Poll: Can suicide be rational?

[Biek]

Nothing rational about killing yourself. Just selfish.

Whats selfish about someone who has a terminal illness and has a very short peroid to live while being bed ridden? Would you rather make him stay in bed and watch him wither away to nothing before he finally draws his last breath?

I can't believe how narrow minded some of you people are if your automatically assume anyone who contemplates suicide is a depressed teenager or something. Alot of people are, or have been suicidal. Or have lost friends and family because of it. And I really hope those arent reading this thread to see a bunch of narrow minded bigots judge it like that.

 

[AdmiralWolverineLightningbolt]

this probably wont get read/has already been said, but yes it can

we all die eventually anyway, if life sucks then why not try to escape eh?

 

[CuddlyCombine]

Nothing rational about killing yourself. Just selfish.

Would it be selfish if nobody else cared for you, which was the reason you were killing yourself in the first place?

 

[CuddlyCombine]

this probably wont get read/has already been said, but yes it can

we all die eventually anyway, if life sucks then why not try to escape eh?

That's the rationale most of my friends who smoke (cigarettes) use.

 

[Vrex360]

***SPOILER WARNING IF YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF THE PLOT OF WATCHMEN FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AVERT THOU EYES******

I think I can sort of mention Rorschach's death in Watchmen as it was a KIND of suicide you know demanding to be killed and I honestly thought that it was quite fitting considering the character. He would never compromise, he knew his values and would never betray them... so therefore elected to die of his own accord and it was just as well considering that there was no way he could fit into the 'new world'... with the death of the world he belonged to there was nothing left for him. As sad as his death was it was poetic in a sense... not to mentikon that he became a Rorschach bloodstain.

So yeah I reckon in some sense suicide can be very rational... I chose to make a movie referance instead of real life because I find this issue to be a little too... dark for my tastes.


also in zombie/alien/monster movies where there is no hope left and it's either a quick gunshot or being eaten alive I see the sense there.

 

[Harlemura]

I'd go with no on it, but I wouldn't count someone taking themselves off life support as suicide.
But someone who wants to end it all because they were dumped or something like that should suck it up and get on with life.
By the way, if this offends anyone, I sincerely apologize.

 

[dnnydllr]

If your life is really that bad, I'd say leave the life you have and start a new one or something. But why would you kill yourself? Honestly if your willing to die at least sign up for the army. I think there can be no logic in killing yourself.

Terminal illness, treatment costs money, money that your family could use, you kill yourself because you're going to die anyway, you save money for your family by doing so.

Logic.

That isn't exactly what I was saying...and assisted suicide is a little bit of a different topic.

 

[Spacelord]

I suppose that suicide COULD be a viable and logical decision in SOME cases, it's just that I don't really want to think about those hypothetical scenarios.

 

[electric_warrior]

yes, totally. if you're gonna die anyway and it is a certainty, why not? say you have terminal cancer or some other life ending disease, and remaining alive will cause you immense pain, then killing yourself seems entirely logical. also if you won't die, but your quality of life will be so low if you remain alive that death would seem preferrable, then i say all power to you; kill yourself if you want to.

 

[lwm3398]

I see it as rational in the form of euthinasia. I mean, if your disease is terminal, and your just going to sit there in a bed for a few months would you rather die shortly or sit there?

Agreed. That is the only solid case for rational suicide I can see.

me too. but um...what about some super duper recovery that saves them? there's always the 0chance. that small,small,chance that they will be okay. who knows? read Kill Me by Stephen White. not King. White. it will change your soul.

What about the people that dont want to take the one and a million chance that there will be miracle recovery (i know i wouldn't). Shouldn't we allow them to die how they see fit?

i didn't mean to say "take the chance! you can't commit sucide!" i mean to just put another option out there for them. for me,it would depend on the pain level. i will never commit suicide. ever.

 

[Moosemade]

That isn't exactly what I was saying...and assisted suicide is a little bit of a different topic.

Actually, I don't think it is. A choice to end your life is the same whether or not you get someone else to do it. Suicide by cops, suicide by doctor, suicide by friend, whatever you add to the term, it's still the conscious decision to end your life. I'd say that a large majority of suicides are rational. The ones that aren't thought out end badly, and not in any final way. We all know the stories. A guy tries to eat his shotgun and just ends up with his face missing. Guy chugs drain cleaner. Those aren't rational, and they don't end in death (although it'd be a mercy for them to die after that), and boy oh boy do they fail. You know what they say, fail to plan, plan to fail.

Now my personal favorite argument against suicide is that it's a selfish act. Of course, those who say that are also being selfish, because they're putting their need to have the person who wants to die in their life above the pain of the person.
Perhaps one's stance on suicide also depends on their view of death and how they handle it. Of course, suicide tends to be far more traumatic than other kinds of death, especially when it's in your family, and it wasn't because of a terminal illness. People can feel like they're to blame. Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. But in the end, death is death, so if you view it as an eventuality, or a part of life, then it can get easier to deal with. Granted, not having someone there will always hurt, but it's not as different from other deaths. You'll miss your friend the same whether they got shot by someone else or did it themselves.
Yeah, there is a finality to suicide that might make us think that it isn't rational, but frankly, saying that you can just get a fresh start and give it another go ISN'T rational. No one gets a truly fresh start, and you can't really escape your problems. You can end them, however.
So if you go over it with friends and family, and really think about it, if you really,truly hurt to the point where just being alive is exhausting to you, then go for it.

 

[Beffudled Sheep]

It is possible but for most situations... no.

I had suicidal thoughts before but not because I was depressed but because I was bored and had this annoying voice in the back of my mind saying "Go ahead and kill yourself. It will finally answer the question of what happens after death."

I dismissed it by telling myself that suicide is for weak quitters and I was neither weak or a quitter.

it tells you that to? me as well I'm curious and want to know not really suicidal

What if you living will cause thousands of deaths? Wouldn't it be a rational thing to kill one self? if it saved the lives of others?

true but you didn't see bush doing that when he decided we should go to iraq

Im sorry but can you rewrite what you were trying to tell me? I couldn't understand any of that.

 

[runtheplacered]

you would hate to be rich now thats bull

Why is that bull? I don't necessarily hate the idea of being rich, but I'm surely not going out of my way to become it. I don't think it'd make me a better person or enrich me in anyway shape or form. It'd just give me more material things. So what? I'm completely happy with what I have. The only thing that'd be nice about being rich is if someone from my family, or myself, comes down with a serious illness and can get the best medical services that money can buy. But I'm not forfeiting a great many other things just to go on some asinine quest to become rich.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Suicide is for pansy. It's a cowards way out. A real man faces his problems with unblinking determination and suffers through them. You can rationally decided to be a coward, but suicide is never the right option.

 

[runtheplacered]

Suicide is for pansy. It's a cowards way out. A real man faces his problems with unblinking determination and suffers through them. You can rationally decided to be a coward, but suicide is never the right option.

Anyone who says "A real man" always makes me laugh. It reminds me of the joke, "Anyone can give up smoking, but it takes a real man to face cancer." It really is a horrible philosophy that there's a such thing as the mystical "real man".