Not knowing what is suicide?

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TheBLA

The biggest loser ever to live.
#1
This is just something really silly I was wondering for a little while. What if we had never known about suicide, that that concept even existed? What would we do then if we were so depressed and felt things wouldn't get better, that we felt exactly how one feels before one commits suicide? What would happen? Or do we all just learn that concept of suicide eventually ourselves passively even if nobody teaches us it or we don't actively learn about it?
 

worlds edge

Well-Known Member
#2
This is just something really silly I was wondering for a little while. What if we had never known about suicide, that that concept even existed?
I suspect at least some people would act out rather than internalize their feelings. Hurt others rather than themselves.

What would we do then if we were so depressed and felt things wouldn't get better, that we felt exactly how one feels before one commits suicide?
I think there're a lot of severely depressed people who do reach this point but never consider suicide, never mind attempt it. And going the other way, there're a lot people who commit suicide but may not have even been considered depressed. If you're into reading, I recommend you check out chapter on Suicide in The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression. I personally found it eye-opening. The rest of the book is good, but that section would be on-point to some of what I think you're wondering about.

What would happen? Or do we all just learn that concept of suicide eventually ourselves passively even if nobody teaches us it or we don't actively learn about it?
I don't know. I'm under the impression that suicide among all types of mammals is very rare. If I've got my facts right and you can extrapolate from this to humans, I think discovering this on your own would probably be rare.
 
S

Shello

#3
I first attempted suicide before I even knew what suicide was, yet I did know what death was. So I guess I just instinctively knew.

I don't have much more to add, other than that gives you an example of someone who attempted even before knowing what it was. I just wanted death because I knew it would mean my existance ended.
 
J

Jackson

#4
I think the realization of suicide comes with the self-awareness of our own mortality. You would have to be ignorant of the nature and causes of death for the thought of suicide to be nonexistent. That would be an interesting but immoral social experiment to suppress that information in a controlled environment with real people raised from birth. In the real world, instinct would clue you in to the fact that you can kill yourself.
 
#5
I think the realization of suicide comes with the self-awareness of our own mortality. You would have to be ignorant of the nature and causes of death for the thought of suicide to be nonexistent. That would be an interesting but immoral social experiment to suppress that information in a controlled environment with real people raised from birth. In the real world, instinct would clue you in to the fact that you can kill yourself.
:agreed:

I was thinking the same. I'd imagine you'd have to live in a very protected world from birth, not experiencing or seeing, whether in real life or even in cartoons, death or pain. I'd say if you know a human can die then I'd take a guess that same person would know they could kill themselves.
 
#6
Interesting, i agree with Jackson pretty much. i remember first thinking about suicide and how i'd do it when i was around 5, and didn't really know what suicide was, i imagine the idea of suicide could come from things around you, especially TV. i didn't watch much TV at all as a child, but there's enough violence in cartoons and enough ideas in adult's programmes for you to grasp the concept. Makes you think though. If you think about something like self injury, some people might argue that being exposed to it would make you more likely to try it yourself. However, many people, especially young people believe that they are literally the only person who does it. i agree, that as long as you are aware of your own mortality, no one needs to be shown necessarily or to know that the concept exists outside of your own brain.
 
U

Unregistered57674732

#7
I considered it before I knew what it was. However, I knew what death was, and I thought I did not want to come back.
 
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