Is it selfish to prevent people from commiting suicide?

[Aprilgold]

Stopping someone from comitting suicide isn't selfish - as said above, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I don't have huge issues with suicide per se, but most people who commit it do it without looking at their surrounding circumstances & the people they affect, and that's just douchebaggery.

The biggest issue i actually have with suicide is how it get hammered into our brain time & time again that it is a bad thing - obivously something responsible for how i feel about it. On a strictly intellectual level, i think a person should be able to decide themselves whether they want to go on and live. Ofc that goes directly against centuries of indoctrination in our culture, so it's not that easy to shake off.

Suicide used to be an act of dignity, now it's an act of despair - the whole discussion about the topic is a false dichotomy in first place.

Have you heard that sins blind the corrupted? Have you ever heard that sentence? What it means is simple, a sin *greed, I think theres one for depression* will always blind someone to something, be it their family, or their friends, or their pets, depression can blind a person. There is a HUGE fucking difference between someone just going through a rough, and someone going through a rough, and someone going through severe depression. Simple way to tell is how expressive they are and how much they are around people.
It was always a act of despair, it was never anything more, Japenese culture has great examples of this, shaming your family blood means that you must end your life, now, thats a act of despair, you could live on, but then you have to live with shaming your family, which would go over in time, but the point is, you'd still remember.

Suicide is a permanent fix to a short term problem, I always have my mind strike me with school suicides, kid gets bullied to such a extent after years that he hangs himself, the kids that were attacking him were ALL that was on his mind when that noose tightened, they won't care, they will never care, all that will care is the family and the friends. He just wanted to bloody escape from his own, personal hell.

Preventing suicide is not selfish, and thinking suicide is selfish is bullshit.
No one, no matter what, wants to die by their on their own hands, but as my starting sentence, sins blind anyone, no matter will. Many times is mental illness, which can be diagnosed and cured, even without that illness, they should see a shrink, but for fucks sake people, preventing a death, no matter how many, is a heroic act, anywhere.

Bloody hell, even I tried to hang myself and I stopped myself from doing it, because I knew the problem, it was my bat-ass guano school, teachers let kids off themselves, because they got sick of trying to stop bullies. No, killing yourself is not selfish, since its only a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and you need to see a shrink if you even think seriously on it. And for all the love of any god that exists today, ITS NOT SELFISH TO SAVE A LIFE!
[sub]*Quick Note: Anyone who thinks its selfish to suicide / save someone from suicide reminds me of people who think workers are only numbers that can be reproduced at any given time, you know, the asshole corporate boss people. Not saying anyone is here, but you certainly remind me of them.[/sub]

SNIP

Sorry for being tl;dr - but the opposite is true, committing suicide is an incredibly selfish thing to do (in fact it's entirely 100% selfish).

Trying to stop someone from killing themselves is ergo selfless.

May i ask , how is it selfless , to stop someone from killing themselves? I'm curious. Also please explain why suicide is selfish ?

Is it because if someone kills themselves they don't think about the pain they inflict on their family/friends ? If that's the case then isn't it selfish of the family/friends to want the person to live because they would be heartbroken when he/she is gone?

Please explain.

First sentence is basically the answer to your question... Or to aid in your defense, I'm not quite sure....

 

[DarkRyter]

If a person's suicide has ramifications beyond themselves, others may intervene if they find it necessary.

Say, you were the individual responsible for paying for someone's funeral and post-mortem expenses. You would be affected negatively by that person's suicide, but it's not like you can sue a dead guy. It is entirely your right to intervene because you are personally involved.

 

[Gorobrin]

Well people go through depression and (I'm not sure how people will respond to this) they are usually overreacting if they honestly think suicide will solve anything. people committing suicide are the selfish ones for not thinking how miserable it would be for everybody they know. Of course this is just my opinion

 

[bruggs]

It's a tricky one. I can only say how I -think- I'd handle it.

If I saw someone about to jump off a bridge, I would stop them. I would suggest they get help, and I think in the vast majority of cases they would be glad they had been saved and the world is a better place for it.

If I were to see them on the same bridge a year later, and I understood that nothing has worked, and suicide is the best solution for them. I would then apologise for delaying them and ask if they happened to have any money on them.

