<p>I guess it depends on how you define selfishness. IMO even if you’re delusional, doing something that benefits yourself at the expense of others is selfish. Sure it can/should be excused in this case, but it’s still selfishness. I think it’s important that anyone considering suicide realize that not only are they hurting themselves, but they’re doing tremendous damage to the people around them as well.</p>
<p>musicallylatin,</p>
<p>Your being able to have empathy for your father reflects your having unusual wisdom and compassion despite having had such a tragic loss. I wish you well.</p>
<p>But then again, what acts that humans commit <em>aren’t</em> selfish? I personally believe that every human being acts out in his or her own self-interest. This isn’t implying that people wish to do harm onto others; this just means that every act a person commits must first and foremost benefit the self. </p>
<p>In the case of suicide, I still have a difficult time comprehending why it is considered a crime. We are our own persons. We control what we do. It’s not illegal to commit an act unless it harms other people. Sure, you can say that suicide harms family and friends, but doesn’t divorce also harm family? I’m not saying that the two have the same meaning or effect by any extent, but isn’t divorce also stupendously selfish if you have children? </p>
<p>Anyway. Back to suicide. I agree with musicallylatin and Northstarmom. If one is in such pain and feels so poorly about him/herself, then it is imposing too much on him/her to say that she/he is being selfish for committing suicide. For them, there’s no other way. Maybe others may think they have a way back; perhaps there is, but we are not always the right ones to diagnose that.</p>
<p>I for one think suicide is not selfish whatsoever. Most of the cases the people are mentally ill and are not getting the proper help or they are completely overtaken by the illness that the help does not get through to them. They are in a pit of hell in their mind and some of them feel they are a revolting mark on their family. That if they kill themselves they will stop being a burden to their family. Every case has a different reason. But to call that selfish is a completely naive way of thinking. Try being in the head of someone who is going through such terror in their minds and you may get an inkling of why they think the way they think.</p>
<p>
Suicide has been legal in all fifty states since the 90’s, and has always been legal in the US in practice. </p>
<p>However, in England, hundreds of years ago, the body of the deceased would be desecrated and inheritance taken away.</p>
<p>i think its this mentality that’s given that we can not under any cirumstances die b/c death in an ending. and wanting to die is selfish b/c so many others want to live. sometimes, its not about the other people. sometimes it is. i don’t agree that suicide is selfish b/c look at what people do to themselves to keep themselves young. isn’t it more selfish to focus on yourself and always try to stay younger and stay alive longer? isn’t that more narcissistic? </p>
<p>i will add that most people do not want to die. they just want to escape. when i attempted suicide, it was because i grew up thinking that my family didn’t want me and my dad hated me b/c he was too full of anger b/c that’s the way he always was. i didn’t have anyplace to turn to b/c i couldn’t even trust my family and since i wasn’t afraid of dying… i’m glad i’m still here but my whole family was ignorant of each other and each other’s feelings(sometimes we still are). from what i’ve seen, people don’t like being alone and they like someone to turn to. unfortunately not everyone does.</p>
<p>I’m not ignorant. I have had a close friend who had tried to kill herself multiple times. I wanted to kill myself, to rid myself of the world before for a long period of time. I hated myself. Yes, the mind is distorted with depression and other mental illnesses, but it doesn’t make it the right thing to do. I’ve been in that mindset before, but I was lucky to get out before I reached the edge.</p>
<p>No, because things will truly get better.
It may not seem so at that very moment of stress or depression, but have you ever felt happy when you kept your lips shut during your moment of rage than to let it out?
I have, because it saved me so much from many moments of regrets.
That’s the same for suicide. I’ve had my moments and now and then, I still do have those moments when I wish I could just end my life because everything seemed horrible, but then I got those moments in life (whether with my friends or other loved ones) when I felt so happy to be apart of and I was (and still am) so happy that I’m still living.</p>
<p>I still have a whole life ahead of me, and I hope that I can continue living it so that I can become a better person, and in turn, help others.</p>
<p>As much as you may not want to hear it, it is true that IT WILL BE OKAY!!!</p>
<p>
That’s not always true. I can give you plenty of examples, but I hardly think that’s necessary.</p>
<p>I would number it among the most basic of human rights, albeit one that I can never see myself exercising, though perhaps that view might change if I found myself in intense physical pain with death soon to follow regardless and no chances whatsoever of recovery. Then I might opt for a lethal dose of morphine or whatever is used for euthanasia, though in my present state I’d balk at the thought – I can’t fully speculate how I’d act under drastically different conditions, though. Don’t care in the slightest for the duty or honor or dignity or integrity motivations for it, either.</p>
<p>I read a great little essay once praising the virtues of suicide, but for the life of me I can’t seem to find it right now 
Might have been good for this thread…</p>
<p>Only 93 Members of CC have committed suicide, lets not make this number rise, ok?</p>
<p>^^^First of all, I won’t pretend and say that I understand suicide victims or the family and friends of those who have killed themselves, so these are just my thoughts. Don’t kill me for it :]</p>
<p>Like yawn, I hardly think it’s necessary to provide examples. Because most of the time, things just don’t turn out all right. However, it’s just the mentality that’s important. I’d think I’d be pretty damn depressed if I actually stepped back from my life and looked at it objectively. We’re a speck of dust compared to the universe and we all die sooner or later…and here I am living like my life matters. It’s all about perspective. In this context, there’s three types of people. There’s the type that just lives to survive. They trudge through life methodically, but their life still has meaning because they feel the instinctual drive to survive. Then they’re those who actually live. Their life itself is the sole reason for existence. And any of these two kinds of people can turn into the third kind. Those who don’t want to live or can’t live. Every human has the right to their own life. Ending what was originally theirs to begin with isn’t necessarily a selfish thing to do. It’s ultimately their choice. But we view it as selfish because, guess what? Humans love. It’s these bonds we create with other people that make us want to keep them close to us forever. Is this selfish?
Maybe we should just stop using this word altogether.</p>