Is there a way to advocate for suicide acceptance without getting yourself locked up?

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

Suicidal people having their human rights violated is considered "helping" to some. It's all too common to see suicide prevention as the only step necessary and doing nothing else to help someone's life beyond stopping their way out. To me, this makes suicide prevention cruel and ultimately pointless. But it's really hard to say these things out loud without people thinking I'm planning on killing myself and getting the cops called on me. Or worse, I've had people accuse me of being a potential school shooter just for sharing my struggles with depression and suicide. Are there any methods you guys have for getting others to understand your position? Analogies or something like that? I know it's safer to discuss on here but let's be honest, our closed community isn't changing anyone's minds if we only keep the topic online and out of sight of normies.

 

[noneed]

Probably not, if you go outside holding a sign saying suicide should be legal the cops will get called on you and they will think you're crazy or trying to make a funny online video.

 

[HappyForever?]

I don't think people who haven't gone through what we've been through can understand suicide. They've never been in a position where they seriously consider suicide as an option to the problems in their lives. Advocating for suicide for the terminally ill is more acceptable, and is likely the only socially acceptable reason for committing suicide.

 

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

Probably not, if you go outside holding a sign saying suicide should be legal the cops will get called on you and they will think you're crazy or trying to make a funny online video.

I'm not talking about some sort of massive protest, although the word "advocate" might've made you think that. I'm mainly talking about in conversation. Yelling in public is gonna make you look crazy no matter what you're talking about unless you've got a whole movement behind you.

 

[noneed]

I'm not talking about some sort of massive protest, although the word "advocate" might've made you think that. I'm mainly talking about in conversation. Yelling in public is gonna make you look crazy no matter what you're talking about unless you've got a whole movement behind you.

What are you implying then? Going to campuses? Going to a local government building ? Getting people to sign your petition?

 

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

I don't think people who haven't gone through what we've been through can understand suicide. They've never been in a position where they seriously consider suicide as an option to the problems in their lives. Advocating for suicide for the terminally ill is more acceptable, and is likely the only socially acceptable reason for committing suicide.

I disagree. I think they're less likely to be accepting of your suicide specifically because they know you personally. But if you don't make it about your own death, they'll likely have an open mind. My take is to make it about individuals' rights and the willingness to choose. If the person you're talking to is pro-abortion, the claim that being anti-suicide is akin to being pro-life might be effective.

 

[noneed]

I'm not talking about some sort of massive protest, although the word "advocate" might've made you think that. I'm mainly talking about in conversation. Yelling in public is gonna make you look crazy no matter what you're talking about unless you've got a whole movement behind you.

Even if you kept it calm and collected if someone thinks you're serious, you're gonna trigger their altruistic gene and they're either gonna be worried about you or feel threatened and worried about their loved ones dying to suicide.

 

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

What are you implying then? Going to campuses? Going to a local government building ? Getting people to sign your petition?

Literally just talking to people. Change one mind at a time. I'm not expecting some big legislative change overnight, just getting people to reconsider on an individual level. It'll make them think twice about calling the cops on someone trying to end their life.

Even if you kept it calm and collected if someone thinks you're serious, you're gonna trigger their altruistic gene and they're either gonna be worried about you or feel threatened and worried about their loved ones dying to suicide.

Again, it's all about how you approach it. If you randomly bring it up out of nowhere, sure they might get concerned. But if it comes up naturally in conversation, that might be your chance.

 

[noneed]

Literally just talking to people. Change one mind at a time. I'm not expecting some big legislative change overnight, just getting people to reconsider on an individual level. It'll make them think twice about calling the cops on someone trying to end their life.

Again, it's all about how you approach it. If you randomly bring it up out of nowhere, sure they might get concerned. But if it comes up naturally in conversation, that might be your chance.

I agree with that but a lot of people try to avoid this kind of discourse. I understand what you mean now.

 

[Leeroy14R]

Maybe on a different world...

 

[Rev346]

I've talked to a couple people. They don't know I'm suicidal so that helped. We were just talking about a mental health first aid class and I mentioned I didn't want to attend because I believed people should be allowed to euthanize themselves like we do with other animals. Wasn't a long conversation but it did result in the subject changing pretty quickly.

 

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

I've talked to a couple people. They don't know I'm suicidal so that helped. We were just talking about a mental health first aid class and I mentioned I didn't want to attend because I believed people should be allowed to euthanize themselves like we do with other animals. Wasn't a long conversation but it did result in the subject changing pretty quickly.

