Thread: [Trigger Warning!] Your Opinions on Suicide
[Trigger Warning: Suicide]
I recently was browsing through the comments on an art piece on DeviantART.com, and reading the comments reminded me of how diverse people's opinions on suicide are. Suicide has the potential to be a controversial topic in discussions, since there are so many different opinions on the subject of suicide. For example, many people consider suicide a cowardly act, shameful and disgraceful for the individual who is selfishly choosing to end their own life. From what I have observed and read, mainstream "society" seems to agree with this opinion. On the other hand, in what seems to be the minority, some people are sympathetic to those who are suicidal, offering help and comfort in an attempt to guide the person away from suicide; meanwhile, others respect suicide and a person's individual choice. Coming full circle, some people condemn suicide and those who choose that path as foolish, whereas others simply admit that they do not understand the motivations behind suicide.
The arguments many people use to persuade a person out of suicide are just as plentiful as the opinions on the topic of suicide. Some people harshly say, "Get over it," or try to guilt the person into not committing suicide. Others argue that the person has "their full life ahead of them" and that committing suicide is a permanent solution to a short-term problem. As mentioned previously, some people offer support and friendship to those considering suicide, preferring sympathy and comfort as methods to dissuade someone from killing themselves. The arguments themselves vary in the degree of complexity and empathy, some consisting of nothing more than attempts to frighten the recipient away from committing suicide, while others are appeals from the heart, and others are full-blown essays attempting to "logically" persuade someone to continue living.
I suppose by now you are wondering, "What is the point of this post?" After that essay-like introduction, I would like to ask a few simple questions: What is your opinion on suicide? What emotions do you feel when you learn that someone is considering suicide? Do you attempt to dissuade people from suicide, and if so, what arguments and reasoning do you use? Finally, how do your personal experiences influence your opinion of suicide and how you approach the topic?
You may have noticed that there is not a poll accompanying this thread. Rather than offer a simple click-and-leave option, I would like for this thread to encourage thought, perhaps spark a discussion, or at least a conversation. Please keep this thread civil--disruptive fights and vitriolic speech are unwelcome. Empathy, or at least an attempt at empathy, is encouraged when replying to a user's post. And please do not feel pressured to talk about something that you yourself do not wish to discuss.
I hope that this post is able to rouse some activity and a discussion (and possibly create a break from all of the drama), but I won't be surprised if it falls flat on its face like my last few thread attempts. I plan to post this thread in at least two other places, so I will probably edit in links to those discussions once I post those threads.
And...that's about it. It would appear that I am incapable of thinking of a good concluding sentence. Which is a shame, since this post started off so well...
I recently was browsing through the comments on an art piece on DeviantART.com, and reading the comments reminded me of how diverse people's opinions on suicide are. Suicide has the potential to be a controversial topic in discussions, since there are so many different opinions on the subject of suicide. For example, many people consider suicide a cowardly act, shameful and disgraceful for the individual who is selfishly choosing to end their own life. From what I have observed and read, mainstream "society" seems to agree with this opinion. On the other hand, in what seems to be the minority, some people are sympathetic to those who are suicidal, offering help and comfort in an attempt to guide the person away from suicide; meanwhile, others respect suicide and a person's individual choice. Coming full circle, some people condemn suicide and those who choose that path as foolish, whereas others simply admit that they do not understand the motivations behind suicide.
The arguments many people use to persuade a person out of suicide are just as plentiful as the opinions on the topic of suicide. Some people harshly say, "Get over it," or try to guilt the person into not committing suicide. Others argue that the person has "their full life ahead of them" and that committing suicide is a permanent solution to a short-term problem. As mentioned previously, some people offer support and friendship to those considering suicide, preferring sympathy and comfort as methods to dissuade someone from killing themselves. The arguments themselves vary in the degree of complexity and empathy, some consisting of nothing more than attempts to frighten the recipient away from committing suicide, while others are appeals from the heart, and others are full-blown essays attempting to "logically" persuade someone to continue living.
