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"Telling someone makes it likely that they will try to stop you." I think this is a likely reason, along with feeling of low self worth (feeling irredeemably "

"Telling someone makes it likely that they will try to stop you." I think this is a likely reason, along with feeling of low self worth (feeling irredeemably "unfixable" as lusr described it [1]), or not having any fiends or family that they can tell. The best thing is to talk to someone. Ideally a mental health professional, or failing that a friend or relation. But if a suicidal person feels that this would diminish their control over their life then I would urge them to phone a crisis line (list here: [2]). They keep their anonymity and control while giving themselves the chance of a way out of the immediate crisis, hopefully enabling them to get to the point where they can confide in someone and get help. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5138789 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5138789 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

philwelch 14y ago
This is unlikely to be a convincing argument to a genuinely suicidal person. A crisis line's purpose is to prevent suicide. If you're suicidal, talking to those people sounds suspiciously like those all-expense-paid free vacations where they try to sell you timeshares. Actually, that's the fundamental problem with this whole discussion. Stopping suicide means stopping people from doing what they want to do, literally with their own life, just because you don't want them to do it. With loved ones perhaps it's understandable, but what standing does some stranger on a crisis line have to try and do that?
- thatperson 14y ago
  You're a fucking idiot. Those hotlines are the only people who understand and the anonymity is the only way depressed people will probably talk about it Particularly entrepreneurs.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    Don't be a dick.
  - andyjohnson0 14y ago
    This is Hacker News. Be polite or take it to Reddit.
- andyjohnson0 14y ago
  "This is unlikely to be a convincing argument to a genuinely suicidal person." You may well be right. The problem is that suicidal people are usually depressed, and depression (as others have said [1]) is an illness. Specifically, a biochemical illness the affects the functioning of the brain to the extent that severely depressed and suicidal people often don't think rationally about the consequences of their actions. I think it is strongly arguable that trying to prevent the suicide of a mentally ill person is morally justified, even at the cost of temporarily impinging on their freedom of action. I'm not saying that suicide is always irrational. Faced with, say, terminal illness and severe pain, suicide can be a rational choice for a person capable of rational thought. And I definitely support the right of an individual to end their life in that or a similar situation. Ultimately they "own" their life. "what standing does some stranger on a crisis line have to try and do that?" Maybe you haven't thought this through. When a person phones a crisis line they are actively seeking help, and have an implicit understanding that the person they speak to is there to try and provide it. "Standing" doesn't come into it because the caller chose to made the call and controls when to end it. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5143839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5143839
  - philwelch 14y ago
    Sure. I don't think genuinely suicidal people would call a crisis line, so it just serves as a harmless outlet for the "cry-for-help" types. I also think the "mental illness" explanation is just a little too convenient in the general case.

philwelch 14y ago

This is unlikely to be a convincing argument to a genuinely suicidal person. A crisis line's purpose is to prevent suicide. If you're suicidal, talking to those people sounds suspiciously like those all-expense-paid free vacations where they try to sell you timeshares. Actually, that's the fundamental problem with this whole discussion. Stopping suicide means stopping people from doing what they want to do, literally with their own life, just because you don't want them to do it. With loved ones perhaps it's understandable, but what standing does some stranger on a crisis line have to try and do that?

thatperson 14y ago
You're a fucking idiot. Those hotlines are the only people who understand and the anonymity is the only way depressed people will probably talk about it Particularly entrepreneurs.
- philwelch 14y ago
  Don't be a dick.
- andyjohnson0 14y ago
  This is Hacker News. Be polite or take it to Reddit.
andyjohnson0 14y ago
"This is unlikely to be a convincing argument to a genuinely suicidal person." You may well be right. The problem is that suicidal people are usually depressed, and depression (as others have said [1]) is an illness. Specifically, a biochemical illness the affects the functioning of the brain to the extent that severely depressed and suicidal people often don't think rationally about the consequences of their actions. I think it is strongly arguable that trying to prevent the suicide of a mentally ill person is morally justified, even at the cost of temporarily impinging on their freedom of action. I'm not saying that suicide is always irrational. Faced with, say, terminal illness and severe pain, suicide can be a rational choice for a person capable of rational thought. And I definitely support the right of an individual to end their life in that or a similar situation. Ultimately they "own" their life. "what standing does some stranger on a crisis line have to try and do that?" Maybe you haven't thought this through. When a person phones a crisis line they are actively seeking help, and have an implicit understanding that the person they speak to is there to try and provide it. "Standing" doesn't come into it because the caller chose to made the call and controls when to end it. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5143839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5143839
- philwelch 14y ago
  Sure. I don't think genuinely suicidal people would call a crisis line, so it just serves as a harmless outlet for the "cry-for-help" types. I also think the "mental illness" explanation is just a little too convenient in the general case.