Do you feel that you owe it to people around you to refrain from committing suicide?

Question

I often hear people say committing suicide is a selfish act. That the deceased person should have thought about how that would impact others. What is your opinion?

Answer 1

Like many things, the motive for doing so should be considered. I have a brother in law, who every other time (or so it seems) that he gets angry or has his feelings hurt, he threatens sucide. Of course, the family rushes in to console him and talk him out of it., I personally do think his motives are selfish, he wants things his way, he wants attention. He behaves like a spoiled child. On one occassion, I told him, "fine, go ahead, but not in front of these kids" and took his sons elsewhere for the night. I view it as a threat, give me my way or else. Recently, he called several family members in different states, got everyone's attention, then proposely avoided everyone for several days. Having us in a sense of limbo and worry, he was IN CONTROL, our attention was centered on him, even though we talking about him rather than TO him...........nothing but selfish.

Yet, there is a case to made for desperation.......which is real. Though, I have no personal experience with this, I can imagine where it might come from. Loss of hope, sense of helplessnes, isolation (real or imagined), grief no one to turn to for help, self loathing, shame, etc..........yes, these are (in my view) two different things. Humans owe humanity to other humans. We should reach out and offer help in what ever form. We should not stop with advice, but provide avenues for the problems to be worked through, offer up encouragement, assurance, an avenue for change, see this person through their desperation and hold their hand until they are strong again......

Like a job----it is one thing to get discouraged and threatened to quit, and quite another, to QUIT. Life has many disappointements, but I have not yet considered the idea of quitting to live.............

Answer 2

I think that a person who commits suicide is desperate to get out of some situation that they feel will never change; or go from bad to worse.
It is selfish, and surely there will be people who are left behind wondering what could have been so horrible that the other person felt there was no other way to deal with it.
In the long run by taking your own life, you most likely will damage many lives around you.
I don't think if a Christian who commits suicide gets you a ticket to hell though. I have yet to have a reasonable explanation why would someone who attempted suicide but failed can be forgiven but the one who succeeded can't.

Answer 3

Selfish is the first word that comes to mind with suicide,
but that person who commits suicide must have reached
a place that they felt they could not deal with life. I think
it is sad that this happens when there is always hope.
I could not or should not judge a person for suicide as
I am not in their mind. I feel that I believe in GOD and He will judge me not society. I do not buy into the theory of
an evil GOD or this is SIN and if it is sin don't we get
forgiveness?
As to owing people around me not to commit suicide
NO, if I were at that point due to illness mental or physical
it is MY LIFE and if these people around me did not notice
or see how things had been well did they know me?
Personally I am optimistic and try to encourge others
and I am my own best cheerleader for my life.
NO I am not stupid I just believe life is constantly changing
good things and bad things its just how we handle it.

Answer 4

I feel it is a selfish thing to do. But I also feel. People should be able to see. That that person is in such despair before they commit suicide in the first place. Sometimes, people just feel like they are out of answers/options. Life just drains some people dry. People should nothing but pure sadness when a suicide occurs.

Answer 5

Let me give you an answer given by someone whose father committed suicide.

Taking one life ends the discussion, and as with many other things in life, God not man judges.

I could talk about the what ifs, but there are no what ifs. Whatever the motivation was, the act yields the same result. Lost.

There is not a day goes by that I haunted what I did or failed to do. The good news is the day goes by.

Answer 6

This is true. Unless that person has lived a full life and chose to end it due to a painful and incurable, terminal illness. In that case, most families understand and move on. Otherwise, they leave such a hole in the lives of their loved ones. It is horrible. Many people have no idea how needed they are. There is no one I know who has been close to a person who took their own life who has not suffered from that loss. It can impact your family into the next three generations.

Answer 7

Absolutely. Suicide is almost always the act of a desperate person who is overwhelmed with sorrow and needs help more than any other kind of person.

Emotion makes people do some very foolish things.

Answer 8

I feel that suicide would be letting myself down. I'm always interested in what's going to happen next. I want to see what technologies and weird news stories will happen in the future. I guess that's a selfish reason to keep on living.

Answer 9

If the deceased knew the consequences fro committing suicide, they would be even more selfish and not do it.
They do not escape anything. They continue in another zone and view their event over and over and over for a long long time because they cannot forgive themselves.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 10

Those who are seriously mental ill don't have a lot of strength, physical or mental, to think about anything besides the despair they are in.

I don't think anyone has the right to judge unless they've walked a mile in those person's shoes. Both bipolar, and true clinical depression, are genetic mental illnesses that have profound physical and emotional affects.

Instead of judging we should work on making our society a more open, compassionate society. This would in turn make it easier for many people to make it through their illness and come out on the other side.