Rather than asking: What makes a person suicidal? I was thinking: What makes a suicidal person? What personality traits lend us to being suicidal in the first place?
In the context of someone not suffering with either severe physical or mental illness, I suppose I'm still trying to get to some sort of way of making the idea of suicide seem like it could be a rational conclusion to a 'normie'.
I thought maybe focusing on some (maybe) shared personality traits might be more accessible than the labels: depression or suicidal ideation. I don't really know where I'm going with this to be honest! I suppose I just wonder why some people turn out this way and some don't- despite living equally difficult lives. I'm not willing to just accept it's all 'mental illness' I suppose...
I want to initially say that I believe physical illness, extreme mental illness and trauma are external forces that can make ANY person suicidal. I actually think- seeing as these are at least more recognizable- that many people do have more sympathy towards these.
I also think that most people here are suffering from a mixture of things- external (situational) and internal that make them feel the way they do.
Still, I was thinking about some of the traits we may all share (perhaps.) What do you think?
An all or nothing approach to life: I think many of us have certain things we want out of life and we're not too willing to compromise on taking less. (This can feel justified because we are aware of how much discomfort and unpleasantness we are likely to endure just trying to survive. So- if the end goal is unattainable or subpar- we really don't want to put in all that effort.)
A lack of goals or ambition: I think many people here just don't feel like they have an interest in anything. I suppose this may have come about by depression (which I expect the normies would argue.) However- I would say- it could also be born of realism. A person interested in music may be discouraged to pursue it due to the difficulties in finding a job at the end.
A strong will: Ironically- I would say contrary to suicide being labelled a 'cowardly' act- it takes someone very headstrong to go against social and religious customs, not to mention SI in order to CTB.
Empathy towards ourself and others: I think we all clearly have the ability to split our thinking in a way. Our primal selves are geared to survive. Our social selves have been taught and pressured into surviving, yet we are able to look at ourselves and our suffering and make the decision that the kindest thing would be to end it. This empathy is quite often extended to the rest of the world suffering out there. The weight of this alone is enough to crush some people.
A certain degree of selfishness: Probably an unpopular opinion but I'd say if we choose to go ahead, those of us that are leaving others to grieve are acting with a certain amount of selfishness. Likely because we got to the point where our pain felt like it would outweigh theirs.
Some traits which I think some of us share are:
Difficulty in fitting in: I think many of us are very isolated. Perhaps due to a natural shyness (inherited) or perhaps due to social anxiety (possibly learned.) We simply haven't made the connections that make other people's lives worthwhile.
Aetheism and/or Nihilism and the ability to question social norms: I think many people here have very enquiring minds and the ability to rebel. Hence- many have thrown out concepts of God and the complementary stipulations that life is intrinsically sacred or meaningful.
I expect this is all pretty pointless (and obvious!) I suppose what I was trying to get at is- I think even 'normies' could relate to some of the character traits I think we share. Perhaps we just carry them to the extreme maybe but you'd think there would be more common ground for them to understand. Rather than just labelling it 'mental illness'.
That's not of course to knock the people who know their ideation comes from their mental illness. I suppose this post is more (selfishly) geared towards those of us who think our ideation might not be related to mental illness.
Anyway, a long rambling and probably senseless post! Thanks for getting this far. Do you have any ideas on this? Asides from obvious physical or mental illness, what makes us different from the 'normies'?
In the context of someone not suffering with either severe physical or mental illness, I suppose I'm still trying to get to some sort of way of making the idea of suicide seem like it could be a rational conclusion to a 'normie'.
I thought maybe focusing on some (maybe) shared personality traits might be more accessible than the labels: depression or suicidal ideation. I don't really know where I'm going with this to be honest! I suppose I just wonder why some people turn out this way and some don't- despite living equally difficult lives. I'm not willing to just accept it's all 'mental illness' I suppose...
I want to initially say that I believe physical illness, extreme mental illness and trauma are external forces that can make ANY person suicidal. I actually think- seeing as these are at least more recognizable- that many people do have more sympathy towards these.
I also think that most people here are suffering from a mixture of things- external (situational) and internal that make them feel the way they do.
Still, I was thinking about some of the traits we may all share (perhaps.) What do you think?
An all or nothing approach to life: I think many of us have certain things we want out of life and we're not too willing to compromise on taking less. (This can feel justified because we are aware of how much discomfort and unpleasantness we are likely to endure just trying to survive. So- if the end goal is unattainable or subpar- we really don't want to put in all that effort.)
A lack of goals or ambition: I think many people here just don't feel like they have an interest in anything. I suppose this may have come about by depression (which I expect the normies would argue.) However- I would say- it could also be born of realism. A person interested in music may be discouraged to pursue it due to the difficulties in finding a job at the end.
A strong will: Ironically- I would say contrary to suicide being labelled a 'cowardly' act- it takes someone very headstrong to go against social and religious customs, not to mention SI in order to CTB.
Empathy towards ourself and others: I think we all clearly have the ability to split our thinking in a way. Our primal selves are geared to survive. Our social selves have been taught and pressured into surviving, yet we are able to look at ourselves and our suffering and make the decision that the kindest thing would be to end it. This empathy is quite often extended to the rest of the world suffering out there. The weight of this alone is enough to crush some people.
A certain degree of selfishness: Probably an unpopular opinion but I'd say if we choose to go ahead, those of us that are leaving others to grieve are acting with a certain amount of selfishness. Likely because we got to the point where our pain felt like it would outweigh theirs.
Some traits which I think some of us share are:
Difficulty in fitting in: I think many of us are very isolated. Perhaps due to a natural shyness (inherited) or perhaps due to social anxiety (possibly learned.) We simply haven't made the connections that make other people's lives worthwhile.
Aetheism and/or Nihilism and the ability to question social norms: I think many people here have very enquiring minds and the ability to rebel. Hence- many have thrown out concepts of God and the complementary stipulations that life is intrinsically sacred or meaningful.
I expect this is all pretty pointless (and obvious!) I suppose what I was trying to get at is- I think even 'normies' could relate to some of the character traits I think we share. Perhaps we just carry them to the extreme maybe but you'd think there would be more common ground for them to understand. Rather than just labelling it 'mental illness'.
That's not of course to knock the people who know their ideation comes from their mental illness. I suppose this post is more (selfishly) geared towards those of us who think our ideation might not be related to mental illness.
Anyway, a long rambling and probably senseless post! Thanks for getting this far. Do you have any ideas on this? Asides from obvious physical or mental illness, what makes us different from the 'normies'?
