Do human beings have the right to commit suicide?

[lhancock90]

Maybe. A lot of the patients are depressed (its geriatric) and say they want to die which is a hard pill to swallow when the patient next door has end stage cancer and will die when they dont really want to. I know its not their fault they're depressed though. IDK, I just think life is precious and should only end when it needs to.

I can see why you think the way you do now, working with cancer patients that don't want to die, those who do must seem selfish to you and i can see why you'd feel that strongly.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

I do think it is a Grey issue, definitely not black or white.

Suicide because you are mentally ill, I'm sorry but I do find it selfish, mainly because I was nearly the one that did have to pick up the pieces. Someone close has tried a few times now and I can't even describe how it feels, every single time. I know they didn't mean to be selfish and I try to understand best I can, I support them still as much as I can but still in my eyes it is a selfish act.
I also saw the body of someone who jumped years and years ago, I was only 10 at the time, yet it is something I will never forget. Did that man stop to think of the kids, even adults seeing his body lying in the pool of blood that he lie in?

Euthanasia I think is a totally different situation though, Like a PP said I don't think its choosing to die, its the WAY you choose to die. Yes I think in this case humans should have and do deserve that right.

I suppose I only go on previous experience, and being the one that nearly had to pick up the pieces and the one that had to watch a loved one die in an undignified way, that is mine.

 

[tina3747]

I do think it is a Grey issue, definitely not black or white.

Suicide because you are mentally ill, I'm sorry but I do find it selfish, mainly because I was nearly the one that did have to pick up the pieces. Someone close has tried a few times now and I can't even describe how it feels, every single time. I know they didn't mean to be selfish and I try to understand best I can, I support them still as much as I can but still in my eyes it is a selfish act.
I also saw the body of someone who jumped years and years ago, I was only 10 at the time, yet it is something I will never forget. Did that man stop to think of the kids, even adults seeing his body lying in the pool of blood that he lie in?

Euthanasia I think is a totally different situation though, Like a PP said I don't think its choosing to die, its the WAY you choose to die. Yes I think in this case humans should have and do deserve that right.

I suppose I only go on previous experience, and being the one that nearly had to pick up the pieces and the one that had to watch a loved one die in an undignified way, that is mine.

I think that's the answer to the question though, there's so many situations to speak of as a whole which then makes it unable to answer!One reason to take your own life is completely different to the next person. I don't care what anyone says, it is a selfish act, and by that I mean that you are thinking just about yourself. These people know it will cause pain and suffering with loved ones but at the same time they are not of rational mind so I imagine they turn it round to thinking the world will be better off without them. I guess the people who have contributed to this thread where they've been in that situation.. At the time would you say you wouldn't have seen it as a selfish act but moving forward to the present can you not look back and see it as that now? What would have been the outcome if you'd gone through with it, ie your loved ones and how they'd be affected?
There was a case near us where a dad had custody of his kids. One afternoon he hung himself, the children came home and found him. There would have been no one else that would have found him so in this case I view him as a terribly selfish man that if he was so desperate not to live why he did it at a time he knew it would be the kids who got there first.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

I do think it is a Grey issue, definitely not black or white.

Suicide because you are mentally ill, I'm sorry but I do find it selfish, mainly because I was nearly the one that did have to pick up the pieces. Someone close has tried a few times now and I can't even describe how it feels, every single time. I know they didn't mean to be selfish and I try to understand best I can, I support them still as much as I can but still in my eyes it is a selfish act.
I also saw the body of someone who jumped years and years ago, I was only 10 at the time, yet it is something I will never forget. Did that man stop to think of the kids, even adults seeing his body lying in the pool of blood that he lie in?

Euthanasia I think is a totally different situation though, Like a PP said I don't think its choosing to die, its the WAY you choose to die. Yes I think in this case humans should have and do deserve that right.

I suppose I only go on previous experience, and being the one that nearly had to pick up the pieces and the one that had to watch a loved one die in an undignified way, that is mine.

I think that's the answer to the question though, there's so many situations to speak of as a whole which then makes it unable to answer!One reason to take your own life is completely different to the next person. I don't care what anyone says, it is a selfish act, and by that I mean that you are thinking just about yourself. These people know it will cause pain and suffering with loved ones but at the same time they are not of rational mind so I imagine they turn it round to thinking the world will be better off without them. I guess the people who have contributed to this thread where they've been in that situation.. At the time would you say you wouldn't have seen it as a selfish act but moving forward to the present can you not look back and see it as that now? What would have been the outcome if you'd gone through with it, ie your loved ones and how they'd be affected?
There was a case near us where a dad had custody of his kids. One afternoon he hung himself, the children came home and found him. There would have been no one else that would have found him so in this case I view him as a terribly selfish man that if he was so desperate not to live why he did it at a time he knew it would be the kids who got there first.

