Quote:
Originally Posted by scaeagles
I have been so wishy washy on this this topic I have no idea really even how to organize all of the varied thoughts I've had on it over the decades.
There have been three times in my life I've had serious thoughts of suicide. I believe everyone has passing thoughts once in a while, but I did dwell on it for a long period of time. When I considered it, all three times would have been acts of selfishness.
Because of my own personal experiences with those thoughts, in which the situations varied widely, I am typically one who considers all suicide an act of selfishness. While the life does indeed belong to the person living it, the ramifications go far beyond the one life taken.
Then I think of the terminally ill, which included my mom, who died when I was 15 of Lupus, and I have to say that often times suicide in those cases would be considered unselfish. Good lord knows I went for years wishing it would just be over both for her and for the family.
This is one of those issues that I've never really been able to formulate a strong opinion on.
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Very well stated, scaeagles. I do think it is a very personal topic. Suicide is, in most cases, a very selfish thing to do, but I'm also not sure a person should have to suffer a life he doesn't want for whatever reason. You had the presence of mind to measure your unhappiness against the consequences, and you chose life. That's a very brave and kind thing to have done, and obviously it's not a choice everyone is capable of making in the thick of depression.
I'm not a suicidal person, in that I've never been miserable enough to consider it as the best possible option. And if someone I loved was considering suicide, I'd certainly want to help him or her to see an alternative if I knew what was going on, because things do have a way of getting better. I also assume for many medication would help, if only they sought the help. At the end of the day, though, I stand by my belief that a person has a right to choose for herself life or death. Selfish, yes. Criminal, no. Sad, regardless.