Man Commits Suicide at DLH

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

With all due respect, the treatment worked for you because you had enough rationality, or at least enough of a support system to convince you of what course you needed to take. Many people who are severely depressed cannot conceive of the idea that it is "all in their head." To them, it is the world that is being merciless; they are the same person that they have always been. The idea that a pill could make a cruel world easier to deal with is a completely foreign concept that they are often unwilling or unable to grasp.

I think we really are on (for the most part) the same side of the argument. I think where I had the issue was with the position of similarity between someone with a terminal illness taking there own life vs. someone with a mental illness taking their own life.

A person with a terminal illness is in their rational mind and the decision to end their own life IS a difficult and painful decision. There is no amount of help that a doctor, loved ones, or anyone can provide that will take away that person's pain. This person is usually faced with only two realistic options: a (typically short) life with nothing but pain, etc. or an end to that life.

A person with a mental illness is NOT in their rational mind (I know: I've been there). Deciding to take one's own life due to depression, that person has decided to chose the easy way out. They have not looked at their options and chosen to take the easiest way out (and one could argue that they do not have the capacity to look at their options - they can only see one). But that person still made that decision and yes, I argue that they have taken the easy way out due to a weakness. That the weakness is out of their control does not mean it is not a weakness.

Yes, I was lucky enough to have people around me that were able to help me and the hardest thing I've ever done in my life was to acknowledge that I had a problem and needed help. Even accepting that I needed to take drugs to be able to live life drove me deeper into a depression. I view my road to recovery much like an alcoholic views their illness: it is an affliction that I will never be rid of and I must spend the rest of my life working to overcome it.

And I am never hesitant to discuss mental health issues. I believe we need to lessen the stigma often attached to it. It is my hope that the more I talk with people about it, the less of an issue it becomes in our society.