Poll: Suicide

[Shuswah_Noir]

I'm not going to vote. None of the options seem to match my stance on the issue at hand.


Yes, I have lost people to suicide.
Yes, I regularly talk one of my friends out of suicide (she has D.I.D, amoung other things)
Yes, I have made suicide jokes, before and after these events.

99.99% of cases where people commit suicide, it is an incredibly selfish act. There is almost no situation that calls for it. There are, however, cases where people really are better off. Although they are almost non-existent. It is also, not always the easy way out. Sometimes there are other triggers. I myself almost committed suicide a couple of months ago, as a result of side effects to Strattera (medication for ADD/ADHD). My friend with D.I.D has trouble because when her 'other selves' come out, some try to kill her, as strange as that sounds. It is not always a dislike of the current situation, or an easy way out.

If we as human beings cannot learn to laugh at everything in life, good and bad (even if we feel a little guilty afterwards), what do we truly have left? I admit I have a particularly dark sense of humor, but that is not the only thing that allows me to laugh at such jokes.

 

[Dr Jones]

I haven't mocked anyone who's suicidal in the sense that I've made fun of them for being suicidal, but I've joked with suicide, the same way that I joke with baby killing, racism and rape.

this, although i dont dare kid about stuff like that in public, people get really offended.
I found out the hard way..

How do you define "in public" in this context though?
Is school included for example?

In public as if outside, with people around me other than my friends who get the humor.
So yes. School.

 

[gphjr14]

Only once and that was because the guy beat me up in middle school 6 years later it turned out he got high on meth and killed himself. I received the news in front of his little brother so I waited till later to smile. Yeah I can hold a grudge, but in retrospect I am sad but at the same time he thought he was hot shit back in the day so I guess I'm amused by the irony of it.

 

[gazumped]

Personally i think it's the height of selfishness but i would never mock it.

I have never understood this argument. So, you say it is selfish because they leave others to grieve of you I assume? I think you are the one being selfish for demanding that a person live with extreme depression for which could be years on end and will probably happen again in the future.

This.
The exception being if you have a particular responsibility to someone, for instance if you have a child that will have to be put into a home because their single parent ended their own life.

However, either way, what people seem to not realise when they use the 'selfishness' argument is... no, a person doesn't think about their friends and family when they commit suicide... THEY DON'T THINK AT ALL. It's not natural to end your own survival, you're not right in the head. There's no room for selfishness in their mind; on the accounts of many who've tried and failed to kill themselves, at the time there's nothing in their mind at all.

Maybe it's because I'm kind of a nihilist and don't believe there's any real point to life and you're going to die someday anyway, but if someone ends their life I feel that it's their choice and I only hope for their sake that it was the best decision. Even when my mum threatens it now I'm not sure if it's my place to intervene or not.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

On a slightly lighter and silly but still macabre note, suicide bombers.

Spoiler: Do not read if you are easily offended...you have been warned

You know that there told that they will go to paradise where they will each have 100 virgins waiting for them? Well i don't know but it seems to me that that's not so grate. i mean it's awkward enough trying to do the dirty with just one virgin...never mind 100 of them. I recon they'd get well more takers if they said that you would go to heaven and you would get two absolutely beautiful girls but they are proper slags instead...which is well more fun.

 

[Jonluw]

I haven't mocked anyone who's suicidal in the sense that I've made fun of them for being suicidal, but I've joked with suicide, the same way that I joke with baby killing, racism and rape.

this, although i dont dare kid about stuff like that in public, people get really offended.
I found out the hard way..

How do you define "in public" in this context though?
Is school included for example?

In public as if outside, with people around me other than my friends who get the humor.
So yes. School.

Hm. The best babyjokes I've heard, I've heard in school.
But I knew everyone present at the time of telling, so whatever.

 

[RobCoxxy]

I refer you to Doug Stanhope.

It's definitely not the Coward's Way Out.

An ex was suicidal. Helped her out of that. Not in that way! Felt good. Until I'd "served my purpose" and got dumped. Go me.

I'm not bitter or anything.

 

[Kevlar Eater]

I would never make fun of a suicidal person, but I would approve of their actions.

Just thought of something: how is suicide cowardly and selfish? Ironically enough, wanting to keep a suicidally depressed person alive for whatever moral reason is equally, if not, more selfish than their action. Why should that person remain alive for everyone else's pleasure and happiness?

