Is it okay to laugh at suicide?
I hope so. I've done it quite a bit in my time. I think I need to be able to laugh at it. With fifteen years of my life plagued by suicidal thoughts (from an underlying bipolar disorder) and one suicide attempt behind me, I need every weapon I can to keep that particular demon at bay. It seems to me like laughing at suicide is effective at disarming it, and making it a little less attractive a prospect.
Of course, there's two things that come up in any "is it okay to laugh at" debate. A. I think you should be able to laugh at anything, if you want. B. There is something called sensitivity. If you have a penchant for black humor, fine. You don't have to go flaunting that black humor around remaining family members after someone commits suicide, for instance. Use a little common sense, and otherwise enjoy yourself.
So, clearly, as a suicidal myself, I'm not in the least offended by people joking about it. Here's what I -am- offended by, and gravely so:
x EvilErmine x said:
Personally i think it's the height of selfishness but i would never mock it.
Let me try to explain why this is such a hot button, why it absolutely makes my blood boil. I've gone for fifteen years, at times struggling daily against the irrational lure of suicide. And please -try- to understand at some level what that entails. It means suicide instinctively feels like the right option, constantly, weighing on me. Every day I'm bothered by suicidal thoughts and I don't go through with it, I feel like I've let myself down. It's deeply ingrained into the core of who I am. Irrational thoughts stemming from psychiatric disorders, you have to understand, alters your perspective completely. While I can rationally recognize that yes, killing myself is a bad idea, that doesn't in any way -feel- true to me. Being aware that I'm sick is helpful, but it doesn't keep me safe on its own.
So before any one of you try to tell me what a coward I was on the one day I tried to take my own life, I'd like to hear what you think about the 5477 other ones. Cause frankly, I think I deserve credit for that, rather than getting my name smeared on the one time I slip up. It's a regular, very demanding struggle. I'd rather you not disrespect and spit all over that if I one day can't fight that fight anymore.
I hope that goes some way towards explaining why that line of argument is one of the most personally wounding and hurtful things I hear.
(late addendum) ...after reading this thread a little closer, I'm actually sick to my stomach. Some of the opinions spouted off here are so disgusting I don't know where to start. Some of you people should be ashamed of yourself.