Is suicide an easy or cowardly way out?

Question

Me thinks not! Sadly it must take some kind of courage which could be diverted to a positive direction with help.

Answer 1

I tried it twice. The first time on an impulse, the second time premeditated. I wouldn't say cowardly or brave. It was desperation wanting an end to great psychological pain; Mental illness actually which should never be judged as either of the above-because it is not helpful. God saved my life on both occasions I later realised.

Answer 2

An excellent question, that poses many lines of thought..... as someone who has attempted this on numerous occasions, I will answer from that perspective:

To reach such a deeply dark and distressing place where you feel that you have no option but to rid yourself of all the inner turmoil, pain and anguish it is a long a painful journey.

Believe me, most people who attempt or commit suicide do it as a last resort, when they see no other option available to them.

To many they see it as a way of unburdening partners, family members, friends or carers. They feel they are useless and are causing hurt and distress to everyone around them, and they truly believe that the people that care about them will be much better off if they don't have to deal with the ill person anymore.

When you get to the stage where you make plans or take action the only thing in your mind is how, where, when and to be no longer here, and the hope that this will be the end of suffering.......... rational thinking doesn't exist anymore.

Many who have attempted suicide, would view it as the ultimate action of someone who is being UNSELFISH and not the other way around. They will no longer be here to cause anguish, pain and torment to others.

For anyone who has tried and failed, like myself, the feelings of guilt and shame come afterwards when you realise that the outcome wasn't what you wanted.

Only then do you think about what the consequences on people around would have been. And, if those people are judging, shouting and accusing, then it makes it all the more difficult to deal with the failure of still being alive.

http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/How+to/How+to+help+someone+who+is+suicidal.htm

Use the link to get more information, as these people need help, understanding and compassion.

Thankfully, a few years have passed since my last attempt, and I am grateful that I did survive. But at the time it wasn't a cry for help or me seeking attention........ I purposely more than doubled the amount of tablets I'd taken previously, my intention was clear and I knew what I was doing.

To anyone who hasn't been in such torment that they have considered it as the only option left, then I hope that they never have to go there.

To survivors left behind after such a tradegy, then my heart goes out to you. I can see both sides, the inner torment on one side and the feelings of anger and hurt on the other. Try for just a second, if at all possible, to see it as the only way that person truly felt they could rid themselves of utter desperation and pain.

Answer 3

Hi jonathan,

I agree with you...its definately not an easy decison for anyone and though who think it have obviously never felt suicidal or been at that stage in their lives and they are lucky.Its a thought and decision that tears you up inside and usually when you are not mentally stable so you cannot think of the way out or a way of continuing life where the mental pain will not exisit. How anyone thinks it's easy is beyound me...it takes courage and someone who is so in the depths or depression and heartaches to take their life...think about it, they don't really know what death holds for them, but life if so painful that they just hope it's better......it's an act of fear, unhappiness, unhealthiness of mind and feeling at a dead end...there is no less cowardly act....as the saying goes...there is nothing to fear but death itself..

so if a suicidal person, doesn't fear it, but sees it as an escape then it's not something they are doing light heartedly...or without a lot of thought.

sometimes lifes so bad you feel driven to it.

x

Answer 4

Suicide is a sad slap in the face 2 your creator, it takes more courage 2 live and overcome, strength comes from perseverance in the face of opposition.
If your suicidal and reach out 4 help, that takes courage.
If you comment suicide that is the easy way out because how hard is it 2 take your own life it's very easy and can be accomplished with little effort.
Your life is more than worth it because it was given 2 u as a gift not 2 be destroyed.
Nothing in life is free and neither is your life, No one goes though life untouched, we will all be effected by problems, downs, lows, highes, sadness, depression etc It takes a strong, determined, committed heart 2 continue 2 make it beat!
Cowards quit, soldiers don't.
The only excuse 4 suicide would be if you had a mental disorder and could not control your feelings of worthlessness and lost!! (mental imbalance in your brain) suicide for reasons other than this is a selfish act. You must think hard and long about the people you leave behind and the suffering u would cause.
If you have children how would they feel without a parent and is it fair 2 set an example 4 them that if things get hard go ahead and clock out.
If you have parents is it fair 2 say 2 them u gave me life, but no thank u-- i think i will take this life away from u.
You need 2 think about things like this because your choices in life will have consequences and will effect someone in a negative way.
Courage is moving forward, getting help if u need it, having faith in GOD 2 see u though it and realizing that you can over come any problem no matter how bad it gets!!

Answer 5

I don't think it is easy or cowardly. By the time someone is suicidal they have held on a long time with more courage than most of us know. I think when they feel suicide is the only option left that will give them peace and they have finally used up the inner strength that they have, they will end their life. Medication helps to replenish that strength and focus on life again, When a person is depressed negative thinking sometimes takes over, and all your energy is used up trying to cope. You become self absorbed and your support base of friends and family leave or distance themselves. Suicide is very understandable when you think of a person with nobody to lead them to medical help. They think their negative thoughts are true, but in reality their perception of their life is skewered. Also as depression deepens it progresses to self hate, They are not cowards. Depression is a disease that progresses unless it goes into remission, or if not treated results in death.

