Discussion Why aren't suicidal people considered an oppressed minority?

[it's_all_a_game]

I've been wondering about this for a while. Suicidal people should be considered an oppressed minority group, just like black people or lesbian people, IMHO. Let's look at the facts:

1. Suicidal people are definitely a minority; most people are not suicidal.

2. Do suicidal people get discriminated against by our society? Hell yes! I've been backer acted for merely saying I wish I was dead.

2. Do suicidal people deserve basic civil rights & legal protections against discrimination? Of course we do. No one asked to be born, so why should we be not allowed to die? Makes no sense.

3. Are there bigots that hate this minority group? Sure are. They're called "pro-lifers".

 

[GenesAndEnvironment]

So true.

 

[Lmd]

Pretty sure we are not on the same lvl

 

[Rustysoupcan]

You cant tell someone is suicidal unless they tell you. Using your logic you could say people with epilepsy are an oppressed minority because they arent allowed to drive and our government vehicles have flashy light thatll give people seizures.

It's very different from being black or gay.

It definitely does suck, dont get me wrong. I think chaptering suicidal people is wrong and a waste of resources. People dont hate you purely because you are suicidal. It's not a fair comparison to actual oppressed groups

 

[Life_and_Death]

You cant tell someone is suicidal unless they tell you. Using your logic you could say people with epilepsy are an oppressed minority because they arent allowed to drive and our government vehicles have flashy light thatll give people seizures.

It's very different from being black or gay.

It definitely does suck, dont get me wrong. I think chaptering suicidal people is wrong and a waste of resources. People dont hate you purely because you are suicidal. It's not a fair comparison to actual oppressed groups

so in other words being oppressed leads to suicide not the other way around (basically and obviously not all oppressed people are suicidal but for the most part)

 

[Rustysoupcan]

so in other words being oppressed leads to suicide not the other way around (basically and obviously not all oppressed people are suicidal but for the most part)

I think it definitely can. Like if someone is gay but live with and around homophobes, it can lead to depression and suicide. But non oppressed people are definitely suicidal too. I think middle aged white men have the highest suicide rate in the US, but maybe I remember that wrong. I'm a white woman with everything I could want in life and still want to die. Some people are depressed because it's a disease, some are because of circumstances in their life.

 

[Lucien]

Because all suicidals have a highly contagious case of insanity, according to the modern encyclopaedia of bullshit.

 

[GenesAndEnvironment]

Suicidal lives matter! Ehh...

 

[it's_all_a_game]

You cant tell someone is suicidal unless they tell you. Using your logic you could say people with epilepsy are an oppressed minority because they arent allowed to drive and our government vehicles have flashy light thatll give people seizures.

It's very different from being black or gay.

It definitely does suck, dont get me wrong. I think chaptering suicidal people is wrong and a waste of resources. People dont hate you purely because you are suicidal. It's not a fair comparison to actual oppressed groups

I forgot how much people have to hide their suicidal tendencies. (Of course, if society treated us better we could be open about it!) I don't tell people I'm suicidal any more because I don't like taking trips to psych hospitals.

As a black person, I feel the way suicidal people have - and will - be treated is very similar, though obviously not 100% the same, as the mistreatment of us black folks. I just wish I could easily get a N injection lol

 

[Good4Nothing]

Seriously?...

 

[Fragile]

Because we are not a "group" we are just people who fell into this way of thinking because of completely different reasons.

The whole minority thinking is honestly just damaging to most communities, it pushes them away from the rest of the population and puts a label on them against their will in a never ending cycle of deciding who's the greatest victim™.

Besides, oppression can't be quantified, some suicidal people experience it, others don't. And some times the real "oppression" on a broken mind comes from the inside.

I'm just a person who happened to be suicidal, My reasons are my own, my decision is only mine to make. I'm not a suicide minority or something like that.

 

[yeahwellso]

(basically and obviously not all oppressed people are suicidal but for the most part

No. That's just something you're baselessly imagining. There's so much fevered, self-pitying romanticism on here.

Most people are, at any given time, not suicidal. Whether they are rich, poor, free or oppressed.

It's bizarre how extremely little the suicidal people on here actually know about suicide statistics.

 

[EmbraceOfTheVoid]

Because all suicidals have a highly contagious case of insanity, according to the modern encyclopaedia of bullshit.

I'd have to agree with you that this is the exact reason. The idea of suicide being a sane choice to a "normal" person is incomprehensible to them. These morons can justify depriving people of their human rights because they've convinced themselves that the suicidal are insane and need "help."

They don't consider their fucked up version of help as oppression in their eyes.

 

[Life_and_Death]

It's very different from being black or gay.

It definitely does suck, dont get me wrong. I think chaptering suicidal people is wrong and a waste of resources. People dont hate you purely because you are suicidal. It's not a fair comparison to actual oppressed groups

But non oppressed people are definitely suicidal too. I think middle aged white men have the highest suicide rate in the US, but maybe I remember that wrong. I'm a white woman with everything I could want in life and still want to die. Some people are depressed because it's a disease, some are because of circumstances in their life.

