How come people who commit suicide are considered cowards, unless someone famous does it?

[krazykidd]

Double standard time! Yes , inspired by Robin williams.

So everytime people talk about suicide ( which is tragic) ,people say that those who commit such an act are cowards, however, when someone famous kills themselves, the word " coward" is no where to be found?

Even if the person who offed themselved suffered from despresion, at best we'll get a "he probably needed medical help but suicide is the cowards way out". But when someone famous does it. No only is it tragic, but everyone and their dog is making excuses for them. They are almost regarded as heros who's lives were cut short.But i think that being a famous, you have even more tools open to you to get the help you need .

So my question is

A) How come people who commit suicide are considered cowards, unless someone famous does it?
B) Do you think people who commot suicide are cowards.
C) What is you're opinion on suicide?

Try and be civil people, this is a touchy subject.

 

[Longing]

A) Simply not true. A fox news anchor was in trouble for calling Robin a coward and I know people on twitter were having a field day with this.
B) Absolutely not. Suicide for a lot of people is the only solution they can see to their problems. Depression fucks with your perception and it's like a giant black hole that you can't climb out of. It's not so much being a coward as being at the end of your rope.
C) Suicide is tragic and I truly feel for people who were pushed to that extreme.

 

[Trinket to Ride]

A) I still saw plenty of "Coward's way out" and "Selfish," mostly on Facebook. I feel like with famous people, the positive comments get the most likes/upvotes/plus ones/whatevers, so that's an overwhelming majority of what you see.

B) In most cases, no.

C) I'm against it.

 

[EternallyBored]

Famous people aren't an exception, there's already been people on Twitter and in the media either outright calling him a coward or heavily implying it.

Famous people aren't exempt, they just tend to have a lot more vocal defenders so the calls of cowardice tend to get shouted down or drowned out by the majority. With more unknown people, people can say such things without drawing legions of people who care about the person to shout them down.

 

[Zhukov]

I don't really hear that much. I mean, I'm aware of the notion and I have heard it said, but I've never seen it as some kind of widely held viewpoint.

A) As the old saying goes, "Do not speak ill of the famous and beloved dead, especially if you are a public figure. Unless you're shitstirring of course."

B) Depends how you define "coward" I suppose. But no, not really.

C) It sucks? Not quite sure what else there is to say about it.

 

[krazykidd]

A) Simply not true. A fox news anchor was in trouble for calling Robin a coward and I know people on twitter were having a field day with this.

Isn't the fact that he got in trouble kinda prove what i was saying? Although, i'll admit i didn't know that before hand, i don't really follow fox news. I wonder if he would have gotten in trouble if it was just a random person :/

 

[Happiness Assassin]

A) I have unfortunately seen this and it makes me sick that people see suicide as the avenue of cowards.
B) For petty reasons like avoiding prison or something, I don't really have an opinion. But in almost all cases relating to psychological reasons, I refuse to see those who commit suicide as cowards.
C) Suicide is never the answer, barring some other horrible circumstances. If you are considering it, please try and find help and talk to someone.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

A) How come people who commit suicide are considered cowards, unless someone famous does it?

As pointed out by Longing, this is far from the case. The people who hold that opinion throw it at everyone who commits suicide, regardless of the deceased's public stature.

B) Do you think people who commit suicide are cowards.

Absolutely not! People who commit suicide are too blinded by depression to see another way out. Many have lived with their depression for so long that they can't imagine feeling a single shred of joy ever again. They know that they've had good times in the past, but when darkness is all-consuming and depression robs them of the ability to enjoy once-pleasurable activities, then pain is often the only thing left in their hearts. They don't want to die, they just want the pain to end, and their chemically imbalanced brains can't see a less-damaging path to happiness.

C) What is you're opinion on suicide?

I think it's the worst outcome of an illness that's still burdened with unjust amounts of derision from the unenlightened masses. Anybody who can say to a depressed person "stop feeling sorry for yourself" or "people have it worse than you do, so get over it" should do some damn research and thank their lucky stars that they've never experienced what TRUE depression is. It's not simple sadness. It's not something that vanishes with wishy-washy happy thoughts. You can't rationalize with depression, and as Boogie2988 stated in his amazing video this past Monday, it Just. Doesn't. Give. A. Fuck.

