A friend of mine recently committed suicide on Tuesday, May 5. He walked into an incoming train. He had a girlfriend at the time, and although I don't know why he did it, I was wondering if he actually thought that would solve whatever problem he had. Is suicide ever worth it or is it ever justified? I know it's frowned upon in most (if not all) religions.

I see it as taking the easy way out, some people are fine with that. However it's really just a a permanent solution to a temporary problem. There's always a better way out no matter what the situation, unless of course your trapped in a 96 year old rapists basement and hes going to anal rape you, then kill yourself. Seriously though, I dont really know anyone who HAS committed suicide, but I think suicidals just feel like there's not really a POINT rather then theres no chance.

Suicide is a selfish act. Although it will get rid of all of your problems, it takes a huge toll on people who are close to you. Judging by the people I know who have committed suicide, They are often so far lost into a depression that they cannot think strait or even consider the consequences.

There are even some bizarre situations where someone will have a mental condition where they will see hallucinations often depicted their death, or their suicide. These hallucinations can often really mess with their heads and make them have suicidal thoughts, even if they are happy / not depressed.

While I do not personally know anyone who have committed suicide, I have a lot of close friends that have considered doing so. Oh and yeah, I have thought about doing it too. I felt so depressed back then, feeling that I've failed everyone who expected much from me, being a burden to my family and friends, and that I cause everything that's bad to the people around me.

That's how you would think of it at first; you're just a single insignificant individual within the billions of people around the world. What else do you have to live for? If you die, the whole world wouldn't care and all your problems would be solved.

That I thought was just wrong. Maybe the whole world wouldn't care, but there's still that group of people that would care about you, even if you've been such an ass to them all your life. It'd still be something that would scar their lives too, forever. And that's what made me think, "It isn't worth it."

I always thought that I was worthless and that it would help if I just disappeared from my friend's lives. Wrong again. I had been in fact, one of the factors that most of them hadn't committed suicide. They always think that no one cares and I showed them the truth. I cared. And so do the other people in their lives.

I STILL think its worth it....

I dont think normal people can actually understand suicidal people. (I have meet very few thoughtful people)

I'm sorry for your loss. To lose a friend is terrible.

I agree with much of what has been already said. Perhaps if we were all completely independant it would be a different matter, but as things stand, each of us has a mother and father at the very least, and friends. I wouldn't go so far as to say that suicide is a selfish act, but it certainly displays either a disregard or a lack of thought with respect to those around us. Personally I could never commit suicide, at the very least because I know it would wreak havoc on my mother's mind. I couldn't do that to her, ever. (There are other reasons too, just that's one I believe many folks can share with me).

Albert Camus was one of the first existentialists. He claimed that there is one critical question that must be answered before any more philosophizing can be done: Is life worth living?
If the answer is yes, there isn't any problem really, and things can proceed as normal. If the answer is no however, the logical answer would be to terminate your existence, because it isn't worth living. The thing that I believe made this "philosophy" great, is that it isn't really any kind of high an mighty logical thing, it's simply experience and some common sense. So, there are valid cases for suicide. Being tortured incessantly seems to say that life isn't worth living, or losing everything and everyone you cared for, perhaps. Camus also had one other thing to say about the decision to terminate your existence, however. While it does make sense, we can take it upon ourselves to go on anyway. It seems to be more noble in a way to go on without hope. Maybe there's nothing to be gained from it, but if you keep fighting all the way to the grave, who can say that you were a quitter, or doubt your will to press on?

Here's one example of such a situation: a prisoner of war.
They lock a guy in a cell and torture him for information every day, and he has no hope of escape. The guards aren't fools, the walls are steel, the bars are hard and cold. All he has to look forward to the next day is them torturing him for something he doesn't know. So he can ask himself "Is my life worth living?" I don't know anyone who's going to say yes in that situation. So he says no, it's not worth living, and the next step would be to terminate it. But he never kills himself. Instead, he does pushups. Reads whatever he can find, does jumping jacks, sings and makes himself some music. Gets himself into a routine. "What's the point?" a guard might ask. Surely he knows he'll never be freed. Every day the guards feed him his gruel and every day he's in there doing his pushups and singing and reading. Eventually they might get around to asking themselves "Just what is it that makes this guy tick?" He has nothing to live for, he has no reason for his routine or what he's doing. So time goes on, and it's the same thing every day. Pushups in the morning, torture in the afternoon, a bit of singing then sleep. One day, a guard might watch this guy for a minute and just say "Damn." Why? Because he won't give up. He made himself something to do out of nothing. It's not worth it, but he does it anyway. Maybe the next day they shoot him in the head because they've wion the war, but they never broke him, and he made the decision not to give up.

The way I see it, life is more important than anything you own. Due to my belief, life is the only thing you have. However, if people think it's their time to go, then let them.

No.

I live in San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge is the #1 suicide hotspot in the entire world. I don't want to see corpses in the cold shores, and I'd hate to see them turn into attention grabbers. If the rails were built higher, that would have saved a lot of lives. I'd hate to see a graveyard, and I'd hate to see suicides greatly affecting others.

