Is Suicide Wrong?

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I just noticed something. You almost never hear a cancer survivor say they made themselves a "better person" by getting over their illness. Only former depressed people talk like that. Only former depressed people frame their illness in moral terms. You think someone with a physical illness is never a burden on others? They have to be taken care of by others! Of course they're a burden. But are they expected to blame themselves the way depressed people are? Hell no. There's a f*****g double standard. Happiness isn't goodness. Some "happy" people are selfish and morally disgusting and some unhappy people are completely selfless. There are good people who are also happy too. There's no correlation one way or another. It's our shallow culture that tells people they have to pretend to be happy and invulnerable all the time, OR ELSE.

androbot, I have been asking myself the same question. "Is incurable mental illness a justification for suicide?" I don't know. I am not committing suicide at the moment because I don't want to hurt the people who love me. I think that would be wrong. However, I do believe each person has the right to commit suicide if they grow tired of living. I haven't ruled out the possibility of committing suicide in the future. It will be a rational decision based on the perceived costs/benefits of me continuing to live. It won't be a snap decision. I have suicidal thoughts everyday. I find reasons to keep living and I fight it, but I see a time coming when it no longer makes sense to keep fighting my mental illness.

I've actually heard cancer survivors say they're "better people" because of what they had to endure.

My mother is a cancer survivor.

Whenever I hear someone say suicide is "cowardly," I know that they just don't understand the nature of severe depression. It can beat you down to the point where you just don't have any resources left to fight. When you get to that point, you just want the pain to be over, just as someone suffering from a terminal illness wants to be free from their pain. I think the majority of people who finally commit suicide have four the good fight for a long while and anything but cowards.

Quote: It's perfectly rational to not want to experience unbearable pain. Emotional pain can be just as intense as physical pain and it isn't always possible to reason yourself out of it. That's the thing people like you can't fully wrap your head around. You cling to the idea that emotion is a choice. It isn't always a choice. What isn't rational is to expect a person to carry on indefinitely when they feel hopeless and life is unbearable. How do you know such people discard life "easily"? How do you know they haven't struggled for a long long time befDepression isn't just "feeling sad". Such simple words can't even begin to describe it. You just don't have any idea what it's like. Listening to an upbeat song doesn't help everyone. If you're really depressed you'll find such songs trite and annoying. I prefer neutral music when I'm depressed, or just no music at all, but some people might want to listen to so-called depressing music - not because it makes them worse - but because they can relate to something in it. Maybe it helps people more to relate to a song than to be dictated at. Nobody listens to something because they want to feel worse. Nobody. Emotions can be as real and as unavoidable as physical pain. They're not "irrational". You're not trying to judge, but you make a whole bunch of baseless assumptions and preach solutions that don't actually help anyone who's depressed, especially not severe depression.


People like me? -You don't know me.
You cling to the idea that emotion is a choice. It isn't always a choice. -A person does not have to allow their emotions to control them (that's my opinion anyway)-even Bones would agree.

Feelings of hopelessness usually come in spurts-there are usually good days too; it is about looking beyond the feelings of despair.

In my opinion, strong songs help. You have the right to your own opinions. I just don't think sad songs help. I've seen firsthand how sad songs have harmed someone.

You preach solutions that don't actually help anyone who's depressed, especially not severe depression-so you speak for everyone?

You have the right to your opinions, but don't tell me who I am. I'm giving my point of view. You can disagree without making personal attacks.



Quote: Have you ever been suicidal?...No, but I've known people who were suicidal and I've seen how they fell into the rabbit hole and how listening to sad music pushed them over the edge.

Quote: I also thought I was just a burden to everyone, and worthless enough to deserve all the bullying -that is how George felt in the movie, "It is a Wonderful Life" and he needed his guardian angel to help him see that he was valuable and that those feelings were irrational. We often don't see how precious we really are.

why would someone care if the outcast they helped bully offs them self. --usually people want to punish the person they think should have loved them more, the person who they think might feel bad-like a parent.

Luckily I've found some ways to reduce it and even enjoy some of the time...That's excellent!


As for music when I am feeling very depressed I do actually prefer more melencholy, sad sort of music...that's okay. I've just seen how sad music has driven people over the edge.

I find some of the posts in this thread a bit.. hmm, not sure how to describe it.. offensive? Insulting? Hypocritical? I can't quite put my finger on the right word.

Anyways, I posted MY experience & my thoughts/feelings on it - and stated that "YMMV" (and that's okay!) yet a few people have decided to post their opposition to what I've said in a way that's a bit.. almost rude?

I can't change my experience, thoughts or feelings on it. There's no "right way" to be depressed nor a "right way" to deal with it, think about it, reflect on it, feel about it etc. I went through what I did, and thought/felt what I did about it - and think/feel what I do about it & that's that. I'm not going to be invalidated as not "properly depressed" because my journey, or opinions on it and myself, was different than yours. It just is what it is for each of us.

Some of the posts in this thread remind me of a thing my friend calls "push down, pop up," where someone has to put someone else down in order to elevate their own sense of self worth. I think it's kinda ridiculous to argue over who's more depressed and to state that this way or that is a more appropriate way to think or feel about it - especially since peoples' thinking isn't the clearest when they're in that state, whether mine back a couple years ago or yours now as you're going through depression at the moment.

These are MY thoughts. YMMV, and that's okay.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

Thank you for your comments SweetLeaf; I guess I don't understand severe depression. I've seen it in others-like my mom-when I found her half dead when I was nine-so when people tell me that I don't understand, "people like me", they are being disrespectful. I do know what I saw with my mom. She immersed herself in sorrow and listened to sad songs. There are certain songs I hate now. She didn't take care of my little sister (who was only four); that became my job. It was all about her crying and feeling sad and I know she was in pain but I wanted her to rise above it and take care of her of little kids who needed her. I found her and called the police and it was very traumatizing. I saw my relative who drank herself to an early death. And the common factor in these scenarios was people immersing themselves in sorrow instead of trying to get help. They didn't see what they had. I tell you this story, because you are respectful but I do not want that other person commenting to me, that person who thinks they know me.

I think in many cases, suicide isn't about spite. With the case of my mom and my relative (I don't want to say who it was); it was about absolute sorrow to the point that they forgot they had little kids and people who needed them. It isn't always about us. Sometimes it is about what we mean for others.

Having autism, I have suffered immensely, have been rejected and worse, but for me, what got me through was that others needed me. Sometimes I had to force myself to see the good because it is very easy to look at only the bad things. That is just my opinion. For me, sad songs are bleak. I don't like them. I don't mind slow songs or love songs. But sad songs, to me, encourage self-pity. I don't mind sad classical music but sad words with lyrics, yuck, I don't like them.