Is Suicide Prevention selfish?

[Winnie The Foo]

So today Facebook reminded me that it is Suicide Prevention week, with the #stopsuicide. It got me to thinking, is Suicide Prevention inherently selfish?

Hear me out. I understand the argument that suicide can be selfish if a person has people who care about them, kids to support, etc. But let's say a person has none of that. No family, no friends, no job. They dislike nearly every aspect about every society on Earth. They fit in nowhere and being alive is generally not pleasing in anyway for them. If they decided they no longer wanted to live, would a person talking them out of be considered selfish?

Note: I chose the word "selfish" instead of "wrong" because of the subjective nature. And using the dictionary definition of selfish, defined as:
adjective
1.
devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others.
2.
characterized by or manifesting concern or care only for oneself:
selfish motives.

Discuss, ignore, or troll.

 

[Thai Domi]

Did you see that one lady who dove into a croc pond. Oh man

 

[Codger]

No.

I don';t think it's very likely that most people who want to kill themseves are doing it because, in completely sound mind, they've made an objective survey of life on this planet and don't choose to take part.

The people I've met who tried or succeeded were depressed and needed help.

 

[Winnie The Foo]

Did you see that one lady who dove into a croc pond. Oh man

Nah. If you're going to go out, provide a meal for some animals. Ashes to ashes type of shit.

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

Did you see that one lady who dove into a croc pond. Oh man

she snapped?

 

[Count Zero]

Inherently ? Hard to say. I'd say, just off the top of my head, that most people who commit suicide do so in altered states of mind - such as under the influence of depression.

 

[weich]

No.

I don';t think it's very likely that most people who want to kill themseves are doing it because, in completely sound mind, they've made an objective survey of life on this planet and don't choose to take part.

The people I've met who tried or succeeded were depressed and needed help.

I agree. If a person is suffering from terminal cancer, and you try to stop their doctor assisted suicide, that's selfish.

If you help a bullied teen avoid suicide you are doing the right thing.

 

[Gazwald]

Well, eight years ago I had very few friends, no family, no job, nowhere to live, crippling anxiety and wanted to end my life. Suicidal thoughts dominated my mind most of the time. To cut a long story short I'm pretty thankful I didn't kill myself as I have a great life now. Unless someone's a monsterous human being, or severely ill and in constant unbearable pain, suicide's pretty tragic imho

I concentrated on one aspect of my life at the time and got myself sorted, but I couldn't have done that without help.

 

[Winnie The Foo]

No.

I don';t think it's very likely that most people who want to kill themseves are doing it because, in completely sound mind, they've made an objective survey of life on this planet and don't choose to take part.

The people I've met who tried or succeeded were depressed and needed help.

Inherently ? Hard to say. I'd say, just off the top of my head, that most people who commit suicide do so in altered states of mind - such as under the influence of depression.

Ahh I see. The error in my thought process is in assuming that suicide was a decision made with critical thinking. It may very well be true that "no one in their right mind" would consider suicide as a serious option. Suicide could be almost a "symptom" of depression and we can use that as a sign to treat said depression.

 

[Patrick Jane]

I do not support suicide prevention. Your life is your property and you can do whatever you want with it.

 

[fightdonttweet]

Not any more selfish than suicide itself.

 

[$uicideboy$]

I do not support suicide prevention. Your life is your property and you can do whatever you want with it.

isnt suicide prevention just like "hey maybe dont kill urself m8"
and not actually physically making it impossible for someone to kill themselves

 

[Gazwald]

Ahh I see. The error in my thought process is in assuming that suicide was a decision made with critical thinking. It may very well be true that "no one in their right mind" would consider suicide as a serious option. Suicide could be almost a "symptom" of depression and we can use that as a sign to treat said depression.

I think that's correct for the vast majority of cases.

 

[ehtheist]

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes people are pushed to suicide by exterior pressures which, without those pressures, they would be living happy lives. Sometimes they really want to die for carefully thought out reasons. In the case of the latter, suicide prevention is selfish. In the former, give them a smack and tell them to quit their bellyaching - a year from then, they'd be just fine and an impulsive decision now shouldn't cost them their whole future.

 

[Count Zero]

Ahh I see. The error in my thought process is in assuming that suicide was a decision made with critical thinking. It may very well be true that "no one in their right mind" would consider suicide as a serious option. Suicide could be almost a "symptom" of depression and we can use that as a sign to treat said depression.

I'm not saying everyone who attempts/commits suicide is not of sound mind.