Sorry I don't think I explained myself properly. I wasn't the one who tried to take my own life, someone close to me did and what I meant was that I was the one nearly picking up the pieces along with several others.
I do find it a selfish act in these circumstances. What I meant was that they probably wasn't thinking that way at the time i.e it being selfish, but that doesn't take away from the fact that I do find it selfish iykwim? Obviously I still try and understand the best I can and to support them as much as possible but it doesn't change that if they tried again and succeeded/didn't succeed I would still find it a very selfish thing to do.

Not every case I do think is selfish though like I said in my 1st post. I don't think euthanasia is, I do think that it isn't even about choosing to die alot of the time its more about choosing the way you die. All of the illnesses are incurable or offer no way of life. I suppose I see depression as different, it is manageable and you can live a good quality of life, I do appreciate that it would be hard work and have seen that it is hard work from the person I mentioned above but it is doable.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Carried on (submitted before I was ready )

Perhaps I am being naive and will never truely understand without being in that position. But especially in the cases of people having kids I just can't see how you wouldn't want to come back up, if not for your own sake then at least for theirs.

 

[feeble]

I agree, there are definitely many cases of suicide being selfish, people getting hugely into debt and gambling, rather than facing facts taking their lives...

But there will always Be situations to counter that.

Stories where suicide is selfless, or neither of the above...

 

[beccad]

I think anyone can do what they want with their own person, so i guess yes I think people should have the right to commit suicide. I'm interested to see how people would try to stop this happening, ie. taking away someone's right to do such a thing?

However I do think that if a person is in a state where they're considering it as an option, then they're clearly not rational or in their 'right' mind. People don't commit suicide for fun. I think we all have a responsibility to try and help someone in that situation, even if it's just giving them the telephone number of The Samaritans. I can't call someone who's that depressed selfish as I don't know what it's like to feel that bad, and I don't necessarily think their thought processes are rational.

 

[miaplus2]

I do think it is a Grey issue, definitely not black or white.

Suicide because you are mentally ill, I'm sorry but I do find it selfish, mainly because I was nearly the one that did have to pick up the pieces. Someone close has tried a few times now and I can't even describe how it feels, every single time. I know they didn't mean to be selfish and I try to understand best I can, I support them still as much as I can but still in my eyes it is a selfish act.
I also saw the body of someone who jumped years and years ago, I was only 10 at the time, yet it is something I will never forget. Did that man stop to think of the kids, even adults seeing his body lying in the pool of blood that he lie in?

Euthanasia I think is a totally different situation though, Like a PP said I don't think its choosing to die, its the WAY you choose to die. Yes I think in this case humans should have and do deserve that right.

I suppose I only go on previous experience, and being the one that nearly had to pick up the pieces and the one that had to watch a loved one die in an undignified way, that is mine.

I think that's the answer to the question though, there's so many situations to speak of as a whole which then makes it unable to answer!One reason to take your own life is completely different to the next person. I don't care what anyone says, it is a selfish act, and by that I mean that you are thinking just about yourself. These people know it will cause pain and suffering with loved ones but at the same time they are not of rational mind so I imagine they turn it round to thinking the world will be better off without them. I guess the people who have contributed to this thread where they've been in that situation.. At the time would you say you wouldn't have seen it as a selfish act but moving forward to the present can you not look back and see it as that now? What would have been the outcome if you'd gone through with it, ie your loved ones and how they'd be affected?
There was a case near us where a dad had custody of his kids. One afternoon he hung himself, the children came home and found him. There would have been no one else that would have found him so in this case I view him as a terribly selfish man that if he was so desperate not to live why he did it at a time he knew it would be the kids who got there first.

I will admit i find this very hard to answer i feel that if I'd succeeded in my suicide attempt years ago it would not of been selfish as it would of stopped my destruction, i can look back now and see the pain and anger and trouble my mental health has caused my much loved family, the lasting effects still rearing their head now. I will never be "cured" and "managing" my depression had never been easy to live with constant pills that only make me sick or numb or most of the time never work, in one case even just causing my depression to intensify. To me that pain its terminal i will always have a dark part of my existence waiting to rear its head again anything can trigger it.
On completely the other hand now as a mother I'd never dream of leaving my babies, they need me. It would be selfish to bring them into this world that at times isn't nice just to leave them behind. But since having them my depression has been easier to manage just being with them makes me happy knowing they need me and love me and that i can wake up every morning knowing i have them has given me something to live for, i just pray i never hurt them like i hurt my parents with my very real very painful illness.

i hope that makes sense i kind of just couldnt stop typing lol.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

I suppose I see it as,
I don't think it is the person that is selfish, it is the act in itself that is selfish.

You don't have to be an entirely selfish person to carry out one selfish act. I'm not sure if that makes sense to others, it does to me though.

 

[smelly07]

I think anyone can do what they want with their own person, so i guess yes I think people should have the right to commit suicide. I'm interested to see how people would try to stop this happening, ie. taking away someone's right to do such a thing?