People not knowing you're suicidal certainly helps. I try to keep it a secret for that reason even though it's not something I'm ashamed of.

 

[BlockHammer]

As long as we live in a society where suicide is considered as a illegal thing. There are no escaping from those judgemental asshole, unless you living in a country where ctb is legal

 

[FuneralCry]

Sadly I believe most people are too selfish and delusional to support the right to die no matter what is said, they will just see suicidal people as "irrational" despite the fact that wanting to die is anything but. I just think that many people will only change their views if something happened to make them want to die themselves.

But in general I just hate how this society is so anti-suicide, it disgusts me, I hate how the right to die isn't accepted despite the fact that existence causes so much suffering. It's so cruel how we cannot just easily die in peace despite the fact that we were so cruelly forced into this hellish world in the first place.

 

[dizzdesi]

I think it's natural for people to be uncomfortable abt the topic of death, especially suicide. It's human nature, our SI talking through us. But I think that these things come at the cost of hurting vulnerable people. I actually think that if suicide was less stigmatized, less people would ctb because they wouldn't have to live in the shadows and suffer alone. But how do you create change individually? It has to be a collective effort at a certain point. The rub of attempting to talk abt it (even in general), is that people will be suspicious and some will even immediately assume you plan to ctb, and they will intervene. It's the reason why depressed people won't even be honest w their therapist! It's counterintuitive and hurtful.
I truly think that unless something mainstream were to discuss feelings of apathy to life and ctb in general, discussing it w most others wouldn't be good for you personally. I mean, even Conspiracy Against the human race was controversial, a very popular book, but controversial nonetheless. The author's bleak view of life and humanity wasnt something many people are willing to even entertain the topic, let alone have a full-fledged discussion of it.

 

[SilentSadness]

Sadly, neither the majority of people, the government, the police, nor anyone with power want to entertain the idea that suicide can be anything but negative. So there's nothing you can do.

 

[ArteriesBindEveryon]

I think it's natural for people to be uncomfortable abt the topic of death, especially suicide. It's human nature, our SI talking through us. But I think that these things come at the cost of hurting vulnerable people. I actually think that if suicide was less stigmatized, less people would ctb because they wouldn't have to live in the shadows and suffer alone. But how do you create change individually? It has to be a collective effort at a certain point. The rub of attempting to talk abt it (even in general), is that people will be suspicious and some will even immediately assume you plan to ctb, and they will intervene. It's the reason why depressed people won't even be honest w their therapist! It's counterintuitive and hurtful.
I truly think that unless something mainstream were to discuss feelings of apathy to life and ctb in general, discussing it w most others wouldn't be good for you personally. I mean, even Conspiracy Against the human race was controversial, a very popular book, but controversial nonetheless. The author's bleak view of life and humanity wasnt something many people are willing to even entertain the topic, let alone have a full-fledged discussion of it.

I agree that most people are afraid to talk about death, but I think that's starting to change, especially with the younger generations. Think about how many memes you see aboiut wanting to commit suicide and how many people relate to them. MAID is already a thing in Canada and several European countries, so it's not unreasonable to expect suicide acceptance to become a thing. I also think it'll help people feel value in their lives and make the suicide rate go down like you said. The reason why we all hate being told to "talk to someone" is because we CAN'T due to the stigma. But be destigmatizing suicide- not normalizing it, just not shaming it- it becomes easier to see what's going on with someone.

Sadly I believe most people are too selfish and delusional to support the right to die no matter what is said, they will just see suicidal people as "irrational" despite the fact that wanting to die is anything but. I just think that many people will only change their views if something happened to make them want to die themselves.

But in general I just hate how this society is so anti-suicide, it disgusts me, I hate how the right to die isn't accepted despite the fact that existence causes so much suffering. It's so cruel how we cannot just easily die in peace despite the fact that we were so cruelly forced into this hellish world in the first place.

I'm pretty much repeating what I just wrote, but I think that's changing. Young people are more depressed than ever, but are also becoming more empathetic as a result. I genuinely believe that medically-assisted suicide for the chronically depressed will become legal by 2100, but not many will choose to take it because it becoming legal will mean the acceptance of the existance of suicidality. Omori is another good example of how the perception of suicide is changing. It's a video game about a boy suffering from severe PTSD with themes of self harm and suicide. I just watched a video from someone saying that after playing the game, he gets why someone would become suicidal. To be clear, the stigma is still very strong today, but it might not be in the future.