Personally, I see no difference between mental illness and cancer other then the part of the body they effect. If you have diabetes, you treat your insulin levels, if you have depression you treat serotonin levels (simplified, but you get my point). Why is the brain and it's complex chemical workings any different than those of the liver, kidneys, blood, etc?

Someone asked me once if I ever considered suicide. And I thought about it and said, "Why should I be the one who goes?"

:D

[I swoop my black cape and twirl my handlebar moustache.]

I think about suicide all the time. I find it odd when people say they don't (not that I don't believe them, it is just such a common train of thought for me -- without ever coming close to being acted on -- that it is hard to imagine that others don't do it as well).

Nephytys: There is some evidence of genetic commonalities in populations with a family history of suicide. But I don't know if that is a direct genetic impulse to suicide or just a genetic inclination towards syndromes (such as bipolar disease or manic depression) that make the act more likely.

And of course, there is the complication of separating out genetic influences from social influences (if someone close commits suicide it might make the option seem more palatable, particularly if they saw the outpouring of grief and attention that resulted).

I think the genetic trait lies with depression. With depression can come suicidal thoughts that can turn in to actions.

I also think suicide due to depression falls under a different category than self euthanasia.

There is a huge difference: mental/emotional pain is not terminal. At worst, one can be lobotomized, but the majority of mental and emotional afflictions can be dealt with through drugs and/or therapy.

As one who will probably be on medication for the rest of my life for depression, I do not see a parallel between a painful terminal illness and spirit killing emotional pain.

Historically, I believe the psychiatric community says that there is no genetic pre-disposition to depression. But having examined four generations of my maternal side of the family, I say bullshyt. But that's just me.



ETA: I guess things have changed: according to Wikipedia, the National Institute for Mental Health says "there is some evidence that depression may run in families. Most experts believe that both biological and psychological factors play a role."

Pffft. No kidding.

Because, as MBC pointed out, mental afflications can affect your mental ability to seek treatment. Physical afflications that have no mental component do not. Rarely do serious physical afflications have zero mental component, however ... so those, too, can affect the ability to seek treatment.

Not nearly so much, I would suggest, as a mental afflication as serious as imminently suicidal.

Well, ISM pretty much said what I would have, but since this was addressed to me ...

Treating those insulin levels is a rational response to the problem. Treating serotonin levels (simplified is fine :) ) is also a rational response. Unfortunately, you are asking someone who has, in many cases, lost the ability for rational thought, to seek out, and stick to, this treatment. And that just doesn't always work.

We found out later that my roommate, unknown to everyone else, had been taking anti-depressants for the past year. He stopped, without telling anyone, when he was laid off and was no longer able to afford them. When the choice was between rent and medication, he chose rent. It wasn't a good choice to make and a month later, he wasn't able to pay rent either. At that point, he was looking at not having a place to live and his need for medication had taken the backburner. Were there other options available to him? Most likely. Was he able to think clearly enough to seek out this help. Apparently not. And since he didn't know us all that well, he apparently didn't feel comfortable enough to cry out for help.

The last day I saw him, he was in the best mood I had seen him in for quite some time. Looking back, I think he had finally found something to be happy about, which was putting an end to his suffering. And I think he found the only solution that he thought might actually work.