Answer 6

I tried it and really it is not worth the pain it can cause to those left behind. I was eight months pregnant living on the 8th floor of a block of flats, with two young children 3 and 2 and pregnant eight months. I opened the window and placed one leg out, on the point of attempting the second leg my 3 year old came in crying. I got down to see to her and saw the error of my ways. That was 35 years ago.

Answer 7

Suicide has nothing in common with cowardice, I have met enough people who have been genuinely suicidal, to know this. When a person becomes suicidal, they have lost hope that life can be worth living, (for them). They often feel their suicide will unburden others they love. In many cases they for no sound reason are filled with self loathing. Don't judge people who have been in this desperately unhappy position. They need help, if they have survived, not criticism.

Answer 8

I think anyone who wants to commit suicide is very sick. They haven't got the ability to see that it is the coward's way out. When I was teaching we had a young man who committed suicide at the school in front of all of his friends. He never thought how it would affect others. He also didn't understand that the kids wouldn't forget, but would really be angry at him for the rest of their lives. No one has the right to affect other people's lives that way. I'm sure tunnel vision is present when people commit this act. They only think of themself. Is that easy or make you feel courage? I don't think so. If you feel like you don't want to live, you need to get to a hospital or a Dr. and tell them how you feel. Ok, so you may need some heavy therapy. Trust me, it is worth it, for you and those you love.

Answer 9

Lots of replies have said that people who attempt suicide are selfish and that they should reach out for help....it's a fair point especially coming from those who have only had good experiences with mental health professionals or who have been fortunate enough to never encountered them. I can see how those left behind may feel and I sympathise. However there's another side to it - as with al things.
Research actually proves that most people who attempt suicide (sucessfully or not) will have been in contact with medical professionals in the week before the event. Like in any profession, there are some good doctors, some bad and some indifferent. There are some psychiatrists who will judge their patients and make them feel worse about themselves. They may tell them to pull their socks up and think about what they're doing to others around them - shock tactics maybe but not productive in any way. Reaching out to these people takes so much courage; its terrifying and then to do it just to be laughed at, not taken seriously, locked up because someone didn't know what else to do, or have their confidence broken; well it's no surprise that some people don't know what else to do. Personally I have been on the recieving end of some shockingly bad treatment from those who were in charge of my care when I was unable to take care of myself, when I could no longer be trusted to make logical or rational decisions. I have been treated in such a way that my mind could only reason that I was a despicable person only capable of causing pain to others so the only thing that made sense was to take my life.
Standing on the top of a tall building, at the edge of a cliff and seriously contemplating throwing yourself off it takes courage and strength. Holding a handful of pills you know will seriously hurt you if they don't kill you takes courage. Pressing a blade down on your skin and willing yourself to press hard enough takes courage. These acts go against every natural instinct, every survival instinct we have, that we're born with, how can they not take courage and strength?
Lots of different things lead people to the desperation that almost always ends in this; mental illness being the most common. Who are we to judge people when we haven't stood in their shoes and suffered what they have? Even those who have been in similar positions can never know what it's like for that person.
There's nothing worse than waking up every day and knowing that every minute, every second of it will be a battle, that you'll be judged and called weak and selfish. Trying medication after medication with no luck, changing your diet, dragging yourself out of bed when you can't see through your tears just to get some exercise and fresh air in the vain hope that it may help. The never ending circle of hospital admissions, psychiatrist appts, assesments with mental health teams, GP appts, therapy sessions that might help for 5 minutes but never last........it's ridiculous but somehow you struggle on, sometimes for years until enough is enough. You can't hope anymore because it hurts too much and nothing ever changes. You make a choice to stop it, you believe rightly or wrongly that you have done everything within your power to make it better and now you're exhausted. You believe that you've hurt those you love too much and that they'll be better off when you're gone - maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong but either way that's what your mind says and anyway, this is about you, not them. I had a CPN who once said to me that it hurt him to ask me to hold on because he could see how exhausted I was and he could see the pain in my eyes, on my face and hear it in my voice. All he could do was hope that I would manage it.
Depression and mental illness is selfish by it's very nature but that's not always a bad thing. If I hadn't been selfish I never would have gotten to the point where I can say "I'm getting better". I've been to rock bottom, I know what it feels like and if I ever reached that point again I wouldn't hesitate in reaching for that pill packet because feeling that way isn't something I'd wish on my worst enemy.
It's sad that we live in a society that thinks it's ok to judge each other in such a way and it's sad that there's still such a stigma attached to mental illness; I hope one day that will change.

Answer 10

Of course it is! Easy and cowardly - as concepts suggest a lack of strength and a tendency toward self interest and self fullfilment. Suicide is perhaps the most obvious display of these tendencies. I think you're confusing courage in its traditional sense to the perceived act of will it requires to undertake this kind of decision. Courage requires an appreciation of the dangers involved with an action but the will to overcome self preservation in order to actfor the 'greater good'. Are you trying to suggest that the 'courage' to commit suicide has any resemblance to, for example, the courage shown by the armed forces under fire?