that I developed my own ideation young. So- seeing it portrayed/ hearing about it didn't really come as a shock. More like- yeah- life's shit. I don't blame them. So- more like they only confirmed what I already felt.

 

[hurts2b]

Maybe saying too much here but growing up I was a member of a subculture of online children age 8-14 who had a massive fixation on death and abuse. It was so fuckin' weird looking back.

Fictional plotlines about death and abuse were everywhere but nobody understood anything. It was all just pain and confused children's logic all the way down.

I think this subculture (in part) sparked my fixation on morbid subjects. But then so too did my IRL experiences. It's near impossible to pinpoint what's what.

 

[itsgone2]

I'm not certain. I lost four close relatives by the time of was 14, so death just always felt close. Then when I have troubles death seems like a solution.