Harvard psychologist and bestselling author Daniel Gilbert has teamed up with Vulcan Productions and the NOVA/WGBH Science Unit to create a multimedia project called This Emotional Life. The second part of this …
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I tend to disagree with our current social stigma against suicide. First, I believe that person needs to have the right to control whether they live or die. Second, if we as a society where more open about suicide and allowed for a legal option it would open the door for treatment. Because someone would not be as likely to hide their suicidal thoughts and thus more likely to consult with loved ones about those thoughts. This gives the unique opportunity to express to them how important your life is to them. And also open the door for the option of therapy for those who really don’t want to die. And those that do want to die would be able to end their suffering in a dignified and painless manner.
The stigma of suicide has been around at least 4000 years, even in ancient Greece. I guess I believe murder is murder , even if self-imposed, and so I struggle with all the unresolved emotions that go along with that since my only sibling (the most awesome brother!)lost his battle with depression and alcoholism in January 2007; like it was yesterday. The answers are awareness and money for research because wishing for a cure and allowing people to succumb to this mental disease is such a waste and leaves just total devastaion in it’s sad wake.
Kenneth are you saying that assisted suicide should be legal for everyone? If so that is a little extreme…truth be told if someone wants to die that badly they will find a way…
Assisted suicide being legal for everyone? good luck. It’s hard enough obtaining a script for the magic cocktail in states where it is LEGAL for legitimate terminal illnesses. Also no I think it would be absolutely unacceptable to open the doors for mental illness. I am sorry but mental illness and its treatment has the ability to cloud judgment. Also, being a suicide survivor I don’t believe it is acceptable, I am still so angry with my father for committing suicide (he left behind 4 young children all under the age of 12 at the time, atrocious really) and I wish more programs and awareness was available without the stigma attached.
Kenneth,
If suicide was legalized it would benefit those that suffer tremendously from illnesses that are painful and torturous. With that being said, as a mother that lost a son to suicide two years ago, your pie in the sky thought that if suicide was legalized those contemplating suicide would be more open about it and more apt to seek help is nothing more than that……….”a pie in the sky dream”. The pain, whether emotional or physical, is only understood by the person in the pain. As family and friends, we cannot imagine the pain one feels just prior to taking their own life, to end that pain.
There are no accidents in God’s world. When it is a person’s time, no amount of pleading or therapy will change that. So for one to think they have more power than God, and can stop one from taking their life, when their time has come, is dilusional to say the least.
We have to accept that some people experience pain beyond our comprehension and understanding, and those people will choose what is right for them when they and their higher power determine enough is enough. Quite frankly, I do not believe that any therapist, no matter how educated or versed, has the power to stop one that is determined to end the pain their way.
I am for legalized suicide. Although the loss of my son has been tremendously painful for me, his children and my daughters, I have empathy for one that is suffering so greatly, they need to end the pain. But please, don’t think for one minute that legalized suicide will greatly decrease the numbers…in fact, I believe it will increase the numbers.
Neglect would definitely make someone feel guilty, but the truth is it’s easier. You can’t make everyone happy. All people want is to be understood.
Suicide Prevention in Your Life
I am a survivor of suicide. I had believed no one loved me. It was me who didn’t love me. My mantra was “Nobody loves me; everybody hates me; guess I’ll go eat worms.” It’s true: Ya Gotta Wanna Get Help!; I can’t agree with that more. Being in various hospitals for 20 years and with a wise therapist, I don’t want to die until my higher power tells me it’s time to come home. I am against suicide in any form. That is my humble opinion. I am glad someone brought me back to life. Life is worth living.
My brother died by suicide a little over a month ago. It will always feel like there is something more that you could have done. A couple months before his death I knew of my brother’s suicidal feelings and tried to get him help by calling a local crisis center to see what options were out there. I knew he did not want to be institutionalized, again. He was bipolar. They told me to call the police so they could come and evaluate him. I knew that this was not an option because if he saw the police coming he would take his life then and possibly hurt a police officer. So I didnt do anything. Now he is dead. There need to be other options. The only thing I can think of is tranquilizing someone and dragging them into a mental health hospital? Which seems so inhumane, but at least my brother would be alive and geting the help he needed.