Why is discussing suicide still a taboo?

[BlueIce123]

I'm not blaming my parents, but none of us are born wanting to suffer. We live through hardships that we didn't choose, and at the very least, shouldn't we have the right to control our own lives and deaths?

When I try to share these feelings with family or trusted friends, I often encounter reactions like "Are you okay?" or "Maybe you should see a doctor." They avoid engaging in the discussion altogether. I understand that my mental state isn't exactly stable—I am on antidepressants, after all. But I don't think shutting down the conversation is the right approach.

Search engines heavily censor content related to "suicide," and governments pursue even those who attempt to share information or seek help, often punishing them severely. It's almost like something out of George Orwell's 1984, with Big Brother watching and controlling every word. Sometimes, I even wonder if having these thoughts makes me abnormal.

I genuinely want to hear your opinions.

(I used a translation tool because English is not my first language. Please forgive any awkward expressions.)

 

[Satori Komeiji]

I think overall we as a society tend to ignore topics relating to death rather than engage with it. Death is already bad but death by ones own hands is even worse. It's a topic that I think most people would rather ignore because death is scary and most would rather just not talk about it. Due to suicide already being taboo a lot of people feel uncomfortable or don't know how to respond when suicide is brought up.

 

[Saponification]

I suppose that suicide is heavily stigmatized because it goes against the belief most people have of life having some inherent infinite value. As a society we created this narrative of life's value to cope with the fact that life is meaningless suffering. When prolifers see someone who desires death, it shatters their fragile little bubble that not everyone attributes to life the same value that they do.

 

[JobuLio111m]

I can't reveal where I read it because I want to be as anonymous as possible for my CtB method, but a resource I used to decide how I want to die also talked about a concept called "suicide contagion". Simply put suicide has showed sufficient evidence to be sometimes regarded as a "contagious phenomenon" where the knowledge of suicides or just suicide has been linked to additional suicide rates.
Evidence only goes so far, but i have a feeling that this has been true for a long time. Overtime, its possible a taboo label being attached to suicide has reduced suicide risk and has normalized itself into the status quo for said topic.

The dissertation also briefly mentions the concept of "peer suicide" where especially in isolated communities, suicide rates can temporarily peak as peers commit suicide. Perhaps the sort of dismissal of these topics or suggesting professional help is a defense mechanism. An attempt to not engage in the topic and risk suicidal ideation.

 

[Ch4in3dcr0w]

I can't reveal where I read it because I want to be as anonymous as possible for my CtB method, but a resource I used to decide how I want to die also talked about a concept called "suicide contagion". Simply put suicide has showed sufficient evidence to be sometimes regarded as a "contagious phenomenon" where the knowledge of suicides or just

It absolutly exist but the concept relates to death of a loved one even when the death doesnt occur because of suicide. On the boarder view when someone not important to the person dies because of suicide and that leads to a suicide its more of a acknowledging that suicide is an option when for most people suicide is mostly a fantasy not taken into consideration.
Much love

 

[GhostInTheMachine]

Same reason most other things are taboo, most people are outright scared to talk about it. The are many reasons behind that fear, most of it religious, but regardless of it your common person has likely never even considered the idea outside of something they know occasionally happens. People don't like to think about dying, much less having to die by their own hands. I'd wager that even if it wasn't outright taboo, people would still rather not have the conversation.

As for your family, they're likely under the thinking that suicidality is purely an irrational state of mind. So instead of confronting the factors that have lead you here, they want to throw "solutions" at you to make the big bad suicidal ideation go away forever.