I don't know if this has come up here before, but I've been thinking about the different reasons which drive people to suicidal ideation. And since I just had a "synchronicity moment" about this while listening to an Alan Watts lecture on pain, I figure now is as as good a time as any to post it.
In the grand scheme of things, it comes back to to "flight or flight." More specifically, it comes down to physical pain or mental pain, and/or a combination of the two. But it got me thinking about how driven one has to be to overcome the SI. You have to either be in a severe state of mental anguish, or in so much physical pain that the momentary pain of suicide is better than the alternative. And again, there can be a combination of the two. And THAT got me thinking about Arthur Koestler's book THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE.
For anyone not familiar, he promotes in that book a theory of the "triunal brain", the reptilian (the oldest part), the mammalian, and the neo-cortex (the most recent part.) Now that's a bit over-simplified, as it's based on somewhat outdated science, but the general idea is still plausible. Basically, it goes that the neo-cortex, which is the seat of logic and self-awareness, was "slapped on", evolutionary, to the old reptilian and mammalian brains. Consequentially, there's a lot of miscommunication at times, or even times where the hindbrain "hijacks" the neocortex, such as when "flight or fight" responses are triggered via the hypothalamus, bypassing reason/logic.
Now there, we can speculate where the biological SI drive comes in, versus a will to die based on external environmental factors. Conversely, the body might be ill, and signaling to die, while the "spirit" (i.e. awareness) wants to live (i.e, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"). All sorts of combinations and variations can be thought of, at this point. So then, not all suicidal ideations are created equal. Some are biological, some are irrational, some are responses to trying to live a rational life in an irrational world, others are a response to an otherwise prolonged, painful death, etc.
Thoughts?
en.wikipedia.org
In the grand scheme of things, it comes back to to "flight or flight." More specifically, it comes down to physical pain or mental pain, and/or a combination of the two. But it got me thinking about how driven one has to be to overcome the SI. You have to either be in a severe state of mental anguish, or in so much physical pain that the momentary pain of suicide is better than the alternative. And again, there can be a combination of the two. And THAT got me thinking about Arthur Koestler's book THE GHOST IN THE MACHINE.
For anyone not familiar, he promotes in that book a theory of the "triunal brain", the reptilian (the oldest part), the mammalian, and the neo-cortex (the most recent part.) Now that's a bit over-simplified, as it's based on somewhat outdated science, but the general idea is still plausible. Basically, it goes that the neo-cortex, which is the seat of logic and self-awareness, was "slapped on", evolutionary, to the old reptilian and mammalian brains. Consequentially, there's a lot of miscommunication at times, or even times where the hindbrain "hijacks" the neocortex, such as when "flight or fight" responses are triggered via the hypothalamus, bypassing reason/logic.
Now there, we can speculate where the biological SI drive comes in, versus a will to die based on external environmental factors. Conversely, the body might be ill, and signaling to die, while the "spirit" (i.e. awareness) wants to live (i.e, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak"). All sorts of combinations and variations can be thought of, at this point. So then, not all suicidal ideations are created equal. Some are biological, some are irrational, some are responses to trying to live a rational life in an irrational world, others are a response to an otherwise prolonged, painful death, etc.
Thoughts?
