Discussion Is suicide selfish?

[GoodPersonEffed]

I actually agree with most of you that suicide isn't selfish. If any of you were to carry through with it, I would support you fully. You did not do it to cause pain, you did it to stop pain.

This is the best response I've ever seen to this question.

there is inherently mental instability in suicide.

I would argue that this is not universal. Sometimes suicide is the rational response to life instability. That doesn't mean one necessarily feels mentally stable in having to make and follow through on the choice, but in such cases it is not the impetus.

If you're interested, here are the Stoic rational reasons for suicide:

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/thre...-impulse-and-courage-in-ctb.32674/post-603462

 

[peacefully31425]

It's not inherently selfish but it can be done with selfish intent.

 

[Somberly_]

I would argue that this is not universal. Sometimes suicide is the rational response to life instability. That doesn't mean one necessarily feels mentally stable in having to make and follow through on the choice, but in such cases it is not the impetus.

If you're interested, here are the Stoic rational reasons for suicide:

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/thre...-impulse-and-courage-in-ctb.32674/post-603462

You are right, I probably should have used different wording there. I imagine there are definitely situations where someone is still in their 'right mind' and suicide is a logical choice or best option. I was talking more about the how people might commit suicide in a moment of intense emotion or urgency, rather than it being something they have carefully considered and truly settled on. Which is a tricky subject in itself. Would they have ever gone through with it without that extra push?

So I would respect their wishes on their choice to CTB, but there's a part of me that would wonder if they made that last final action while they were truly "themselves".


Either way, thank you for sharing the Stoic reasoning thread, now I have another thread to read through later haha. Most of the stability I've ever been able to obtain was through using Stoic strategies to control emotions, so I probably should look into it even more.

 

[Piituri]

It is not other people's call to determine how to live your life or end your life. It is not selfish to make decisions about yourself. What is selfish is telling a suicidal person they are selfish. It is basically implying "live for me, not yourself". I personally do not want to kill myself right now, but my reasons for wanting to live have nothing to do with other people, I am living for myself. Is this selfish? I don't care if it is because it does not matter, it is our right to make our own decisions on this.

Fuck people who guilt trip suicidal people. It makes me really angry that we are constantly
told suicide is selfish. If suicide is selfish, living is also selfish. They both are selfish, but it is not bad as it's our right to decide if we live or not, not other people. It is your life, not someone else's. I do not post here much, but everytime I come back here I always am glad there is a community where people can actually discuss suicide and support each other.

 

[Klee]

I watched a documentary recently, they were speaking to a lady that had lost her husband to suicide. She told them that she thought it was selfish of him, because although he doesn't have to feel his pain anymore, he has handed it to the people who cared about him, and miss him.

I suppose this would depend largely on how many people truly care about you - I would imagine if you have a loving family and friends, to them, you will have been selfish.

However, I think it's selfish of other people to expect you to live with unbearable amounts of pain, because they want you to stick around.

So.. I can see both sides.