Why does the law (and people in general) assume life is best?

Question

Why are you mentally disturbed if you dont want to live anymore?
Why is there an automatic assumption that everyone should live?

If people want to kill themselves then thats their choice, make help available for them but, as long as no-one else is hurt then it is their choice, and no-one should get in the way.

Its just a thought and no I am not suicidal lol,

Yeah, someone will delete this question.

By hurting people I mean involving them, like a guy who killed himself by stopping his car in front of a train. He achieved his goal, but he also killed the train driver and 5 passengers when it derailed. Thats what I meant.

And who is to say someone who wants to kill themselves is mentally disturbed? They only want to end pain (in various forms). I dont consider that an illness. Mental illness is when you chop people up into little bits and eat them, mental illness is all manner of things, but wanting to end pain isnt. I just dont understand why life is automatically assumed to be the only correct option.

Your thoughts?

Answer 1

I understand & agree with your comment - but I just BET someone will report this question & it will be deleted!
Shame - could have been an interesting debate!

Answer 2

Usually if someone wants to kill them self they are suffering from depression. It is considered a mental illness because its not how they would ~"normally" think. Mental health care professionals believe depression is a treatable illness. No one is born wanting to commit suicide! So if you want to, its not considered your normal state, you are deemed to be thinking irrationally due to the chemical imbalance which is causing the depression.

Actually if you are hell bent on killing yourself you DO find a way. Usually its a way of highlighting extreme distress, hopelessness and a way of trying to make the misery end. But I don't think people really WANT to die. Its more a case of not wanting to live feeling so low.

I would debate your argument that it hurts no one else. That is so untrue. Anyone who kills themselves leaves behind a trail of guilt. The people who cared about them always wonder if they could of and should of done more. Especially if the person had talked about suicide.

Yes it is an individual choice, but you aren't making the choice from a logical or stable position. Its made out of desperation.

I worked in mental health and I never came across anyone who'd tried to kill them self unsuccessfully to later be annoyed that they had been unsuccessful and were "saved." If you treat the underlying depression people are always glad and relieved their attempted failed.

Added -
I have to say I totally disagree with your comment saying mental illness is chopping people to bits. That is NOT mental illness that is a crime. Many normal people have episodes of mental illness, they recover then go back to totally normal lives. Mental illness doesn't just happen to a totally different "breed" of people. It happens to normal every day people. Its very common to have a one off episode of depression or stress.... to have a break down due to the circumstances you find yourself in. People can end up with OCD again driven by too much stress, they get over it, its manageable and treatable. Having mental illness doesn't necessarily mean you are totally unable to function or do anything at all. There are different forms of illness and the severity differs. Mental illness DOES NOT = PSYCHOPATH! The biggest problem tends to be trying to motive people. The vast majority of sufferers are not dangerous to anyone else.

Answer 3

I found a 21 year old hanging from a rope two years ago. it gave me nightmares for a while and life seems a little different now to me I live and enjoy it so much more although the image is hard to remove. I believe the persons life that they alone know and no other person can tell them its good or bad they know that ending the sadness or suffering is ultimately their decision if they think that death is better than the life they lead who are we to tell them they should stay and suffer. Its the turmoil that is left behind that is looked at and not understood by those that think its an easy decision or an easy way out. enjoy life after all its not that long:-)

Answer 4

The case against this view is a very hard but simple one. People can be persuaded to end their lives in very subtle ways, so the provision of ways of ending your life freely available is the start of a very slippery slope. Precautions to stop abuse of a system are a sham because as soon as they are put in place, people will try and indeed succeed in bit by bit getting around them. I agree that sometimes it is best to let nature take it's course and we do have drugs to make this less painful. I am sometimes a litle concerned and feel that the decision to end a life is taken for the convenience of the living rather than for the care of the dying

Answer 5

i kinda agree but it's a touchy subject. when a person dies then 99% of the time, someone else gets hurt, coz they loved that person or whatever. and it's a fact that the majority of people who kill themselves actually have some mental problem, ranging from depression to all sorts. sure, if the person has a disease that will slowly kill them anyway so they'd prefer to get it over with (or cases like that) then it's better for them, but i think most of the time all steps should be taken to stop a suicidal person. they might just thank you for it in the end.

Answer 6

People are not mentally disturbed if they don't want to live anymore.

Some just grow weary of this world and want to move onto another plane.

This usually applies to the old or terminally ill though.

It is not regarded as normal for people in other life situations because the desire to live is natural and normal.

Answer 7

people assume life is best ecuase of the single most basic human condition.

we think something is best because we have it.

we assume we are better than animals as we can build houses and kill people with fancy guns and such.

we assume that we exist when at any minute i could just wake up.(in a dream dont you always think that the dream is life)

Answer 8

that is just your perception of society ...... every individual has their own response ........ presuming you have not always been suicidal , it is fact that this is a novel mindset ....... there is no automatic assumption that everyone should live , but even the most extream liberals could not support a policy of 'death at will' ......... euthenasia is still illegal and if a trend of suicide emerged as a popular situatition , then there wood be a confusion between murder ,,,,,,,,,

Answer 9

Do you think the opinions of a mentally disturbed person are valid?

Answer 10

When one is a live there is always hope and the chance to archive ones dreams and to help others achieve theirs