I suppose by now you are wondering, "What is the point of this post?" After that essay-like introduction, I would like to ask a few simple questions: What is your opinion on suicide? What emotions do you feel when you learn that someone is considering suicide? Do you attempt to dissuade people from suicide, and if so, what arguments and reasoning do you use? Finally, how do your personal experiences influence your opinion of suicide and how you approach the topic?
You may have noticed that there is not a poll accompanying this thread. Rather than offer a simple click-and-leave option, I would like for this thread to encourage thought, perhaps spark a discussion, or at least a conversation. Please keep this thread civil--disruptive fights and vitriolic speech are unwelcome. Empathy, or at least an attempt at empathy, is encouraged when replying to a user's post. And please do not feel pressured to talk about something that you yourself do not wish to discuss.
I hope that this post is able to rouse some activity and a discussion (and possibly create a break from all of the drama), but I won't be surprised if it falls flat on its face like my last few thread attempts. I plan to post this thread in at least two other places, so I will probably edit in links to those discussions once I post those threads.
And...that's about it. It would appear that I am incapable of thinking of a good concluding sentence. Which is a shame, since this post started off so well...
An interesting topic, one that I can closely relate too. Thanks to the relative anonymity of the internet and my almost desperate need for communication at this point I feel semi-comfortable disclosing what is perhaps my most closely guarded secret with the faceless internet goers. I apologize in advance for this story before the actual answers to your questions, however I find it more useful to understand why a person holds a certain belief rather than simply what the belief is.
Slightly over a year ago I had made the decision to kill myself. For those of you who care the remainder of this paragraph contains the events that I feel relevant to my arriving at that decision, for those of you who don't feel free to skip to the next paragraph in which I answer each of SignerJ's questions. After having traversed a hell of a childhood involving frequent beatings, constantly being reminded that I wasn't good enough, and having been repeatedly blamed by both as the cause my parents divorce, I had finally transition into the relative freedom of what is known as "High School". Due to a crippling lack of social skill and having been completely devoid of trust for any other being, I quickly became an outcast whose only purpose was to serve as the but of crude jokes for the brief entertainment of those surrounding. I never responded, remaining almost completely passive through it all. When any of the alleged good people who, for whatever reason, seem to hold a vested interest in the emotional and physical well being of all those around would ask if their words had bothered me I always answered in ways that suggested I had been as apathetic as I had seemed to their words. But deep inside the words cut deep leave gaping wounds within my psyche. At least at first. The mask I wore through the day gradually became less and less difficult to maintain, eventually it seemed almost as if it naturally asserted itself, I came to believe the lie I told that their words meant nothing to me. Not long after that the thrill of pestering someone who didn't respond wore off and I was left alone, but I maintained my facade, I still do to this day, and it engrained itself into almost every aspect of my life. The event that finally triggered my decision was that in the hatchback of the SUV that I drove there was a pellet gun box which contained an unloaded pellet gun and a handful of scattered bee-bees. That day the security guard noticed the box in the back of the vehicle, I was called down to the office and later expelled. I saw what little hope of any enjoyable future die that day. I picked a day and a device not even a week later, prepared a way to explain to the only person who I felt truly cared, and resigned myself to my fate. Certain events altered what actually occurred that day, obviously because I'm still here, but there is still the occasional nagging at the back of my mind encouraging me to finish what I had started.
Now that the emotional vent is over with I'll proceed to answer your questions.
I don't see suicide as an objectively bad thing. Objectively, in some case I think it should almost be commendable, such as a person advanced in age who is no longer able to contribute to society decided to end there life so as to no longer consume resources that could be better spent On younger more promising individuals. Subjectively, I can understand the desire behind it, I can almost see the use behind it, though one must be absolutely certain that that is the decision they want for it is rather permanent.
I have had but a handful of people close to me and none of them has ever approached me with such a scenario. I'd rather not attempt to extrapolate what I would feel if I were to be approached with such a topic for how I would like to think I'd respond is likely very different than how I would respond.
Much like the previous question, I've never had the experience and would rather not contribute false information.
I believe my personal experiences related to suicide are sufficiently described in the wall of text preceding my answers.