However I do think that if a person is in a state where they're considering it as an option, then they're clearly not rational or in their 'right' mind. People don't commit suicide for fun. I think we all have a responsibility to try and help someone in that situation, even if it's just giving them the telephone number of The Samaritans. I can't call someone who's that depressed selfish as I don't know what it's like to feel that bad, and I don't necessarily think their thought processes are rational.

agree

 

[Ozzieshunni]

I always get angry when people say suicide is a selfish act. My godmother's daughter had severe depression that was biological, meaning NO medicine NO therapy NO course of treatment would ever work. They saw every specialist they could and nothing would have stopped her from killing herself.

I agree with smelly who said everyone has free will. It is their choice to take their own life.

 

[louandivy]

I think 'right' and 'wrong' are just strange words to use with discussing suicide. To actually go through with an act that goes against every human instinct that we have, I think it is a state of mind that goes beyond any sense of logic so 'selfish' is just the totally wrong way to describe it.

I don't see suicide as a reflection on someone's moral integrity at all, and yes I believe everyone has the right to end their own life, who is anyone else to tell me that I would have to live through pain and suffering if I didn't want or need to? But then again, I don't believe in a God so I see it from a different point of view entirely.

I just think that the extent of desperation one must feel to actually completely, infinitely terminate their own life is not a matter of selfishness and a lot of time those who commit suicide genuinely think that everyone around them would be better off if they were dead, even single mothers of children. I know that my uncle killed himself because he was scared he was going to harm my grandad. He was only 22 and it devastated a lot of people and caused my dad to go into a psychiatric hospital for a few weeks because he felt suicidal over it himself, but I don't think that what he did was selfish. I think he was very mentally ill and it is desperately sad that no-one could help him.

 

[Maman]

i too think right and wrong is strange in this situation, i dont think that someone is thinking wether theyre doing the right thing when killing themselves. right thing for who? i dont agree with suicide, i see it as an illness and its terrible, i view it in the same way as cancer or any other illness.

i do agree with euthanasia though.

 

[JASMAK]

Can suicide be admirable??? For example, in 9/11, those people jumping out of the buildings...for some reason, I feel like they were, almost heros, doing that. I mean, they could have stayed, and perished in the fires and smoke...but, they chose to do it on their own terms, faced with that situation. To me, that is admirable. I am sure others will feel differently, but I admired them for doing that. I don't think I could. I would be too scared.

 

[Andypanda6570]

Can suicide be admirable??? For example, in 9/11, those people jumping out of the buildings...for some reason, I feel like they were, almost heros, doing that. I mean, they could have stayed, and perished in the fires and smoke...but, they chose to do it on their own terms, faced with that situation. To me, that is admirable. I am sure others will feel differently, but I admired them for doing that. I don't think I could. I would be too scared.

I know what you are saying but to me those people did not commit suicide. They didn't have a choice, suicide is a choice IMO. They could not take the pain of the heat, remember that was jet fuel , so they really didn't have a choice in the matter. Someone very close to me died in 911 and to me none of them committed suicide , they just didn't have an alternative..

 

[smelly07]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My heartbreaks thinking about the poor people and what was going through their minds during that time. its so sad

 

[louandivy]

Can suicide be admirable??? For example, in 9/11, those people jumping out of the buildings...for some reason, I feel like they were, almost heros, doing that. I mean, they could have stayed, and perished in the fires and smoke...but, they chose to do it on their own terms, faced with that situation. To me, that is admirable. I am sure others will feel differently, but I admired them for doing that. I don't think I could. I would be too scared.

I know what you are saying but to me those people did not commit suicide. They didn't have a choice, suicide is a choice IMO. They could not take the pain of the heat, remember that was jet fuel , so they really didn't have a choice in the matter. Someone very close to me died in 911 and to me none of them committed suicide , they just didn't have an alternative..

I definitely agree with you here! I wouldn't consider it suicide, and my heart breaks for them. So sorry

 

[JASMAK]

No, I don't really think it's suicide, because they aren't 'choosing' it, as there was no other option...but, anyways, I just think those people were brave to do that. In fact, although I saw some stupid show that was about the "Falling Man" they talked about how loved ones were 'dissapointed' that these people decided to jump (some are believed to have actually fallen), all deaths in the attacks except those of the hijackers were ruled to be homicides due to blunt trauma.

 

[mum22ttc#3]

Can suicide be admirable??? For example, in 9/11, those people jumping out of the buildings...for some reason, I feel like they were, almost heros, doing that. I mean, they could have stayed, and perished in the fires and smoke...but, they chose to do it on their own terms, faced with that situation. To me, that is admirable. I am sure others will feel differently, but I admired them for doing that. I don't think I could. I would be too scared.

I know what you are saying but to me those people did not commit suicide. They didn't have a choice, suicide is a choice IMO. They could not take the pain of the heat, remember that was jet fuel , so they really didn't have a choice in the matter. Someone very close to me died in 911 and to me none of them committed suicide , they just didn't have an alternative..

I agree with this

I don't think it should be classed as suicide, I kind of see it on the same level as I do euthanasia in many cases. It is not choosing to die, it is choosing how to die and in which way you die iykwim?

 

[carly_mummy2b]

I absolutely think we have the 'right' to commit suicide.