Discussion What do people mean when they say "easy way out"?

[nigelhernandez]

I'm sure many of you have been told this about suicide. I'm baffled by what people mean when they say this. Sure, suicide is probably easier than struggling through life, but why is that a bad thing?

Nobody gets a reward for living through old age. Dying at 20 vs dying at 80 makes no difference so I don't see why there's a point in struggling.

 

[Soulless_Angel]

How is suicide the easy way out, when its in fact one of the hardest things to do, the trauma to get to that point, the battle with your own inner self,
Yes once done, it's easy as you don't have to go down a road of hell to recovery, you are avoiding so much more drama, and so forth
BUT the saying its an easy way out, is bullshit, there is no easy way out!

 

[SpottedPanda]

I think it's to do with the supposed virtue of hard work, and the dreamy perception of going through a struggle.

One thing's for sure, calls of it's selfish or it's the easy way out won't really affect you when you're gone. Reputation and public opinion don't really matter to the deceased. They're inconsequential. There's no embarrassment or shame once you're gone.

 

[InTheAirTonight]

Depends. I think if I had nembutal in front of me right now and drank it, I'll admit that I'm taking the "easy way out" compared to others. Other than that... No

 

[rhiino]

People that have absolutely no clue how it feels to be suicidal or commit suicide seem to think it is easier to kill yourself than to life. Oh boy are they clueless. It is the hardest thing in life to kill yourself.

 

[4eyebiped]

Almost every facet of modern civilization is an easy way out in which almost everyone participates. Everyone isn't running around slaying their own meals, knitting their own clothes or building their own huts, to touch on a minute few. I am not here to argue if the phrase is true, I am only pointing out that everyone is taking the easy way out everyday of their lives. Let us not be judgmental hypocrites.

 

[nerve]

If suicide was easy, I doubt this forum would exist. Mental illness in general wouldn't be such a global problem if these people just killed themselves en masse because it's so easy.

I think people latch onto the argument since it's a lot cozier to think "ah, this person was just a coward" than that they had serious health/life issues that weren't or couldn't be addressed properly. I see people who are so uncomfortable addressing the fact that unfairness and inequality exist in the world because it usually means someone has had it worse than them or felt deeper pain/loss than they have and it bursts their ego bubble.

 

[rhiino]

I think people latch onto the argument since it's a lot cozier to think "ah, this person was just a coward" than that they had serious health/life issues that weren't or couldn't be addressed properly. I see people who are so uncomfortable addressing the fact that unfairness and inequality exist in the world because it usually means someone has had it worse than them or felt deeper pain/loss than they have and it bursts their ego bubble.

Yeah, it is easier to belittle them than accepting the fact that this world is pretty shitty and there is a reason why mental illness spreads like crazy. In my country every fourth person gets mentally ill by the time they are 25. That shows that something in the society goes really wrong.

 

[Bct]

Suicide is seems as the bad thing because you can get away from your struggles when they have to grinding on their whole life. The perceived easiness comes when you just have to do one successful attempt to end it all.

 

[DoNotLet2]

I mean easy in comparison to living. But hard to do as hell. You have to fight your instincts that prevent you from doing so. And why do people even mind someone committing suicide?

 

[mediocre]

That makes no sense to me because suicide is the probably the hardest thing you can do. It takes tremendous courage to step off that chair or off that bridge.

 

[GoodPersonEffed]

It's a Greek chorus phrase. It's condemning, empty, and mindless. People say a lot of shit without knowing what they fuck they're saying, they just feel "right."

 

[Weightoftheworld]

This phrase has always baffled me. I've always seen the easy way out as being a tragic accident or a sudden medical death. To me it's like, gosh I wish I could get that lucky. Maybe it's just because our minds are wired differently.

 

[RileyTanaka]

This is honestly just an empty platitude that is said because people are generally trained to believe suicide is unilaterally wrong. Platitudes like this protect people from having to think critically and perhaps encounter the ambiguity of life and death. Like others are saying here, if they could think about it free of influence from others, they'd see that self-deliverance is insanely difficult and possibly even more courageous than anything they'd ever do. I'm not saying it should be celebrated or glorified - we all know it's a last option after unrelenting, unresolved suffering. But if we're talking "easy" vs. "hard" - I think any moron can admit objectively which one suicide would be.