Discussion Pro-lifers, ironically, could make suicides worse.

[charaunderground]

This is something I've been thinking of for awhile.

I do understand being pro life in the case of, say, a normally mentally healthy person who has a great life and loves it becomes briefly suicidal because of acute stress that will soon pass, or it's a young teenager doing it on impulse because of something that they won't remember and won't matter by the next year. That's not what this is about.

I'm talking about people who think any and all suicides are "evil" or bad or on impulse. Who will do absolutely anything to stop it.

It's like how, if someone is self harming and has been long term, just taking their tool isn't going to stop them. It's just going to make them continue but use something potentially more dangerous (like a clean knife -> broken glass that could cause infection). It's not "curing" or stopping anything. It's arguably making the situation even worse. But you'll still have people who do these things patting themselves on the back that they "cured" their loved one's self harm because of it.

Taking away more "peaceful" suicide methods will only make people resort to more dangerous, painful, or traumatizing acts. Hearing of suppliers getting arrested with their buyer lists being investigated may spur someone who was going to wait awhile to CTB into immediate action out of panic. None of the typical pro life actions you hear about actually prevent anything if someone is motivated enough.

Even if you forcibly institutionalize someone over being suicidal, it's not like most psych hospitals are a big help. Trust me, I work in one (albeit in the forensics sections, not the "normal" floors) — I'd know. Even if workers genuinely want to be helpful, for most people, forced hospitalization is already traumatizing, and will only make people try harder the next time they attempt.

It just doesn't make sense. They're so worried about taking down their boogeyman of the week (SN, N, whatever) that they don't consider any consequences of it. Sure, you might prevent some suicides. But how many of those people, who were going to use something peaceful, might now cause themself slow and painful deaths or just throw themself in front of trains instead of using what they planned on?

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I think that their tactics actually do work to an extent which is unfortunate as banning the peaceful methods means that the remaining suicide methods themselves could be used as a deterrent to prevent some people from killing themselves due to the fear caused by how horrific and uncertain these methods are. Despite us being in extreme pain and agony every single waking second, a lot of people here do still realise that attempting a risky method could lead to a worse quality of life if that method were to fail significantly.

It's kind of a mixed bag because, on one hand, you are right and I even made a thread on this before stating that pro lifers banning peaceful methods could make people be more anxious and thus more likely to ctb since they have no safety net to fall back to if things get even worse. However, on the other hand, banning peaceful methods unfortunately works as a form of deterrence. I do think that pro lifers are being immoral by trying to ban access to peaceful methods though. Merely legalising euthanasia could be enough for a lot of suicidal people to want to prolong their lives for just a bit longer than they otherwise would have since they know they have a guaranteed and peaceful way out of here if things get worse for them

 

[Opera]

That's so true. Friends don't want me to CTB and of course they wouldn't, because they are my friends and they care about me. But I also think I have a right to choose how I die, and I'm scared of a painful death. I want to die as if I had just slept and never wake up. Yet when someone wants to end it, they just put them in the worst place possible and it makes them want to commit more. It's so heartbreaking

 

[FuneralCry]

It's just so horrific to me how painless suicide is denied as an option even know this existence was imposed in the first place, taking away painless methods just leads to way more agony and torture in an existence where there is already no limit as to how much one can suffer. To me human existence truly is the most cruel, torturous burden, I'd never wish to suffer in this existence no matter what which is why I see so much cruelty in how painless ways to die are denied and I suffer so much from being enslaved in this existence I never would have chosen.
I'd always prefer to die painlessly than prolong the suffering in this existence I always saw as the most terrible, tragic mistake just to die tortured by old age, existence truly is an abomination to me and I suffer so much from how I cannot just have the option to painlessly die in a guaranteed way and never exist ever again.

 

[SilentSadness]

I agree, they always say it's such a tragedy when someone brutally kills themselves without saying goodbye, but that wouldn't happen if they weren't hell bent on removing all peaceful suicide methods. I've actually talked to pro lifers and the way they talk as if preventing suicide is the obvious thing to do is scary, it's like they're completely detached from reality and the suffering of others.

 

[foreverlanguish]

I can confirm that being institutionalized did nada. I'm even more motivated to CTB and to not chicken out as ever because of that less than favorable experience. I never want to go back. While some of the workshops on building communication and social skills helped a little, nothing that tries to brand suicide as this bad, evil thing will stop anyone who truly wants to CTB.