 

[cookyy2k]

To everyone calling suicide a "selfish" act I would point out that a good number of suicide attempts and successes are due to the person's belief that everyone would be better off without them. I know two people who've attempted suicide one did it just once and I'm the one who stopped her and the other tried many a time and I was never around so couldn't do anything, both are still alive today and both put it down to them believing they're a burden on others. That, I would say is the opposite of selfish.

OT, the suicide I personally stopped was down to mainly selfish reasons, though when in that situation mostly what flashes through your mind is selfish as is our psychological make-up.

 

[game-lover]

I think it's a little selfish, yeah. You're pretty much keeping them alive for your sake, I think. And it's basically the main argument. Making them think about what'll happen after they're gone.

However, I think those committing suicide are also a little selfish in perhaps a self-absorbed way because they're not thinking about the effect they'll have on others. Or assume they'll have too much of an effect on others in their absence.


So basically, everyone is selfish in this equation.

 

[Tselis]

As someone who has tried to commit suicide I can say that yes, it is selfish. It is not selfish to try to prevent what leads up to the desire to commit suicide. And there in lies the dilemma. Where do you draw the line? If I had had more help before everything went to shit then I wouldn't have gotten so into box knives (or vice versa as was the case). But if that help is no successful, and the person still has the desire to end their life, then that is their choice to make.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

It's dependant.... If someone just broke up with their bf/gf and want to end it than no, it's not selfish! They are in a fragile state of mind and may do things that they will (or, if they succeed, would have) regretted doing...

...if they have an incurable and painful disease, or are disabled from the neck down, have an accident that causes brain damage, basically anything that makes normal life completely unbearable then yes, it is...

...I've told my family that if I am ever in an accident and am paralyzed that they should kill me... Some things are worse than death...

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

So basically, everyone is selfish in this equation.

That's pretty much the only objective truth that can be gained from this entire discussion. Suicide candidates and the people trying to stop them are simply equally selfish and no one is less/more selfish than the other.

 

[ThatLankyBastard]

SNIP

Sorry for being tl;dr - but the opposite is true, committing suicide is an incredibly selfish thing to do (in fact it's entirely 100% selfish).

Trying to stop someone from killing themselves is ergo selfless.

...if someone has incurable cancer and is in a state of constant pain, unable to leave the house (or even the bed they are in) is keeping them alive really the right thing to do? Are they selfish because they want to end their pain and the pain of those watching them?

...personally, I believe that if you truly love someone you'd be willing to kill them if they needed it...

 

[CannibalCorpses]

Suicide and depression is a mental illness. It's not a choice for these people. It's a physiological, chemical imbalance in your brain. Just like jaundice is caused by a fucked up liver, suicide and depression is caused by a fucked up brain. You don't question whether or not it's right to heal a person with other fucked up organs, why should it be any different if it's the brain that needs healing?

I've never accepted that depression is merely an illness, it's a condition brought on by many external influences. Does my brain stop functioning properly when i remember sad events? No, of course it doesn't but i feel sad and down. I'll grant you clinical depression might be diagnosed on chemical changes in the brain but does that really mean that's all it is? I don't think it is and nothing i've ever seen suggests to me otherwise.

What about the guy who starves himself to death so his family can survive? Is he depressed and mentally incapable because suicide seems like the best option overall? Are suicide bombers suffering a chemical imbalance in their brains when they decide they want to die killing the people who fucked their lives up? Does the soldier who knows he cannot survive a fight but still goes regardless for the sake of everyone else have mental health issues?

I know they aren't the best examples but i've been up for 2 days straight dealing with some pretty heavy shit of my own

 

[Gothtasical]

while i am not one to agree with suicide there are sadly fairly good reasons for it. in the case of freedom of choice if they want to end their life yes they may regret it and it may be a cry for help however some people want to end it because they are just tired of life. for those who say there are no good reason i want you to take an example you may feel the same but it's food for thought. In the song "one" by metallica the man says he wants to end his life because he stepped on a landmine and no longer has legs or arms. He can not move and the only thing he can do is blink. so he does what he can and blinks in morse code asking for them to kill him. Now this may be a very dramatic case but it can happen. and to those whose it is basic life there is the point of abusive parents people who are decent people but shunned or outcast because other people just think they are weird. so tell me is it fair for someone who is beaten by their parents and sadly in the case of many can't find help and feel unloved by everything and everyone is it fair to say they are in the wrong for wanting all of it just to end. Im against suicide as many people are but sometimes you just have to think about what it's on the other side.

