Are all suicidal people depressed?

[shatteredvessel]

To answer my own question. I'm not depressed. I have been depressed and depressed with suicidal ideation in the past. However, I'm not depressed right now. Well at least I don't think I am or feel that way, depressed. Is it an exception to not be depressed but suicidal? It's more of a I'm just done with it (living) choice. Can one be rational and suicidal? Or have I gone off the deep end? I see, hear, etc all this sadness framed around ctb. It makes it seem that's why most if not everyone who is suicidal, depressed.

 

[chloeburbank]

i cant tell if im depressed or not. u dont need to be depressed to be suicidal

 

[Passenger4224]

I've seen posts from other users who feel the same

 

[Unbearable Mr. Bear]

While depression definitely increases suicidality, it's not strictly needed, although almost all negative mental (and indeed physical) conditions have a degree of depression or depressive phases because of the struggles that come with living with such conditions, so depression almost always comes together, if anything, by the sheer inevitability of morbidity.

 

[thaelyana]

That's a really good question. For a while, I also thought someone could commit suicide in a purely rational way. But looking back, I guess there has to be an underlying issue, even a completely unconscious one, to reach that point.

I don't have a depression diagnosis, yet I have this desire to die by suicide for no obvious reason. Just a desire for a chosen death, with a perfect plan, to end things on my own terms simply when I don't want to keep going anymore.

A friend once told me that dying by choice wasn't that interesting because, either way, death happens. According to him, there is no point in rushing an inevitable outcome. I think that applies well to this situation where someone wants to commit suicide simply out of "desire." But it's just so complex...

I actually asked my psychiatry professor about this. He told me those are very rare and unusual cases. He said: "Keep in mind that the vast majority of suicides occur in a context of psychological distress, even if it isn't always visible from the outside. There are situations where suicide is presented as a reasoned choice, but that mostly relates to contexts of severe illness, intense physical suffering, or loss of autonomy, which are the kinds of things discussed around euthanasia and assisted suicide."


(I translated my message into English I hope there is no mistake)

 

[IsThisTheEnd?]

I was going to start such a thread. I wouldn't say i was depressed but theres nothing for me. What am i supposed to do just sit in the corners dribbling or something. I'm almost going to do it out of embarrassment and boredom.

 

[limenlux]

I actually asked my psychiatry professor about this. He told me those are very rare and unusual cases. He said: "Keep in mind that the vast majority of suicides occur in a context of psychological distress, even if it isn't always visible from the outside. There are situations where suicide is presented as a reasoned choice, but that mostly relates to contexts of severe illness, intense physical suffering, or loss of autonomy, which are the kinds of things discussed around euthanasia and assisted suicide."

I would agree with this, aside from perhaps the phrasing of suicide being presented as a rational choice concerning euthanasia and assisted suicide, when under certain circumstances I think the choice to end one's life is rational, and can be even while a person is in distress.

I may just be losing myself in semantics, though, and I can fully appreciate that a psychiatry professor would want to be careful in how he addresses these subjects to his students. In any case, he's more knowledgable on these things than I am, and if I were the one speaking to him, I'd probably just defer to his expertise.

 

[Pluto]

 

[HNR_]

I feel the exact same way you do and I've also asked myself that question haha
Really feels more nuanced than one might assume at first when you look at things and just want to shrug like "why bother at this point?"

 

[TheBag]

Although there is usually some kind of depression involved, it can actually be done quite calculated. My reason to CTB would probably not be for psychologic/psychiatric reasons but more likely when I get serious heart disease or cancer. I'm getting older, and the way I've lived my life (a lot of stress, smoking, drinking, and sedatives) bears quite a bit of risk for that kind of thing. If I were to get such a disastrous diagnosis, I would not hesitate to CTB in the very short term.

 

[thaelyana]

I would agree with this, aside from perhaps the phrasing of suicide being presented as a rational choice concerning euthanasia and assisted suicide, when under certain circumstances I think the choice to end one's life is rational, and can be even while a person is in distress.

I may just be losing myself in semantics, though, and I can fully appreciate that a psychiatry professor would want to be careful in how he addresses these subjects to his students. In any case, he's more knowledgable on these things than I am, and if I were the one speaking to him, I'd probably just defer to his expertise.

YES exactly. I think he didn't mean to say bullshit or give ideas. My precise question was: "are there suicides of people who do not suffer and who would therefore be bound by a choice on their part? Or is there always a hidden distress? Thanks"

And I had this exact return to writing. I also imagine that he is right, that there is surely a problem because it is against "nature" to kill yourself (if we take the example of the SI to prove all this)

 

[bl33ding_heart]

Being depressed isnt something you need in order to be considered suicidal. Although most of us are depressed.

 

[Canto XIII]

I think a depressed person can be rational as well. By this I don't mean suicide is necessarily rational for a depressed person, I've already told here that I think it normally isn't. You don't have to be depressed to be suicidal, nor depression is the only reason for suicide. Ajax killed himself out of shame, Socrates killed himself out of a sense of duty. That being said, it's my impression that that's the most frequent case, as it takes a strong and abnormal tedium vitae to overcome the natural, indestructible desire to live. I'm also of the opinion depression does not always manifest strikingly, neither from an external nor from an internal point of view. Maybe I'm using the word depression too freely though.

Edit: Oh, and my Pier delle Vigne killed himself out of contempt, too, according to Dante at least.

 

[valar_morghulis21]

To answer my own question. I'm not depressed. I have been depressed and depressed with suicidal ideation in the past. However, I'm not depressed right now. Well at least I don't think I am or feel that way, depressed. Is it an exception to not be depressed but suicidal? It's more of a I'm just done with it (living) choice. Can one be rational and suicidal? Or have I gone off the deep end? I see, hear, etc all this sadness framed around ctb. It makes it seem that's why most if not everyone who is suicidal, depressed.

Life-long depression here, but I'm not like sad or anything, just numb and empty after years of broken heart. That would be my default state when I ctb.