 

[spartan231490]

Simple question, I'm sure will garner complicated answers; Why do people mock suicide?
On the internet they sometimes mockingly call it "heroics", while often others will call people who have chosen death are referred to as "morons", "cowards", and "idiots". Is it really idiotic to want death over a life of suffering? It doesn't always get better, things don't often actually improve, in fact I've seen things get worse for a lot of people that have been stricken with the kind of personal grief that sustains suicidality.

I know a young man, barely an adult, that took his own life and he was mentally disturbed. Do people really think mental illness is a mark of stupidity? I knew a woman that deliberately allowed her boyfriend to kill her before turning the gun on himself, was she really just an idiot and a coward?

I'm running on a bit, but I'm genuinely curious about this mentality people have with mocking and ridiculing anyone that considers this the only way to get out of a life of abuse, mental illness, and unresolvable grief.

I'd really like to understand why suicidal people face such seemingly provocative ridicule and rebuke.

Edit: I'm not asking about whether you have mocked suicide, I'm asking about whether or not (and why) people mock other people that are seriously contemplating suicide.

Yes it really is idiotic to want death "over a life of suffering" because life can get better, once you die it's game over. Many religions view suicide as a sin so even if you believe, it's not an improvement. Life can always get better, never forget that, there are success stories everywhere that show how people who push through the pain and never give up can always make their lives better. They may not be perfect, but they will get better.

 

[Trolldor]

Personally i think it's the height of selfishness but i would never mock it.

I have never understood this argument. So, you say it is selfish because they leave others to grieve of you I assume? I think you are the one being selfish for demanding that a person live with extreme depression for which could be years on end and will probably happen again in the future.

It's selfish because it's all about them and they never stop to consider the impact it will have on the lives of other people, suicide can drive a family apart and devastate the lives of the people around them so that they will never recover fully. But do they stop to consider this? No they don't they just think about them selves and screw everyone else who cares about them, loves them, or want to help them. Non of that matters to them, they wash they hands of all responsibility they have. Yeah so your really depressed? Then man up and ask for help, the people who truly care for you will stand by you and help you however they can no matter what. Nothing in life worth anything comes without pain and heartache. They take the easy way out, so yeah it is the height of selfishness.

Lol manning up out of depression...

Its not as easy as it sounds.

In a state of suicide one feels no hope or meaning, and sometimes the family doesnt understand, and sometimes there is no family at all.

Oddly enough, "manning up" out of depression is really the best way.
But rather than endure it, you bury it.
I do things bigger than I should, and it's the only way I've been able to live my life. The moment I stop is the moment I regress back two or three years to watching traffic and wondering what sounds my bones would make under car tyres.

But you must agree that once you get into a very depressive stage it becomes hard to get out and to see life diffrently.

Manning up is one of the ways, but its hard to see that when your depressed.

Oh, depression is the sort of illness that, if it strikes properly, renders you impotent.
Most people claim to feel depressed when really they just feel sad.
Feeling strong emotion is a good day when you have depression, even if its melancholy.

 

[Vilcus]

Suicide is the coward's way out in most cases.

My views on suicide go like this. If they're in horrific pain, and they're going to die a incredibly painful death no matter what anyone does, then they should have the right to take their own life to end their own suffering. Also if they are incapable of doing it themselves they should have the right to be assisted in dying, because if I was disabled and unable to move I know I wouldn't want to keep going. Life isn't life if I don't have freedom of movement.

On the other side there's emotional pain, and this is why suicide has always been on a case by case basis for me. Someone who is suffering tremendous physical pain should not be forced to wait for release from said pain. However emotional pain is something that can heal over time. Many people take their lives because they see themselves as lost, and their life left in ruins. They see everything as a lost cause, and think their lives can only get worse. These people to me, are cowards. Their is always something you can do to improve your life, you can work towards you goals, or you can find someone to help you push forward, suicide is never the answer to emotional pain.

The only time I insult/make fun of someone who is suicidal is when they make it known that they want to commit suicide. Announcing this to your loved ones is incredibly selfish, it's basically meant to grab attention, and have people worry about you. Besides, most people who make their intentions to commit suicide known to others never actually go through with it, because that's all it was, a way to get attention.

