Show of Hands

this.

What do you mean?

Correction. Usually weak and cowardly. Sometimes it is not and requires great effort for a desired outcome and that is a symptom of life and great conviction.

I have to get off my phone soon so if I get a response back to you it will be later. But I will explain. But I warn you it's mostly not worth an explanation as its just a personal philosophy.

Death is just cashing out of life. Anything that was gained is now redistributed to the surviving anything lost is not easily reclaimed. Suicide is like taking money out of a retirement plan early because you got tired of paying into it.

You rob it of potential and essentially attempt to take it for yourself. But it's your life not a 401k. Its the individuals money though so it's up to them how they use it. Its too easy to take the money and run, but then what value does it have?

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I agree with Chimama on this there is no selfishness in preventing suicide because it is never the answer to whatever the situation may be

I agree with thatguy.

When someone is in extreme emotional distress that they can't overcome or find a way out of, it is selfish of those around them to want them to continue to suffer, just so they don't have be distressed either.

Feeling "down" and having depression with suicidal idealization are two entirely different things.

A mentally ill, suicidal person does not understand the effects of their suicide because they firmly believe that no one cares about them. You are not understanding what mental illness entails. I would recommend research if you so care to learn about the topic at all.

The only time I can think of a reasonable circumstance is if you are in the military, and you about to be capture. You know valid military Intel.

Have you ever served? I think you have watched to many spy thrillers. How about you fight to the death and take as many with you as possible. I would actually respect that more. Die a coward or a hero.

No - I have not, but I don't think this scenario is too far fetched.

How horrifying and detrimental to public understanding of suicide and depression to say yes.

It's worse for those who are suicidal to sugarcoat the truth.

It's not the truth though. It's incorrect to suggest that suicidal people don't care or think about others or are weak. You only harm suicidal individuals in suggesting that their struggles are character flaws. It is a desire to escape an unbearable pain. I prefer compassion and empathy and would encourage suicidal individuals to reach out for help.

I have had an SO attempt to commit suicide. So yes, I am familiar with how depression affects the individual and what being suicidal is often a reflection of.

I am very familiar, but again prefer compassion and understanding to false assumptions and shaming.

It's inconsiderate to those who love you to take your own life. It's selfish to think that your feelings is more important than those who love you.

It's simply not. I just remind myself that the suicidal individual is in much more pain than I as the loved one am. I have no right to tell them to just "snap out of it" or whatever for my sake. They need real help to get through their struggles, not misguided criticism.

You act like suicide is helping the person...

Not at all, I have at no point claimed that. While I certainly hope you never experience suicidal thoughts or have a suicidal loved one, experiencing these things have given me insight and understanding into the struggles of such individuals. It's simply not due to a lack of strong character. If someone does reach out to you, however, please redirect them to get help.

Of course I will help them. I wouldn't want them to commit such a selfish act.

How unfortunate. I hope they have a better support system, from compassionate and understanding individuals.

Again, I hope depressed and suicidal people don't accidentally reach out to someone with such a horrific and misguided view. They deserve help and support.

Great answer

Short, simple, accurate.

Agree, it reinforces to depressed individuals who have once felt suicidal that they are cowardly and selfish...causing a deeper spiral of depression

Exactly this - thank you

So you shame everyone whose decision you deem bad? Whose metric is used to determine whether a decision is good or bad? If someone has a painful terminal illness and chooses to end their life to cease their suffering, is that a bad decision?

And do you think shaming someone is what will help them navigate through their current state of despair and grief about their position in life? Do you not see how adding shame onto all those other internalized negative feelings can just worsen someone's depressive state?

Okay, consider this.

You're on an island with one other person. You're out of food. You have two options. You can kill the other guy for food, or you can commit suicide so the other guy can eat you for food.

Which act is selfless? Which act is cowardly?
Suicide or murder?

Amazingly creative thinking outside the box 👍

OhTheIrony, neither. Just keep trying to live, and if they both end up dying, thats ok. There is no excuse to kill someone or yourself

Then you both will starve. How is that a better outcome? If you let him eat you, at least he'll have a chance to survive longer.

Regardless, the point I'm trying to convey is that suicide in this case is neither cowardly nor selfish. I'm sure you agree.

Starving is a better outcome then killing someone by choice

I agree. That's not what we're discussing.

Suicide is still better than starving in this hypothetical.

I'm totally pragmatic here. The outcome of this scenario is either both die from starvation, or at least one survives. It's still deplorable but I'd respect it if one of them sacrifices himself to save the other.

I would say that IF you know for sure that one person can survive if the other dies, and thats the only chance, i would consider it positively

A bit of a personal question. You don't have to answer of course but since your reaction was so strong and immediate, including a second poll, have you lost a loved one to suicide?

Yes

So sad. I somehow thought so. It explains your reaction.

:)

Thanks

I lost a friend to suicide. It seemed cowardly to me. He wanted to escape his life. I don't think it was selfish, though.

That makes sense