In ninth grade, I moved to a new school, and became really good friends with this kid named Kevin. Not just the say-hi-at-school friends, like we hung out a fair amount too. Everyone that met Kevin seemed to comment on his bright spirit and his happy conduct. Anyway, he hung himself in his closet on his sisters birthday. Nobody, except him and God, knows why he did. I've heard the whole "he was secretly depressed" bull, I'm not buying it. So ya he commit suicide and it was really quite pointless to be honest. I didn't cry or anything, it was just like "oh i'm at school, but my friend is gone(indefinitely)." I felt minor sadness for about 2.5 seconds and then moved on. Maybe his parents were affected, maybe his other friends were affected, but not really me. All i'm left with is the story to share and a point to make.

IMO Suicide gets nothing done. It did nothing for me except -1 from my list of buds.

Some could argue that those people are heroes. They were probably experiencing some type of social injustice, and every avenue of changing their situation failed (similar to the torture scenario.). But when people learn about how this person was and why they killed themselves, it sheds light on the problem, and increases the likely hood of people fixing it.

What a cruel thing to say, Personally I'd probly say the exact same thing but I've never been through it. But still

I'm not going to lie but I've thought of commiting suicide because i had a TON of regret with me, and it felt like each regret brought more regret then i had started with. It killed me everyday having to think about it, how if i had done certain things or had been the type of person to do these things, how i would have everything i wanted. But I didn't do it and just "Fuck everything" 'd. 2 years later I went out with this girl. We are not together now (she is with someone else) she says she loves me more than this new guy but she can't wait for me to change because HER heart was full of regret for 2 years. If I've learned anything is that life changes and unexpected things can happen, things that you thought would never happen or seemed impossible happen.

I'm scared everyday for the next 2 years is gonna suck but I'm not going to consider suicide. If i did then I will never get to find out the next surprise.

About the
That is so true, but when you know your going to die it doesn't matter how you leave things, Because your dead. At least thats the why i think of it. It's like someone saying "I'm going to remember you forever, even when I'm dead" You can't remember someone .... if your dead. I guess it really only matters if you believe in an after life.

I don't ;D

I've been suicidal for most of all my life. Currently am... on the brink, shall we say. I'm basically like "Kevin" was. I appear to be completely happy. The reason I personally consider suicide is because of my life. I don't see it improving, and I don't really care. There's nothing to look forward to. But a large part (sometimes), society sickens me. I feel like a total prick/cliche kid saying this, but I find the fact that American society is the way it is disgusts me and makes me want to kill myself.

D:
Edit: Whoever claimed that if they had higher rails on the Golden Gate bridge they would save lives, what a joke. People wont stop killing people if they didn't have guns and wouldn't stop killing themselves if they had higher rails.

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on May 8 2009, 10:38 pm by Vrael.

Forcing people to live is wrong. If someone has legitimate reasons to want to die, I don't think we should stop them. However MY GF OF TWO WHOLE WEEKS LEFT ME AND MY PARENTS WONT BUY ME A 360 are not legit reasons.

There are people who are in debt, losing all they have, with a very bad future to look forward to, and I wouldn't blame them for jumping off a building or stepping in front of a train. I can't fathom how some of the AIDS infected kids in Africa who will never have a dime to their names go on day to day. If it were me, I'd have offed myself as soon as I realized just how bad the rest of my life was going to be.

You are dead wrong, especially if "finding another way to suicide" argument would be settled against me. Plus there are signs and phones on the Golden Gate Bridge to prevent suicide jumpers. Of course there is an image of a broken phone in Google, and asking jumpers to use cellphone to call a certain number for counseling, but that's different. And I drove on the bridge before and I have seen a police officer pulling someone away, above the rails and onto the sidewalk.

Higher rails WILL save a lot of lives, especially preventing people suicide at a "famous location".

I believe his point was that if someone is determined to terminate their existence, they will find a way and something as trivial as a higher rail will not be sufficient to stop them. Certainly active guarding of such a prominent location will serve to reduce the number of suicides at that location, and may even serve to reduce the total number of suicides by putting people in touch with other people who can help them, but even so a "higher rail" isn't going to stop someone who is truly determined.

I disagree. If they are impeded in their attempt, the will eventually find a new way, but in doing so they are allotted more time, and during that time they will surely be dwelling on their decision. Let's say a guy wants to kill himself so he goes to the pawn shop to buy a guy, but it turns out he needs a permit so he waits 2 weeks on that. During those 2 weeks lots of soul-searching will be going down. Odds are that he won't feel half as strongly about taking his life as he did 2 weeks prior.

Odds are in a situation of an event, like a breakup or death. Depression is long term, and a breakup/death is short term sadness. It won't stop depression, but maybe you're right about short term depression.

I don't think he was depressed. He looked fine to me. He wasn't stupid and didn't seem to be the kind of guy to act irrationally. It's so weird and slightly uncomfortable to not see him at school anymore.

His girlfriend is currently hospitalized, probably due to shock.

Suicide is a last resort act I suppose.

But if you can do nothing for society, I guess society doesn't need you.

It's sad because the people that commit suicide are probably the few of us with a good heart. Think about it, the world the way it is is completely unlivable for them, AND they have to deal with others who get to have enjoyable lives all around them. I know if I had a miserable existence and everyone else around me didn't, I'd fucking take it out on them and the world by means of violence. These people in the exact same circumstance are selfless enough not to take the ship down with them.