However suicidal thoughts are natural, I don't condemn people for having them, just keep them to yourself, and confide in others about what's making you have these thoughts (without revealing that you're having them).

 

[Zacharious-khan]

its cheating it is, skipping to level 2 early.

 

[DSK-]

I contemplated it for ridiculously stupid reasons.

OT: I haven't derided anyone, if anything I've tried to discuss with them why they felt necessary to do such a thing and talk about their problems.

Personally I think it is completely stupid unless the individual doesn't have a lot of time left to live and is an extreme amount of pain. I've already told my parents that if something like that ever happened to them I'd gladly help them out.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I would never mock someone that I knew was actually suicidal or properly depressed. I mock people I know who occasionally pretend to be depressed for attention. People who say they're depressed because they failed their driving test again are not depressed; it's not a sudden thing.

 

[Brandon237]

Every week I have conversations with a girl who tried to commit suicide, so no, I do not mock them. I almost broke down in tears listening to why she tried, that was hectic stuff, and to mock anyone in her position for it would be booking a first class ticket to hell.

 

[hamasins]

I don't have an option.... When I was younger and stupider one of my classmates was suicidal and as a gaming geek who wanted nothing more than to be accepted I followed everyone else and made fun of her for it.... looking back now i am disgusted with my self.... people who are suicidal need help and people who mock them are barely human, myself included . (need option for used to and now feel disgusted with myself.)

 

[manic_depressive13]

I would never make fun of a suicidal person, but I would approve of their actions.

Just thought of something: how is suicide cowardly and selfish? Ironically enough, wanting to keep a suicidally depressed person alive for whatever moral reason is equally, if not, more selfish than their action. Why should that person remain alive for everyone else's pleasure and happiness?

Agreed. How on earth is it cowardly? Honestly, that is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. I bet that, if half the people who call it cowardly had the choice of killing themselves or killing someone they cared about (hypothetical situation, make it up), they would choose the latter. Suicide is hard. No one wants to die. Sometimes it just seems like the only way out.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

touchy subject, i think its ok for close friends to banter about something like that, but anyone else, no, not even family.

i once said to my friend, i was thinking about suicide, not seriously considering it though. he made a joke about it, and we had a laugh about it. i maybe would have considered it but now when i think about it i always think of that joke, and just lifts my spirits.

 

[Aurora Firestorm]

No, and I think anyone who does is being a jerk.

I always hate it when people say, You know, your problems aren't that bad, oh, your parents only fight a little of the time, or something like that. The people who live by this mantra better never ever get sad, because you know, there are starving kids in Africa. No pressure or anything.

Everyone's problems are real to them, and if someone thinks their life sucks enough that they don't want it anymore, respect that and realize that in some way, these "minor problems" are clearly the biggest deal ever to this person. It takes a lot of subconscious mental gymnastics to get to the point of suicide, because humans are animals and animals are evolutionarily hardwired nnot to want death. Maybe it's brain chemistry; maybe it's something else, but No one just wakes up one day and consciously decides, "You know what the best way out of this problem is? I should die! That way I don't have to deal with anything." It's a hair-tearing, soul-sucking, life-consuming concept, born out of desperation and the inability to see any other way out. It's not an "easy way." It's an "only way." You can't call people a coward for not perceiving something, or not being able to viscerally understand at the time that yes, there are better ways. Understand that these people aren't doing this for the hell of it; they honestly do not see any other option, and not because they consciously decide not to.

I honestly think that "teenagers wanting attention" makes up a negligible percent of suicidal people. Some of that can be interpreted also as "I don't know how to help myself now, so if I'm loud enough other people who know what they're doing will try to help." That's not attention whoring; that's sensible.

I'll quit ranting now, but as a person who has had suicidal inclinations in the past, I feel horribly slighted when people laugh it off as attention whoring or being a selfish, cowardly asshole.

 

[AMAZED]

Suicide is a cowardly despicable action. In killing yourself you are abandoning your family and friends, you buck up and work through it. This isn't me talking out of my ass, I attended a conference where a team of people who had been through hard times came to talk to a school about suicide. Every one of them had a story and all of them were horribly tragic, one man even owns a gun that he originally bought to kill himself with but he got help and now he is married and has an incredible life.