Its one thing for someone to attempt suicide as a cry for help.
Indeed it is. And it appears that sometimes these cry for help types "succeed" where they did not mean to.
But people who truly do not want to continue living the life they are living, and find suicide a way to accomplish that, why the fuss?
Several reasons:
First, some percentage of those who attempt suicide are clearly not in a rational frame of mind when they attempt. They are either suffering under a severe mental illness (bipolar, psychosis, doubtless others) or are under the influence of a controlled substance. In short, individuals in this category truly do not understand what they are doing, and probably do not realize what the results of their actions will be. I realize that this does not meet your definition above, but it is also difficult to draw a line between suicides of this sort and suicides of another type for most. To the average person a suicide is a suicide is a suicide.
Second, some percentage of those who attempt suicide and fail but do not fall into the first category later repent of their actions. Meaning they understood what they were trying to do, meant to do what they did, but failed for whatever reason. And quite often harm themselves irreparably in the bargain. I think we can separate these folks from attempts of the "cry for help" variety, despite their later repentance. However, given that there's no do over or re-set button when it comes to ending your life, people of this sort who attempt and repent give the not too unreasonable impression that anyone who attempts and succeeds would in fact have later repented.
Third, Western Civilization has looked down on suicide for the entire Christian Era, okay technically since the jabberings of St. Augustine circa 400 CE, but let’s keep it simple, shall we? Anyway, the ethics of Christianity, for better or worse, seem to control a great many people who are in no meaningful sense Christian, at least in the area of suicide, if nowhere else. Although instead of speaking in terms of sin and hell, the True Believers in this instance bill insurance companies at $150/hour and dogmatically assert that anyone who considers suicide a potentially rational or reasonable response to their current condition to be
prima facie irrational. Any sort of deviation from the party line is marginalized, ignored or at best given grudging assent only under very limited circumstances (terminal illness, possibly chronic pain). And the spiritual descendents of Augustine will in fact do their utmost to see that this is how things remain.
I'm always afraid of mentioning any suicidal thoughts
Well, there’s your first problem. Why on earth do you want to mention having such thoughts to anyone, outside of a venue like SF? Presuming you’re not interested in being talked out of a particular decision, I guess. I mean, what sort of reaction do you expect? Do you expect someone to simply say “Well, its been nice knowing you, but oh, okay, if you feel like ending your life, that works for me, too. Say, that’s a nice coat you’ve got on, how about letting me have it, seeing you won’t be needing it anymore.” Of course not…but if not that, then what? I’d personally expect that people would doubtless be concerned, apprehensive, upset, any of a number of things. Doesn’t that sound reasonable, in any sort of Western Civilization type setting?
Besides, if there’s one decision that is your own to make, it is the one about whether or not to continue living. What right do you have to demand a sanction for your actions from another individual?
for fear ill be taken in a stretcher to someone who gets paid to administr drugs and "words of wisdom" that they no doubt have become jaded with. Its kinda the same thing over and over with every patient.
I’m not so sure this is likely to happen, merely if you bring something up in a conversation. But it isn’t all that unreasonable a response from a friend or even acquaintance, given the culture in which we live. Like I said, you start bringing up your suicidal thoughts to others, what sort of reaction do you think you’ll get?
So for someone who truly wants to cease existing in this physical form, who the FUCK are you (you being general) to prevent that from happening?
Well, who are you to burden them with this sort of knowledge and then expect them to sit back and do nothing?
Note that I don’t dispute you the right to end your own life, or for that matter me the right to end my own life, it is simply that others will most likely thing what you’re doing is wrong and move to stop it, if you inform them of it.
Just as murder is illegal because someone is choosing to end someone elses life without their input, preventing someone from making that decision for themselves should also be illegal.
I might actually agree with this, if I thought everyone who attempts suicide is a rational agent, at a minimum acting only after a fair amount of reflection, and not on some sort of impulse. Unfortunately, this is not the case, so, I must disagree that such conduct should be made illegal. There’re a great many suicide attempts prevented, where the person making the attempt is quite happy later on the attempt was prevented.
I guess im just wondering if anyone else, suicidal or not, agrees.
I agree with some of what you’re saying, but disagree with most of it. I am about as far away from being “pro-life” as it is possible to be, but I also do NOT think suicide should ever be made as easy as going out to eat. (BTW, an idea satirized by Kurt Vonnegut in his Sci-fi short story
Welcome to the Monkey House, complete with “Ethical Suicide Parlors” next door to a Howard Johnson’s restaurant.) It should be difficult, and should be an action meditated upon and thought about with extreme due care.
) and I can't afford therapy besides crisis psychiatric centers which end up turning me away after 20 hours.