No. That's just something you're baselessly imagining. There's so much fevered, self-pitying romanticism on here.

Most people are, at any given time, not suicidal. Whether they are rich, poor, free or oppressed.

It's bizarre how extremely little the suicidal people on here actually know about suicide statistics.

since some people here seems to think im ignorant i will point out that i was specifically talking about what they had originally said about it not being a fair comparison to oppressed groups.

please read a little bit more before assuming someone is ignorant. i know anyone can be suicidal thank you very much.

 

[Spitfire]

I think it is because of the above why the question would ever even be asked in the first place?

There are logs and studies showing the top reasons causing death in people and per demographics.

It ranks highly in the United States as the 2nd leading cause of death for individuals between the ages 10 - 34 years old. It is the fourth leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 35 and 54.

These statistics are easy to verify.

A person dies by suicide about once every 12.8 minutes in the US.

I believe people expressing suicidal thoughts are oppressed. Not necessarily a minority though?

 

[it's_all_a_game]

Seriously?...

Seriously! It annoys me how bad we suicidal folks get treated sometimes! I think if we were treated as an oppressed group, maybe people would be more empathic towards us, thus making it easier for us to open up abou our thoughs & stuff.

 

[Good4Nothing]

Seriously! It annoys me how bad we suicidal folks get treated sometimes! I think if we were treated as an oppressed group, maybe people would be more empathic towards us, thus making it easier for us to open up abou our thoughs & stuff.

Okay, but where do you draw the line at what constitutes an oppressed minority?
Literally any affliction could qualify.
People with hangnails, short people, people with hemmorhoids... where does it end?

 

[Toptock]

I don't know if I'd say suicidal people should be considered an "oppressed minority," not any reason specifically as a point of contention. I just feel like this is a topic dealing with a mental illness brought on by environmental and sometimes genetic factors. I think maybe people being grouped into mental illness and being dismissed off hand because people don't understand it is a form of oppression, but not because we're in any kind of minority. I think mainly it's just people trying to treat us like children, or "Tough love" us into a status-quo.

This is my own personal perspective built on my own experiences with incomplete information. If I'm missing something, It's not intentional

 

[Into The Void]

That will be the day. I'll come I think. Be patient.

 

[CatabolicSeed]

Mentally ill people are considered an oppressed minority (oppressed by the structure of ableism) and most suicidal people are mentally ill, so I would say suicidal people already are considered an oppressed minority

 

[Sprite_Geist]

Officially or statistically suicidal people may not be considered "oppressed" depending on where you are in the world, but unofficially I think suicidal individuals are oppressed. There is no single definition of what it means to suffer oppression. For example one meaning of the word is to be at the receiving end of an extreme and abusive force; this meaning is often used in the context of talking about a form of tyranny - like a dictatorship. So maybe they might not be oppressed in this case. In general, though, the word means to be mistreated harshly and injustly by other groups that have more power and freedom. If you use this meaning then yes they are absolutely oppressed.

The reality for suicidal people is that they still do face much discrimination across the planet. This is amplified by the fact that the ideation of suicide is often linked to mental illness, and mentally ill individuals experience a lot of discrimination too. They are subject to negative stereotypes. The term "mental illness" is synonymous with "violent and dangerous"; they are used as a scapegoat for serious crimes. They are ostracized by "normal" people even if they have not done anything wrong, and so this means that they are denied the chance to make connections with others - friendships, romantic partners, et cetera. They are also the target of vicious bullying and abuse, as evidenced by the horrific experiences of some of those that have been hospitalized, but because of their health issues they are often not believed; in other words their illnesses are used against them by professionals who have total control over the situation. This would fit the criteria of being an individual trodden on by a more powerful person and, in turn, would fit the second definition of oppression that has been mentioned.

As for why they are not viewed as an abused minority: it could be simply that (some) others simply do not care. Certain people can be hypocritical when it comes to equality; they only fight for it when it benefits a group that they are either part of, or closely relate to. Suicidal and mentally ill individuals are still widely treated as the black sheep of society - no "tribe" wants to take them on, and therefore no one will represent them.

 

[BitterlyAlive_]

Well, labeling ourselves like that doesn't really help things much imo. It just victimizes us even further - how will that help us? And.... I personally think "pro-lifers" is getting overused, misunderstood. It creates another 'us vs them', too. We really don't need more of that.

 

[demuic]

Mentall illness in general somewhat falls under that category, but pro choice suicidal thoughts are still too strongly taboo.

As for why they are not viewed as an abused minority: it could be simply that (some) others simply do not care. Certain people can be hypocritical when it comes to equality; they only fight for it when it benefits a group that they are either part of, or closely relate to. Suicidal and mentally ill individuals are still widely treated as the black sheep of society - no "tribe" wants to take them on, and therefore no one will represent them.

This also.