And honestly I'm not even saying it is completely impossible to make "good" (this is highly subjective) decisions when suffering from depression, or when drunk, etc, etc. But it's just so terribly hard to tease everything out.

Like, I've been trashed out of my mind and realized I was too fucked up to drive, and gave someone else my keys. So, yeah, it's clearly possible to make good decisions when your decision-making ability is impaired. But of course it's much, much trickier when it's literally a life/death matter (suicide) and the impairment in question is not as easily measured as "how much do you weigh and how much have you had to drink" (such as depression).

It's a bit odd for me, since I literally work in suicide prevention. I don't imagine any of my co-workers would ever say they think it's even just a hypothetical situation that someone could make a sound/rational decision to commit suicide. But first and foremost I believe everyone has to make their own determination about the value of their own life and what compromises to that quality of life they're willing to put up with. So, idk, maybe I'd be surprised and some of my coworkers would hold the same position.

 

[gotBooched]

It would be selfish if the implications surrounding a suicide were void of emotion but the fact is most of the time it's related to depression, a disease just like cancer AIDS etc. so hell no it's not selfish. It's part of the medicine to getting them help.

 

[Kardashians]

idk if somebody wants to kill themselves i'm kinda like, ok. it's their life honestly.

but then i'm also like, if they're depressed and there's something i could do to help them to make things feel less shitty, then i can try to help. sometimes all a person really needs is to feel like somebody is there (sometimes, not always is it enough, i know). and other times i think people just go on as if they want to kill themselves bc they do want the attention or want somebody to kind of step up, and i'm fine with that as well. i think if somebody is seeking attention then maybe they need it. i'm fine with giving it to them.

but then there's also so many unique situations that a person might want to kill themselves for.

like yesterday was watching documentaries on murderers and there was one guy that killed a bunch of women then tried to kill himself to get out of facing the consequences (he wasn't successful). and honestly fuck that guy. i wouldn't allow somebody a pass like that. cowardly as shit all.

 

[nostradumbass]

How many suicides are because somebody hates EVERY aspect of life? Probably none. Nobody's thinking of suicide while they're getting blown, for example. Furthermore, there aren't many cases where somebody was talked out of it or failed and was angry about it years later. Hell, the fucking attention paid to try to talk someone out of it is all they're after most times anyway. That, or because they got too deep into something and don't want to deal with consequences of something that's happened.

 

[Winnie The Foo]

I'm not saying everyone who attempts/commits suicide is not of sound mind.

And honestly I'm not even saying it is completely impossible to make "good" (this is highly subjective) decisions when suffering from depression, or when drunk, etc, etc. But it's just so terribly hard to tease everything out.

Like, I've been trashed out of my mind and realized I was too fucked up to drive, and gave someone else my keys. So, yeah, it's clearly possible to make good decisions when your decision-making ability is impaired. But of course it's much, much trickier when it's literally a life/death matter (suicide) and the impairment in question is not as easily measured as "how much do you weigh and how much have you had to drink" (such as depression).

It's a bit odd for me, since I literally work in suicide prevention. I don't imagine any of my co-workers would ever say they think it's even just a hypothetical situation that someone could make a sound/rational decision to commit suicide. But first and foremost I believe everyone has to make their own determination about the value of their own life and what compromises to that quality of life they're willing to put up with. So, idk, maybe I'd be surprised and some of my coworkers would hold the same position.

Thanks for the insight. I kinda sit on the fence on this one. I guess what struck me as odd was the focus on "suicide prevention" instead of "#reasonstolive". I'm assuming the two go hand in hand though. I could be wrong. I'm not extremely educated on the topic, but I find it interesting. Is that strange?

 

[45ACP]

I literally work in suicide prevention.

Good for you man, seriously.

I've been affected by suicide in the past and have dealt off and on with suicidal ideations myself at various points throughout my life due to my depression, so I recently decided to do something about it and am currently training for a volunteer position at a grief center. One of the things I'll be doing is answering the national suicide prevention hotline. They way I look at that is, if someone is calling a suicide prevention hotline, they don't really want to die, they just see it as the only option but are truly looking for help.

Others here have summed it up probably better than I can, but I don't believe suicide prevention is selfish at all, unless you're trying to prevent someone from killing themselves who is in constant severe pain and their situation is truly hopeless.

I've seen how suicide affects family and friends of the deceased and I've also seen people who were at one point suicidal turn their lives around and go on to lead happy and fulfilled lives. Those are the kinds of people suicide prevention is meant to help.