do you think suicide is selfish?

Suicide is a very horrible thing. First of all, the suicidal person is in such pain that they wish death as a release from it. It's hard to reach out in such a state.

People who dismiss or belittle suicidal feelings are more harm than they are good, because they just re-enforce the perceptions of the suicidal person ("Well, if I'm THAT selfish maybe I don't deserve to live.") It's more than just aggravating: it contributes to the overwhelming feelings of despair that are present to begin with. Once again, the suicidal person feels unheard and unable to deal with not just everyday life, but also the perceived rejection of loved ones who insist on minimizing the situation.

Suicidal people are better off seeking medical help. It can be a catch 22. If one feels well enough to leave the house and see a doctor, the thought of "going there" with a professional might seem unappealing and perhaps unnecessary. But wait until a bad spell has happened, then talking with a professional seems impossible, futile and humiliating.

Best course of action. Make the appointment ASAP and GO TO IT. Yes, it's hard. But it's better than the alternative.

And trying to make your dad understand? You can't make him change his mind. He'll cling to whatever works for him. You don't need to make him see things your way. Stand firm in your convictions, though. You can both just agree to disagree. But if he insists on forcing his views on you, you can point out that murder, rape and crime are far more selfish acts and even THEY get time off for good behaviour.

Suicidal people? Not so lucky.

Edit: I agree with your details. It's more than just thinking "Dum, de, dum, life sucks, it's no fair, I'm bored, guess I'll kill myself." There is a definite emotional torment and distortion happening inside of the suicidal mind.

And I won't name any names, but a good portion of these answers you've received are part of the problem. Not part of the solution.

If you know anyone who has suicidal impulses, encourage them to seek out professional help immediately. It can make a difference.

Some people will never understand how empty and lonely the world seems prior to a suicide attempt. It's scary. And being called selfish, as well as dealing with other mental wars, doesn't really help anyone on the edge with defeating the process, I agree.

And for a certain someone: the word "trying" in "trying to help" should have been a clue; committing suicide may not actually help anyone, but it is the delusion of the desperate and bitter that dying rids others of their troubles.

I agree with your Dad. It is selfish because you got out of your problems, but now you've given everyone who cares about you a HUGE problem- they've now lost someone they love. They are left with the thought that it may have been their fault- like they could've done more to help with the problem and maybe this person would still be alive. It's alot to live with and those thoughts don't go away.

I have been on the suicidal end- it's not something that you think about when you think I just can't do it anymore. You don't consider what the ones that you leave behind may think or feel about what you're wanting to do. You only think about the major (or may feel major at the time) problem that you just absolutely think you can never fix or it will never get better. So basically, you're thinking of yourself.

I too think that it is selfish. I had a friend in high school and her family was having a hard time. Well, her dad committed suicide. I guess things just got too tuff for him, but look at the situation he left his family in. My friend just kept saying, how could he do this to us? How could he leave us like this?

Now, we dont know for sure what is going through a persons mind that is contemplating, or committing suicide, but I think that it is safe to say that he wasn't thinking about the horrid state that he would be leaving his family in. Sure, they were going through some difficulties, but he was not the only one who was suffering. But now that he is gone, his family has to suffer alone without the support and financial help from their father, and now, they are dealing with the difficulties and mourning the loss of him.

If he was truly unselfish he would have put aside his own pain and made the sacrifices that were necessary to support his family and make it through together. Instead he bailed. Selfish.

selfishness is not a term which sits well around this subject and this arguement will always rage on. i have seriously contemplated suicide twice in the distant past, the reasons are irrelevant, but the only thing that stopped me was my sense of responsibilty and the thought of the effect on my children. i believe that by the time a person does reach the point of actually ending their own life that the majority consider that they will be doing everyone a favour by taking their life. they don`t forsee the utter devestation left behind. a guy i knew, was found hanging by his teenage daughter. he worshiped the ground that she walked on and he would be devasted at the thought of her finding him. that indicates to me that at the point when he chose to take his life, he did not think about what might happen next, or he would not have put her through it. personally though, at the point when i was thinking about it, i was very calm and my thoughts had never seemed more rational or logical. it just seemed to make sense, i suppose

I believe it is selfish. A person who is BY NO MEANS considering the feelings of other people when they commit suicide. How traumatic it must be for someone to find a dead body, let it be a parent finding their child, a co-worker finding their friend, a student finding another student, or even for a person to find a complete stranger lying dead.

