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Somehow, I feel it is within people's right to self-determination to be free to choose suicide. And yet, I think I'd be very sad if a close friend committed sui

Somehow, I feel it is within people's right to self-determination to be free to choose suicide. And yet, I think I'd be very sad if a close friend committed suicide.

philhippus 13y ago
Suicide is something that can never be fully controlled. It may be illegal to do it, but it's a literal inalienable right, no matter how strong the law against it.
- willurd 13y ago
  If any law would make suicide illegal, or any government would exert any control over you should you fail, then it stands to reason that those people making those laws, and those people in those governments, own your body.
omegant 13y ago
The problem is that most of the times suicide is not a rational decission taken by someone with terminal cancer to stop their fisical suffering. Most of the times is the reaction of a malfunctioning brain. Most suicidals wouldn't have taken the decission in a normal situation (not depressed) , and those who failed to kill themselves are happy to be alive. That's why it's so important to know the factors that trigger suicide compulsions, and the measures to better fight them.. A depresed person suicide brings a big suffering to the family and friends of the deceased, who most of the times don't know of the intentions.
- emp_zealoth 13y ago
  It doesn't have to be a terminal cancer. Sometimes it's just the loneliness, or the facts that led to it - for example unwillingly hurting people I care about because I'm a bit ... deficient when it comes to social skills and no matter how much I fret, I will, eventually but invariably, say something stupid that will make someone hurt. Stuffing me full of antidepressants won't solve the underlying problem Neither will a chat on a hotline - you hang up and the soulcrushing memories of those hurt people are back right away
  - omegant 13y ago
    But comiting suicide is not a logical decission in that situation. I don´t know you, I don´t know your case nor how to improve the situation. But being dead will not resolve the problem, and it will hurt the people you love much much more than any harsh comment you are able to do. There is always the possibility to find a way out, and then realice that that dark hole you where in, was just a solvable problem. You seem a techical guy, don´t use your analytic capabilities to rationalize and confirm your feelings, use them to get new information that is able to help you.
- jotm 13y ago
  Well, to be fair, those who succeed in killing themselves don't really care anymore :-). If someone commits suicide because he doesn't want to go to prison for a long time, is that a bad decision? Seems pretty good to me...

Somehow, I feel it is within people's right to self-determination to be free to choose suicide. And yet, I think I'd be very sad if a close friend committed suicide.

philhippus 13y ago

Suicide is something that can never be fully controlled. It may be illegal to do it, but it's a literal inalienable right, no matter how strong the law against it.

willurd 13y ago
If any law would make suicide illegal, or any government would exert any control over you should you fail, then it stands to reason that those people making those laws, and those people in those governments, own your body.

omegant 13y ago

The problem is that most of the times suicide is not a rational decission taken by someone with terminal cancer to stop their fisical suffering. Most of the times is the reaction of a malfunctioning brain. Most suicidals wouldn't have taken the decission in a normal situation (not depressed) , and those who failed to kill themselves are happy to be alive. That's why it's so important to know the factors that trigger suicide compulsions, and the measures to better fight them.. A depresed person suicide brings a big suffering to the family and friends of the deceased, who most of the times don't know of the intentions.

emp_zealoth 13y ago
It doesn't have to be a terminal cancer. Sometimes it's just the loneliness, or the facts that led to it - for example unwillingly hurting people I care about because I'm a bit ... deficient when it comes to social skills and no matter how much I fret, I will, eventually but invariably, say something stupid that will make someone hurt. Stuffing me full of antidepressants won't solve the underlying problem Neither will a chat on a hotline - you hang up and the soulcrushing memories of those hurt people are back right away
- omegant 13y ago
  But comiting suicide is not a logical decission in that situation. I don´t know you, I don´t know your case nor how to improve the situation. But being dead will not resolve the problem, and it will hurt the people you love much much more than any harsh comment you are able to do. There is always the possibility to find a way out, and then realice that that dark hole you where in, was just a solvable problem. You seem a techical guy, don´t use your analytic capabilities to rationalize and confirm your feelings, use them to get new information that is able to help you.
jotm 13y ago
Well, to be fair, those who succeed in killing themselves don't really care anymore :-). If someone commits suicide because he doesn't want to go to prison for a long time, is that a bad decision? Seems pretty good to me...