Why do people think that suicide is wrong?

my grandfather was a physicist at the los alamos national laboratories in the late 40s and early 50s. he committed suicide before i was born because of the ramifications of his contributions at work. i don't judge him in the least. i probably would have done the same thing.

my father was diagnosed with stage 4 glioblastoma (brain cancer) in 2005 and given 5 months to live. after 4, he, the smartest man i have ever known, was incapable of putting even simple thoughts together. he couldn't walk. he couldn't talk. the chemo and radiation had left him blistered unable to do anything but vomit all day. he did it as well, to alleviate the stress and suffering of everyone around him, and also himself.

both were atheists. in both cases, i view it not only as acceptable, but as ultimately respectable. i hope that, given the situation, i would be man enough to do the same.
 
No? Tell that to the Buddhists and the Jains.


To an atheist they can value life more or less based on certain view points. Some will value life as their only moments of control over happiness and effect on the world, some will find it all meaningless and continue on out of boredom. A theist could invest all interest into the afterlife and waste all of life preparing for that. It's unfair and incorrect to say theists value life more than atheists, that's throwing out too much info on the person's motives and theories.
 
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I generally have a lot of sympathy for people who are driven to suicide... You don't just say "hey, lemme go kill myself today lolsz" If someone is desperate enough to contemplate suicide they are clearly in a terrible place and feel that there is no other way out. That's sad to me *shrug*

I'll admit to twice having suicidal thoughts, once when I was 13 or so, dealing with coming out while living in a homophobic environment. The other was a couple of years later when I was dealing with the loss of a close relative. In both instances they were just thoughts, that is to say I never really planned to actually off myself, they were more "in the moment" thoughts. More importantly in both instances I weighed the pros(being healthy, sensible and having at least one person acting as a support system) against the cons, and the rest is history. And at this point I value who I am and everything I've been through too much to throw it all out so easily.

If someone is at that low a point in their life, I feel for them and hope they'll find some of those reasons not to let it get too far. And if they do let it get to that point, I hope they'll find whatever happiness in whatever afterlife there might be that they couldn't find on earth.

... That was way too deep and revealing of a post for my liking *trolls somewhere*
 
Its not self-righteous honestly. I just think its a easy way out. I also think homeless people are some of the strongest willed people in the world. Take that as you want.
 
It is selfish of the family (of the victim) to the person suffer just because they want them to live. The person is suffering and is supposed to suffer until the end?

Well, it doesn't help to think that you just want to end it all. Imagine if you were in that position. Would you wanna die or try to make the most of what you have before dying? No one wants to die in general unless there's a reason to. But even then, suicide in general is just......messed up. You want to give up and not think about how sad everyone will be? Those dear to you, would want you to fight it off and stay with them.


You may think why bother since I'm gonna die soon anyways? Well, I dare you to say that to your loved ones. Because they love you and know this isn't acceptable with them. At least give them a chance to watch you die trying. Sure they will be sad either way, but it's not right to say "hey it's my life and I want to end it". That's infuriating to someone like me.

So in short of my humble dogmatic ramble, treasure your goddamn life and make do with what you have.
 
Very often people do it for the wrong reasons. Many people suffer in one way or another. Many people want attention. Many people feel unloved and attempt to draw some emotion from those who did not love them back. Many people feel outright worthless and unaccomplished. Many people feel like there is no place for them. Some people use these as justifications for suicide.

Well the thing about suicide is it takes away all possibility for that persons life. Even if you're dieing you can find meaning in anything. You can change the life of a complete stranger. You can help out underprivileged people. You can commit yourself to raising awareness and funds for whatever disease you are plagued by to prevent others from suffering the same fate. You could simply have one amazing day ahead of you and perhaps it gives you some peace or solace. You could travel the world and have unbelievable experiences.

On the other side of things most people have at least one person that cares about them. Suicide is emotionally harming them unnecessarily.
 
It's a person's choice to take away his/her life. If I see someone jumping off a building, I would leave him/her alone. haha

Also, I watched this show on Frontline once that fits perfectly in this thread. The episode was called The Suicide Tourist. Very interesting see to say the least.
 
Life can be difficult sometimes true.That doesn´t mean that you should give up to despair.Even if you have the feeling that some things wont change ,you should continue to follow your path.Whether your life is worth living or not is not he question.That is something that you will only find out by staying alive.Give your best whatever you do and be positive because worst only leads to worst.Life is really something valuable,and on top of that it is something that is given.We are not gods,therefore it is not something that we will fully begin to understand.I dont know if you believe in God or not but thing about it twice.The life that you could be ready to throw away is something that a lot of persons yearn for.Those years or months that you are ready to throw away are more than a dream for people who dye under others hands.Whether we like it or not the earth is a big place and there is always someone that has it worst than ours.
 
I am glad to read the comments of some people on this thread.They are really full of sense.They just show how humanand mature you are.Life is not just about happiness.You are a very special personwith a very special life.And one ´s life will never be worth another.It is your story,try your very best till the very end.But as Pocky Yoshi said:dont try to take it alone...
 
20 years ago when I was in college, was morally perfect, and knew everything, I condemned suicide as cowardly. My tune has changed as I approach middle-life and my relationship with mortality progresses.

One thing I will say, I would not want to be denied the choice to peacefully end my own life just to satisfy another person's morality.
 
deal with it. there are tons of people with these "diseases that can't be cured." cancer, AIDS are just the big standing ones. some people are told that they can only live for a certain amount of time left. imagine that! having a ticking down timer put on your life that you are aware of. most of those people live their life to the fullest before that time ends. if they are still alive then it's great and if they do end up dying people respect them for not hiding in a corner for their final days. if you commit suicide just because you have a disease I think you're a pu$$y. and those people will probably agree.

I couldn't disagree with you any more. I've known people who suffered from terminal illness to the extent that every moment of their life was a living hell. Calling someone a coward because they chose death over a life of unbearable suffering is inhumane and unrealistic.
 
I couldn't disagree with you any more. I've known people who suffered from terminal illness to the extent that every moment of their life was a living hell. Calling someone a coward because they chose death over a life of unbearable suffering is inhumane and unrealistic.
like I said. I don't really care if someone offs themselves. and I'm just saying that there are people going through living hell everyday whether it's caused by a disease or they are missing a limb or whatever and they still go through life. but there are other people that THINK their life is terrible so they kill themselves. most of the time it's selfish. but how many cases do you hear of someone going through "hell" as you say and kill themselves. I've very (as in like not at all) seldom hear of this happening.
 
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