Spoiler: Everyone should watch this...

 

[StriderShinryu]

A) How come people who commit suicide are considered cowards, unless someone famous does it?
I don't think the perception really changes much regardless of who does it, it's just that the volume of the commentary may be a little quieter. It's pretty common for people to believe that someone who commits suicide is a coward but it's just there are more people out there ready and willing to shout them down if it's someone famous.

B) Do you think people who commit suicide are cowards.
No, not at all. When you consider what it takes to actually end your life there is no way it should be considered cowardly. It's not a decision often made by someone of sound mind and body, and it's often made by someone who feels that there is just no other better solution, but the act of committing suicide is far from cowardly. It's easy to say that someone is just committing suicide to avoid dealing with issues or to avoid the difficult steps it would take to "get better." If you say that, however, it's because you don't understand what it really means to be depressed. It's about someone who doesn't even see the steps or how those steps would make things better. It's about believing that your simple existence is pointless and you may actually be doing harm to others by continuing to exist.

C) What is you're opinion on suicide?
I think suicide is complicated and it's not really something that you can make a decision on for someone else. Yes, it's selfish and often an end reached by misguided, insular thinking but it's still an end decided upon by an individual assessing their own condition and situation.

 

[Lilani]

A) How come people who commit suicide are considered cowards, unless someone famous does it?

I wouldn't say this is true, I've seen plenty of people say Robin Williams was selfish or a coward, or something to that effect. People who think suicide is cowardice will say it regardless of who does it, in my experience.

B) Do you think people who commot suicide are cowards.

No. I spent most of my adolescence helping a friend through clinical depression, which included talking her down from suicide more than once. The biggest misconceptions about depression and suicidal thoughts are that if a person is depressed they obviously aren't "trying hard enough" to be happy, and that someone who is suicidal is either weak or selfish. Depression is an illness of the mind, or perhaps more poignantly the soul. Just as a cold or the flu will weaken your body, depression weakens your resolve and your ability to cope with things. Yes people with depression are sad about and worry about things that most people wouldn't consider raising such a fuss about, but that's exactly what it does. It takes away your ability to cope with things and to put your worries and anxieties into perspective.

And suicide is seen as the way to resolve that. Some feel like those around them would be better off if they were gone, some feel like death is the only way to escape the pain they're feeling. No it isn't logical given the emotions they are drawing from are irrational, but that's what it does to them.

C) What is you're opinion on suicide?

I do support the idea of medically assisted suicide in people who are otherwise mentally healthy. People who are extremely elderly or suffering from an excruciating or terminal illness, or are diagnosed with something terminal and would like to donate their organs before the illness makes that no longer a viable option. But again, they must be mentally sound. Not depressed or delusional, just logical and at peace with the knowledge of their passing.

But that's as far as it goes. As far as people who wish to commit suicide out of despair or depression, I don't think we pay nearly enough attention to these people and too often brush away the warning signs. The mental health system in America anyway is a joke: In response to an attempted suicide and to her being bulimic, that friend I mentioned earlier was sent to what essentially amounts to a juvenile lockup facility for a few weeks. She--the clinically depressed bulimic 16 year old--was brought to a building surrounded by barbed wire that looked no different from a prison, was strip searched upon entering, and was locked up with other girls who were in there for everything from drug and alcohol addiction to extreme bipolar disorder. Fights broke out around her, one time when two girls went at it right in front of her one of them lost a tooth and there was blood all over the floor.

That isn't what someone on the verge of suicide needs, but that was all she got. Luckily after that nightmarish ordeal she was put on the road to getting therapy and medication. It took years to finally get the right medication and right dosing down, but now she's on her way to getting a master's degree in psychology with a 4.0 GPA. She wants to be a counselor and help people like herself.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Surely it's not how famous they are, but whether the person making that decision happens to care about them or not?

A famous entertainer is more likely to be someone they'd care about than some random they don't know.

 

[Vegosiux]

I'll keep it short.

You can't choose to not die, but you can choose the terms on which you do.

