3 ms·
> I find this sentiment alarming. It's not a "sentiment", it's a case history. My brother created a list of guilty parties, people responsible for a suicide, b
by lutusp 13y ago
> I find this sentiment alarming.
It's not a "sentiment", it's a case history. My brother created a list of guilty parties, people responsible for a suicide, but didn't include the suicide on the list. My nephew drew the obvious conclusion -- if he killed himself, this would place him outside any notion of responsibility, and he would get massive sympathy as well.
It was unbelievably irresponsible to portray suicide that way, and it had a predictable effect. But the responsibility for suicide rests solely with those who kill themselves.
> I've lost close friends to suicide. For what it's worth: I don't blame them ...
I do. To me, if suicides understand that they'll be held responsible, that they will be judged to have ungratefully thrown away the gift of life, they shouldn't expect sympathy, that might have a beneficial effect on the suicide rate.
- DanBC 13y agoHow important do you think the list was as a factor? Is it the main factor? Or do you mention it to support a point?
- lutusp 13y agoI only brought it up to warn my brother of the dangers in making suicide look attractive, as a way to get sympathy. Once my prediction came to pass, obviously I dropped the topic. In any case, as far as I am concerned, the person committing suicide is entirely and solely responsible.
- tptacek 13y agoI'm not here to judge anything your family did in response to a suicide. I'm sorry you had to deal with it at all. I don't have an opinion beyond that. But I can be clinical about a case I read in a blog post by a stranger, and I remain interested in your response to that case.