Is it selfish to prevent people from commiting suicide?

krazykidd

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So me and this guy were talking today at work and the topic of suicide came up ( because someone decided to jump in front of his train which made him get to work late). One line he said kind of distrubed me he said : " I have nothing against suicide , but don't piss people off while doing it ".

Shocked by this comment i asked him what he meant by the fact he has nothing against suicide, because it was the first time i heard anyone say something like that, usually people want to prevent suicide and think it's a terrible act.

He explained to me that he thought that any person living should have the right to take their own life. That anyone that tries to prevent someone for doing the act is selfish . He said that in a world where countless people are murdered or that die by "accident" why shouldn't someone be able to take his/her own life? That people often talk about the family memebers and friends of the person that commited suicide , and how they are sad and heart-broken and wish that said person did not go through with it. That stopping someone from suiciding because themselves or family/friends would be hurting is selfish by not considering the fact they the person who died , wanted to in fact die , thus commited suicide.

As strange as it might sound, his argument made sense ! I mean, who better than onself to decide when and how to die ? The guy i was talking to firmly believe in the freedom of choice, no matter what choice it may be, therefore he believes that someone should be able to take their own life regardless are what people close to them think .

So what do you escapists think ? Is preventing or trying to find help for someone that wants to commiting suicide, selfish ?

P.S I'm not talking about assisted suicide , that another topic all together.

EDIT : Some people mis-understood my question. It's not about if suicide is right or wrong. It's about if it's selfish of prevent someone for killing themselves. It's basically like taking away their freedom of choice. The choice to end their own life. And also i am NOT talking about helping someone with a terminal illness kill themselves.
 

JoJo

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I don't think it is selfish to prevent someone committing suicide, because if they survive they may be glad later that they survived. Many people who commit suicide have other options open than death and wouldn't truly be better off dead. Life is precious gift, we're each only got one, and I don't think it should be wasted so quickly in a moment of choice we might later regret if we had the chance.
 

Steve Lovell

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It's a really thorny issue, if you have people dependant on, then surely its much more selfish to commit suicide
 

Limecake

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Actually despite popular belief a lot of suicides aren't caused by years of depression. In fact a large perecentage of people who have been saved from a suicide attempt don't actually end up killing themselves.

So yeah, preventing someone from killing themselves is a good idea. Even if they still want to kill themselves afterwards at least they'll hopefully get the attention they need.
 

kane.malakos

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It's not selfish, and you know why? They once interviewed people who had jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge trying to commit suicide and survived. 100% of them regretted it on the way down, and thought of all the things that they had to live for. Not one said they felt okay with their decision. In that moment, they all just wanted to live. Suicide really is a cry for help
 

Housebroken Lunatic

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Yes it's selfish, and a complete waste of time.

Spend your time on people who genuinely WANT to live. Not the idiots who think life is worth ending because they feel a bit grumpy. They are unworthy of the life they have, and the sooner they kill themselves, the better.

And yes, I would in fact reason the exact same way even if it was a friend, family member or other form of loved one threatening to commit suicide. In fact, there have been times when that was exactly the case and my only response was a cold and to-the-point: "Well then go ahead and stop TALKING about it!"
 

Doctor Glocktor

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I find suicide is another word for cowardice, so, no I don't think trying to stop it is selfish; I think the person trying to commit suicide is the selfish one.
 

Uber Evil

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"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." So I think they should get help, and only the most hopeless people (e.g. terminal illness patients) should be allowed a quicker way out.
 

ace_of_something

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I've actually stopped a few people from killing themselves (like holding them up so they don't hang themselves) Sometimes they're mad. Damn near every time they thanked me eventually.

Suicide effects more than just the person committing the act.
 

Actual

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Suicide always hurts others.

Can't be selfish to prevent that hurt for others.
 

OldGus

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Most suicides, the jump-off-the-bridge or head-in-front-of-train style, not selfish. Those are people who are experiencing a momentary depression and honestly don't think anyone cares (and usually are wrong.) In this case, the person committing suicide is being very selfish, as well as obviously self-destructive.
Yeah, ok, saw the note for assisted suicides. Agreed, those are definitely, unquestionably selfish to stop. Moving on.
 

Housebroken Lunatic

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Actual said:
Suicide always hurts others.

Can't be selfish to prevent that hurt for others.
Why should anyone be obligated to stay alive just so they don't hurt others' feelings?

My life, is just that MY life. Why should I feel obligated to stay alive even if I don't want to, just because others might mourn my death?

Everyone will die eventually anyway, and someone will probably mourn those deaths anyway, so the only real distinction is what, time-span? Seems like a pretty trivial reason for someone to stay alive who really don't want to, and a pretty trivial reason for anyone to try to stop someone from committing suicide.
 

ruben6f

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Well it does make sense.

I believe that every act is a selfish act, but there are good selfish acts and bad selfish acts.
 

cgaWolf

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Stopping someone from comitting suicide isn't selfish - as said above, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I don't have huge issues with suicide per se, but most people who commit it do it without looking at their surrounding circumstances & the people they affect, and that's just douchebaggery.

The biggest issue i actually have with suicide is how it get hammered into our brain time & time again that it is a bad thing - obivously something responsible for how i feel about it. On a strictly intellectual level, i think a person should be able to decide themselves whether they want to go on and live. Ofc that goes directly against centuries of indoctrination in our culture, so it's not that easy to shake off.

Suicide used to be an act of dignity, now it's an act of despair - the whole discussion about the topic is a false dichotomy in first place.
 

Doctor Glocktor

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Housebroken Lunatic said:
Actual said:
Suicide always hurts others.

Can't be selfish to prevent that hurt for others.
Why should anyone be obligated to stay alive just so they don't hurt others' feelings?

My life, is just that MY life. Why should I feel obligated to stay alive even if I don't want to, just because others might mourn my death?

Everyone will die eventually anyway, and someone will probably mourn those deaths anyway, so the only real distinction is what, time-span? Seems like a pretty trivial reason for someone to stay alive who really don't want to, and a pretty trivial reason for anyone to try to stop someone from committing suicide.
If you're so much of a coward that instead of actually trying to make your life better, you take the easy way out, you can do that. Its just that you're hurting everyone around you. Are you really that bloody selfish?
 

Housebroken Lunatic

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Doctor Glocktor said:
If you're so much of a coward that instead of actually trying to make your life better, you take the easy way out, you can do that. Its just that you're hurting everyone around you. Are you really that bloody selfish?
It doesn't matter if someone is doing it for reasons of cowardice or if it's selfish, it's still their choice to make. It's their life to throw away, and they aren't obligated in any way to keep living if they don't want to.

And yes, if I had a reason to kill myself I'd do it without the slightest thought about what others might think or feel about my decision. Because it is just that, MY decision. There's no argument or discussion to be had there. And it doesn't really matter if you or anyone else were to judge me, calling me a coward or selfish because it's not like I'd be alive and thus able to care about your petty criticism now is it?
 

Housebroken Lunatic

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flyingmonkys said:
if everyone was like you, ie. stupid and ignorant there would be alot more dead people in the world.
And that would be a bad result in what way?

This planet is overcrowded as it is after all.