 

[cookyy2k]

I think it's a little selfish, yeah. You're pretty much keeping them alive for your sake, I think. And it's basically the main argument. Making them think about what'll happen after they're gone.

However, I think those committing suicide are also a little selfish in perhaps a self-absorbed way because they're not thinking about the effect they'll have on others. Or assume they'll have too much of an effect on others in their absence.


So basically, everyone is selfish in this equation.

In my experience though the person contemplating/attempting suicide is thinking of others, in a skewed way but still of others. Mainly they feel like a burden and that other people would be better off without them, that is not a selfish thought, it is generally a misguided thought as the other people wouldn't generally be better off but like I say skewed logic due to them not being in a right state of mind.

 

[chaos order]

my answer to your friend would be: is preventing suicide any more selfish then the act of committing suicide itself. i mean that person has decided to leave everyone behind and hurt everyone that has cared about him because for some reason he cant cope with some ordeal.

 

[krazykidd]

No one, no matter what, wants to die by their on their own hands, but as my starting sentence, sins blind anyone, no matter will. Many times is mental illness, which can be diagnosed and cured, even without that illness, they should see a shrink, but for fucks sake people, preventing a death, no matter how many, is a heroic act, anywhere.

Wait what? By whose hands is it better to die from , if not your own?. Also "No one, no matter what, wants to die by their on their own hands " is false, it happens ALL THE TIME !So basically your saying a person does NOT have the right to make the CHOICE to kill themselves?

So me and this guy were talking today at work and the topic of suicide came up ( because someone decided to jump in front of his train which made him get to work late). One line he said kind of distrubed me he said : " I have nothing against suicide , but don't piss people off while doing it ".

Shocked by this comment i asked him what he meant by the fact he has nothing against suicide, because it was the first time i heard anyone say something like that, usually people want to prevent suicide and think it's a terrible act.

He explained to me that he thought that any person living should have the right to take their own life. That anyone that tries to prevent someone for doing the act is selfish . He said that in a world where countless people are murdered or that die by "accident" why shouldn't someone be able to take his/her own life? That people often talk about the family memebers and friends of the person that commited suicide , and how they are sad and heart-broken and wish that said person did not go through with it. That stopping someone from suiciding because themselves or family/friends would be hurting is selfish by not considering the fact they the person who died , wanted to in fact die , thus commited suicide.

As strange as it might sound, his argument made sense ! I mean, who better than onself to decide when and how to die ? The guy i was talking to firmly believe in the freedom of choice, no matter what choice it may be, therefore he believes that someone should be able to take their own life regardless are what people close to them think .

So what do you escapists think ? Is preventing or trying to find help for someone that wants to commiting suicide, selfish ?

P.S I'm not talking about assisted suicide , that another topic all together.

EDIT : Some people mis-understood my question. It's not about if suicide is right or wrong. It's about if it's selfish of prevent someone for killing themselves. It's basically like taking away their freedom of choice. The choice to end their own life. And also i am NOT talking about helping someone with a terminal illness kill themselves.

This is honestly a ridiculous statement. I'm only responding at all to say you're ridiculous for posing the question.

Let's ask another, similar question.

Is it selfish to treat a baby for Jaundice? No? Why? because it's an illness that they have no ability to control, you say? Why yes, of course, how silly was I to even consider the question.

Suicide and depression is a mental illness. It's not a choice for these people. It's a physiological, chemical imbalance in your brain. Just like jaundice is caused by a fucked up liver, suicide and depression is caused by a fucked up brain. You don't question whether or not it's right to heal a person with other fucked up organs, why should it be any different if it's the brain that needs healing?

What the? i don't even ... When the hell did suicide become a illness ? Depression is a illness, suicide is NOT . If someone were to kill themselves , they are automatically ill ? Your example are completly out of place and has NOTHING to do with the topic . Yes a lot of people who suicide have depression , but even so , after a person has consciously decided to end their own life, what right does ANYONE have to stop them ?

 

[Idocreating]

I think no matter how you look it at, every side of the debate here can be viewed as selfish.

Commit suicide? Your selfish because your going to put those who cared about you through a lot of grief.

Stop a person in the act of suicide? You just took his choice away because you deemed it wrong and therefore are selfish because you didn't respect his choice.