Why Are People So Harsh To Suicide Victims?

Question

It drives me insane when I hear people being so heartless towords people like this. Suicide might not be the real way to fix unbearable torment and pain but that does not mean every person that killed themselves is weak or cowardly. People who end their lives are miserable, anxious and sometimes even temporeraly insane as a result life long pain. Phobic disorders, irrational fears, bad events from the past, clinical depression etc or all soul numbing illnessis of the mind that destroy even the most kind hearted and careing person. Sensitivity is a positive thing for any human to have but it can play against you at bad times and people kill themselves, not because they were weak, but because they were too sensitive and soft to live and cope with these problems and ultimatley become consumed by it, it doesn't make them bad. People should understand these victims not only because they're not alive to defend themselves but also because no one can know exactly how it felt for them.

Answer 1

Quite right.

Answer 2

I hear what you are saying. I have been suicidal in the past and the main thing that kept me from doing it was the fact that, regardless of how alone I felt there was no way I could pull it off without effecting someone else's life.
Perhaps people are harsh on suicide victims because it's a selfish act. Being selfish isn't always a bad thing. But in the case of suicide it is bad no matter how you slice it. Rather it's a friend or a family member or a complete stranger someone will have to deal with the death and this person will forever be effected by it in a negative way.

Answer 3

I do agree with you. They wouldn't do it unless they were suffering in some way.

However, at the same time, I can see why it can be perceived as being quite selfish - the family and friends left behind will be devestated.

Nothing is ever bad enough to kill yourself (unless we're talking about euthinsia) but people who commit suicide obviously aren't thinking like that.

It leaves a lot of people feeling guilty and wondering how they could have helped and asking a lot of 'what if's'.

In some respects I think it's a weak way out rather than actually dealing with issues, but at the same time, when you're depressed you haven't got the strength to do this.

I know I may sound like I'm being harsh, but having lost a friend to suicide, I'm basing my opinions on how it made me feel, which was basically angry.

Answer 4

I think people are harsh on suicide victims because it seems to be an easy way out and as a result causes alot of suffering for the person's loved ones who suffer the pain of their loss when they are gone.

Suicide in a "spiritual" sense is defined as wrong because it is God that gives you life and life is not yours to take away. Sure as human beings we are the ones suffering but it too is a part of life. Life is difficult and each time a human being overcomes a difficulty, they gain strength, character, wisdom and their spirit grows. God does not give us anything we do not have the ability to overcome.

Of course we as human beings do not have the right to judge another - suicide or otherwise. The spirit of a person who takes their own life will suffer tenfold in the spirit world - they need many prayers to free them into the "non-suffering" state. Suicide does not liberate them from suffering unfortunately.

And don't get me started on karma, that's a whole other can of worms....

Answer 5

I would agree with what you have said, but since I have been suicidal in thought when I was younger, I also knew that it was wrong. I also knew it was a cry for attention and yes people are harsh, but when you help others who continually take the dark road, don't you think it is about time you deal with people that are in the light? It is your life. I have known close friends who killed themselves, it was stupid, but do I love them less, no. I love them more in fact because did what many can't do but at the same time, it is a very selfish way to end. Things get better, regardless if you are a god fanactic or have hope or faith, life takes changes. You can never undo a successful suicide.

Answer 6

You are so right, it really annoys me when people think wrongly about those who commit suicide or even just consider it. Sometimes people get problems and cant cope and see suicide as their only route out, and then others go and say bad things about them just because they dont understand and have never been in that situation. Some say that suicidal people are selfish to leave their family and friends behind, well these people are selfish because they dont bother to think about how this suicidal person is feeling. People really should learn to open their minds and show some consideration.

Answer 7

1- as the west is brought up on judeo-christian morality.
2- that those religions stigmatise suicides (with attempted suicide being a capital offence in many cultures).

Someone I think is damn smart once said that when you take your own life you choose how and when it ends. To many people that would be a luxury.

The mind is its own place - if a person can only see one way out the situation they're in why should a person be blamed for taking it?

To answer your question in a nutshell - its the old social mores still lingering.

Answer 8

Suicide is the ultimately selfish way out, unless the perpetrator successfully disguises the fact that it was suicide. The father of a close friend of mine topped himself (he hanged himself from rafters in the attic) and was found by his nine year-old daughter. This was 25 years ago, and none of them are over it, and never will be. His suffering is nothing compared to what they have to live with, forever. The family left behind are the victims, not the selfish individual who takes the easy way out of their problems.

Answer 9

I agree. suicide victims are those who have alot of psychological problems that drive them to kill themselves and it cant be resolved with a click of a finger. People should be more understanding because I'm sure they would feel hurt if someone they loved were to take their own life. Mental diseases such as severe depression kill a persons character and more help should be given to people who suffer from it. I know what depression feels like, it takes you to a place of hell from which you sometimes cant escape.

Answer 10

bottom line is that life is tuff. we have all experienced tuff times and when someone cops out, they are letting the side down.

we are all in this life to together, like a team in a hockey game... but if one person suddenly decides that it is too hard a walks of the pitch, the others who are making every effort to continue will feel let down and demoralised. i think if you saw that happen in a hockey game you would not have nice lovey dovey feelings towards the person walking off. and what about the people on the pitch? should they just give up also? or should they carry on, saying, "ahh, shame he couldn't cope. okay well, we will finish the game off for him, even if we do get slaughtered in the process".

i have been through tough times, i've suffered from suicidal depression... and it makes me sick when people like you say it is ok to just give up and slash your wrists.... it's ok to be a burdon on society, to be a self pittious idoit because you have nothing better to think about. well go and tell that to a kid struggling for his next meal in africa.
*&%^*%$&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 11

Yeah I know what you mean. I was on a city transit bus some years ago and this old folkie with a guitar kept talking a ton of trash like that about Kurt Cobain. I kinda felt like kicking that dude's butt but I didn't because I realized his very unfriendly issues with a reluctant celebrity who killed himself had not an ounce of crap to do with me. Not that the guy wasn't trying to be an annoying jerk though.