Discussion Is suicide inherently devastating?

[nigelhernandez]

People say that suicide is inherently devastating but I wonder if that's the case, why did the Romans allow it? It seems that perhaps the conversion of Europe to Christianity seems to have influenced later attitudes and even present attitudes towards suicide. There were many philosophers that argued for a man's right to die.

Also do you think that if suicide was considered rational for mental issues, it would bring less grief to the families? One of the things different about suicidal grief is the idea that the person could have been saved. If mental illness is viewed as "terminal" as physical illness, then would it become less devastating or still remain devastating?

 

[MaybeSoon]

The first part of your post reminds me of this video which is excellent for the most part.



My hope is one day euthanasia is a valid option for people with mental issues. It would definitely help loved ones understand but I'm not sure it would be less devastating although going through the process together rather than in secret would help both sides I think.

 

[Marktheghost]

I can't see that it's any more devastating than dying any other way.

 

[Cutepoison]

I agree to the above. In fact, I think every death is suicide - since in its essence, death comes about the fact that your own body fails you. Surely, when it's mental illness and people put their hands on them consciously, it might appear more extraordinary. But again, it's just death, driven by illness. No different than death driven by physical illnesses.

 

[Soulless_Angel]

death is death, we all end up there,
Death by natural causes at an old age, is expected, heartbreaking but people can sit and say they lived long and well
Death by illness, or accidents cause pain and heartbreak, taken too soon, and all that stuff
Death by suicide, causes a lot more pain, but throw in anger, anger that they couldn't save you, pain added on top of grief, pain of regret and frustration they didn't see the signs and couldn't prevent your suicide, grief that you took a choice and died by your own hand over something out of our control.
If mental illness was something you could see, like many other illnesses then I do think it would be more acceptable because it would be seen as something more then just us being selfish at wanting to end our own lives due to said mental illness

sorry prob gone off topic here, ranting mode is on high alert!

 

[Nolye]

death is death, we all end up there,
Death by natural causes at an old age, is expected, heartbreaking but people can sit and say they lived long and well
Death by illness, or accidents cause pain and heartbreak, taken too soon, and all that stuff
Death by suicide, causes a lot more pain, but throw in anger, anger that they couldn't save you, pain added on top of grief, pain of regret and frustration they didn't see the signs and couldn't prevent your suicide, grief that you took a choice and died by your own hand over something out of our control.
If mental illness was something you could see, like many other illnesses then I do think it would be more acceptable because it would be seen as something more then just us being selfish at wanting to end our own lives due to said mental illness

sorry prob gone off topic here, ranting mode is on high alert!

You absolutely nailed it. People can deal with deaths caused by sickness and old age, it's still hard, but they expect it. You know someone with pancreatic or brain cancer are going to die, you know a 90 years old person likely doesn't have a lot of time to live, so you react accordingly: you prepare yourself for the loss.

Accidents are a shock, an out-of-the-blue tipe of thing, but in some capacity people still expect them to happen from time to time. They're definitely harder to deal with than illness or old age, but the people you leave behind don't blame themselves for it.

Mental illness will never be viewed as "terminal", because it's not something tangible. You have no idea how many people still don't believe depression, anxiety etc are real. If they can't see something, then accordingly to them it doesn't exist.

 

[Cutepoison]

Mental illness will never be viewed as "terminal", because it's not something tangible. You have no idea how many people still don't believe depression, anxiety etc are real. If they can't see something, then accordingly to them it doesn't exist.

I really hope this will change. But you're right, there are people out there that even go as far as saying that depression is just laziness.