Discussion Why does a terminally ill person wanting to live override a suicidal persons desire to die in peoples minds?

[ericwilkinson]

You've probably heard the platitude "someone else who is terminally ill/paralyzed/blind/has it worse than you still wants to live". My question is, why does that argument make sense to some people?

Why not just accept different strokes for different folks?

 

[sleepless]

Yes that's true. Just like the cliched saying of kids are starving in Africa while you don't want to eat your peas. The human situation is far too complex for a view portrayed by such a simplistic statement.

I just treat this as one of the many meaningless platitudes people spew these days, and not let them bother me. I feel those people are like fishes in the sea, while we are fishes in a drying shallow pond, they will not understand our struggle until you put them in our place.

 

[Mbound]

What they always leave out is that terminally ill person wants to continue living their life, in their body with their brain and their past and their circumstances and surroundings. If they were in your, or my, exact shoes, with our brain and body and past and circumstances they would feel exactly the same way we do. "Suicide bad" is such an unchallenged sentiment that people don't think very deeply about it I've found.

 

[anteater]

People are selfish, they can't deal with the idea of suicide, because they think we should not do it. And when we try to speak about why we want to die, they refuse to understand and then call us selfish.

 

[AnnaJaspers]

People are selfish, they can't deal with the idea of suicide, because it they think we should not do it. And when we try to speak about why we want to die, they refuse to understand and then call us selfish.

Selfish and I'd add stupid.

 

[Wayfaerer]

I've always found it funny that it always comes from people who have a more advantage position in life than me. I feel confident in just disregarding whatever they say after that.

 

[Futility]

People tend to blast anything that makes them question their own existence, using red herrings, whataboutry and what not, anything said just feels like insincere aphorisms masquerading as axioms, and are simply patting themselves on the back while fishing for approval rather than having a genuine conversation trying to understand the topic.

That's why I go here, you guys get it. :)