That doesn't strike me as cowardly.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Insofar as the second question goes, it's really to complex of a matter to answer with a simple yes or no. Every case is different, with different circumstances and different backgrounds and different personalities and so on and so forth. There are some cases in which it can be called an act of cowardice, such as people who have committed horrible crimes and then shoot themselves rather than be caught by the police. But in cases of depression, I wouldn't consider it to be cowardice. Depression is a hell of a thing, and I've seen how much it can fuck someone up. And tragically, sometimes the depression just wins. In fact, I'd say dragging someone's name through the dirt for committing suicide due to depression without knowing what depression is like is the more cowardly act.

 

[Harpalyce]

Sadly, there have been people who lined up to call even famous people cowards.

I don't think it is cowardly in the least, myself. And I wish that attitude would hurry up and burn itself out like an old candle down to its last scrap of wick. It helps nobody. People who are in that state of contemplating it are in such a dark place that trying to tear them down and insult them will only convince them more that they are worthless, and should shuffle off the mortal coil more quickly. It's like force-feeding a diabetic cupcakes in order to cure their diabetes. It simply doesn't work and is a damn stupid tactic to begin with.

The quicker people drop the idea that depression is a moral or spiritual failing and the quicker we accept that it is a disease, just the same and just as connected to morality as diabetes or multiple sclerosis or a broken leg, the better.

 

[DementedSheep]

A: I've never heard someone call an actual suicider a coward in real life. When it's hypothetical or just a statistic yes some people will say it's cowardly but most have enough tact and empathy to keep that to themselves when it's real or change their tune when it's actually someone they care about.
B: I don't think "coward" is the right word no and I don't think people downing those already suicidal by calling it that is helpful.
C: It's a tragic waste of a life. Don't really know what else to say about it unless you want to turn this into a discussion about assisted suicide/euthanasia.

A) Simply not true. A fox news anchor was in trouble for calling Robin a coward and I know people on twitter were having a field day with this.

Isn't the fact that he got in trouble kinda prove what i was saying? Although, i'll admit i didn't know that before hand, i don't really follow fox news. I wonder if he would have gotten in trouble if it was just a random person :/

I'm pretty damn sure he would have gotten into massive trouble if it was someone who wasn't famous too. Maybe less inclined to get a lot of hate mail simply because the person who died wasn't in as many peoples hearts but calling someone who just died a coward on a news station is really insensitive and unprofessional.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

A. Personally, I think part of it's star power. People will have no problem calling an average person a coward but some of them might back of when they start slinging that mud at a person who has a pretty big following to defend them. I know this probably isn't a huge factor but I'm sure it is a little bit.

B. No, no no no. I find the "coward" response to be a disgusting one. It's incredibly ill-informed and it really riles me up. Like most have already said, it just seems like the only way out. I absolutely hate when I hear somebody say it's a coward's tool. No, that person just needed help. Maybe you could have handled their situation, but *that* person isn't you, *that* person needed help, just because *you* don't think it was a big deal doesn't mean it wasn't. We all bend to misery, some more than others.

C. Hard to say. I haven't been exposed to it much in my life, thank goodness. I had a friend who prior to meeting me had suicidal thoughts but still cut herself sometimes; I talked her down once, *once*, when she was having a pretty bad day and that was terrifying, I can't imagine what living in that world would be like. But I want to end on a high note, she's perked up a little, she got a boyfriend and she's on the upswing. A little down from time to time but she's better than she used to be.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

A) Are they? I don't think of them as cowards. See below.
B) I don't think they're cowards, I think they're weak.
C) I'm against it.

 

[Harpalyce]

B) I don't think they're cowards, I think they're weak.

...Seriously?

Depression is one hell of a disease. People to succumb to it are as weak as people who succumb to cancer or an eighteen wheeler merrily rolling over their face. The only difference is that depression gets the person to do its dirty work. Please don't paint people weak in such broad strokes. It's a disease that is quite honestly terrible - and by calling people weak for committing suicide, all you're doing to those out there who may be suicidal is continuing to insult and belittle them to the point where they really do believe that they are weak and useless and therefore should not exist in this world. Depressed people don't need any help in insulting themselves, trust me, they've got that sorted. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.

It's not a personal failing or lack of willpower, not any more than someone dying of cancer is a personal failing. That black dog can drag even the best of us down.

 

[epicdwarf]

Who is still saying this? I can only see someone say this if it was for someone in some sort of war. Like someone offing themselves instead of facing the enemy. If you use it for anything else, you are an asshole.