When someone commits suicide, the family receives no help or insurance--all the costs must be paid by the family; that is, the ambulance ride, the coroner, doctors, and the funeral. Someone who commits suicide needless to say does not care about any of that.

For a sibling or child to commit suicide would scar a family forever. That family must carry with them the haunting memory of their loved one killing him/herself.

Your argument for suicide of "[helping] the people around them" is just flawed. Furthermore, someone contemplating suicide should receive no sympathy; maybe they should have some sympathy for others.

Edit: Chemical imbalance? What quack doctor told you that?

Everyone goes through hardships; everyone suffers at some point. That's life. And I'm sure everyone has thought about suicide before. But to leave your family in financial turmoil is NOT SELFLESS. Making sacrifices so that everyone else can have a better life is selfless.

Now, if a completely retarded person commits suicide, that's different. They don't know any better. Is that what your question is? "What if a retarded person commits suicide, is that selfish?"

Think of how YOU would feel if someone very close to you died.

If you lose someone you love you would be absolutely devastated. You must be relatively young to even think of suicide and not understand the feelings of loss and sorrow of those left behind. Never to see them again . Never to laugh, talk, tell them you love them,touch them or hear them. NEVER. Just think for a moment what that means.

If you had lost a parent or grandparent or sibling then you would understand how other people would feel . So yes I think putting your own feelings first without even considering the effect it would have on your family and friends is a very selfish thing to do.

You do not help people by killing yourself, you will succeed in making them feel dreadfull that they had not been asked to help with whatever problem was causing the suicidal feelings. When they tried to help you that would make them feel better, but someone DELIBERATELY taking their own life and DELIBERATELY causing the people closest to you, hurt, pain, anguish. They would feel sick to their stomach and physically ill after someone did something as awfull as that.

Yes I believe it is absolutely the MOST selfish thing a person could ever do.

i dont really think it's selfish. suicidal people are mentally ill and can suffer from pretty harsh emotional stress, while other people do expierence this, but not in the same doses. i believe the argument could be made that it's selfish for people around a suffering person to want them to suffer instead of just ending their pain.

I agree with everything you have said. I can't think of saying it better.

I understand why you dad think that way thought, he's just trying to protect his investment - you. Because he feels it is very selfish of you (to him) if you commit suicide.

Personally I agree that suicide is selfish. The person contemplating on ending his/her life is very subjective in his/her outlook on it. At a first glance it may seem thoughtful and caring to die for the good of others. However, this is just a way for making this individual alleviate the guilt for causing a lot of pain with this act. In other words, he or she uses the excuse of "doing it for others" to make suicide acceptable in his/her mind; a "good" act if you will.

When in reality, what it boils down to, is weakness- lack of courage to struggle, to overcome obstacles, to live. Masquerading this cowardice as a noble act is a way for the person in question to feel like it is acceptable, heroic even. This, of course, is denial. One's death can impart a sense of tremendous guilt on all connected with him/her- parents, friends, relatives will blame themselves, no matter how close they were to the "victim". It might ruin people's lives and scar them forever; it is the pain they will carry with them for the rest of their existence.

To cause such immense suffering with one foolish act one needs to be rather selfish. To bring so much pain to all concerned just because he/she does not have the courage to go on - that is also irrefutably cruel.

EDIT: CHEMICAL IMBALANCE MY BUTT. Just an excuse for those contemplating suicide to alleviate their guilt for potentially fatally bruising those around them. It is another way of saying "It is not my fault if by killing myself I hurt my family, because it I am ill, you see, it is something in my brain, it is not as if I can control it".

'Suicidals' deserve pity you say? Are you not aware that it is pity that makes these individuals feel sorry for themselves even more and hence make them more likely to end their life? And yes it is a choice. To think that it is not is denial, a way to escape from the reality of the cowardice that is this act. These people should not be pitied, my friend, but given a wake-up call. We all go through some very difficult periods in our lives, when going on seems too arduous and then some of us attempt to rationalize our decision to die. It takes strength to stay alive, granted sometimes a great deal of it. But strength nevertheless.