Slightly over a year ago I had made the decision to kill myself. For those of you who care the remainder of this paragraph contains the events that I feel relevant to my arriving at that decision, for those of you who don't feel free to skip to the next paragraph in which I answer each of SignerJ's questions. After having traversed a hell of a childhood involving frequent beatings, constantly being reminded that I wasn't good enough, and having been repeatedly blamed by both as the cause my parents divorce, I had finally transition into the relative freedom of what is known as "High School". Due to a crippling lack of social skill and having been completely devoid of trust for any other being, I quickly became an outcast whose only purpose was to serve as the but of crude jokes for the brief entertainment of those surrounding. I never responded, remaining almost completely passive through it all. When any of the alleged good people who, for whatever reason, seem to hold a vested interest in the emotional and physical well being of all those around would ask if their words had bothered me I always answered in ways that suggested I had been as apathetic as I had seemed to their words. But deep inside the words cut deep leave gaping wounds within my psyche. At least at first. The mask I wore through the day gradually became less and less difficult to maintain, eventually it seemed almost as if it naturally asserted itself, I came to believe the lie I told that their words meant nothing to me. Not long after that the thrill of pestering someone who didn't respond wore off and I was left alone, but I maintained my facade, I still do to this day, and it engrained itself into almost every aspect of my life. The event that finally triggered my decision was that in the hatchback of the SUV that I drove there was a pellet gun box which contained an unloaded pellet gun and a handful of scattered bee-bees. That day the security guard noticed the box in the back of the vehicle, I was called down to the office and later expelled. I saw what little hope of any enjoyable future die that day. I picked a day and a device not even a week later, prepared a way to explain to the only person who I felt truly cared, and resigned myself to my fate. Certain events altered what actually occurred that day, obviously because I'm still here, but there is still the occasional nagging at the back of my mind encouraging me to finish what I had started.
Now that the emotional vent is over with I'll proceed to answer your questions.
I don't see suicide as an objectively bad thing. Objectively, in some case I think it should almost be commendable, such as a person advanced in age who is no longer able to contribute to society decided to end there life so as to no longer consume resources that could be better spent On younger more promising individuals. Subjectively, I can understand the desire behind it, I can almost see the use behind it, though one must be absolutely certain that that is the decision they want for it is rather permanent.
I have had but a handful of people close to me and none of them has ever approached me with such a scenario. I'd rather not attempt to extrapolate what I would feel if I were to be approached with such a topic for how I would like to think I'd respond is likely very different than how I would respond.
Much like the previous question, I've never had the experience and would rather not contribute false information.
I believe my personal experiences related to suicide are sufficiently described in the wall of text preceding my answers.
A few years (months? I don't even remember) ago my opinion on suicide was the same as mainstream society's. I came to a better understanding when I interacted with people who were considering suicide (Thankfully nobody died yet).
I class them into 2 categories, and approve of one and disapprove of the other.
The first is Euthanasia, where the person is terminally ill and has no hope, absolutely 0 chance of living a life even somewhat satisfying. They are terminally ill, and every attempt to save them will just increase the period of their agony. They will simply feel guilt over straining resources of others and will also hate their perpetual agony. In such cases suicide/killing is understandable.
The second class is when life wrecks havoc on you. When you lose "too much too fast" you feel that you have lost everything, even though you have not. It's the "rate of change" that really drives you to that point, not necessarily the change itself. A "slow and gradual" break up will not cause as much devastation as a sudden one. Getting poor gradually does not have the same effect as losing everything in a single go.
I do not approve of suicide in this case.
There are two reasons behind this:
1) I live in India, and I see lots of 6 year olds polishing shoes instead of going to school and 80 year olds doing manual labour to survive. They have enough reasons to be sad, yet they do exist. For suicides related to money, education, or any thing like that, I feel that it would be an "insult" to the people who did not have your privileges in the first place. Not only that, if you ask those people if they ever consider suicide, you will get the same percentage of people giving a "yes" as you would in a more privileged society (Students in the highest ranking colleges committing suicide over failing a grade is just as common in the papers as farmers committing suicide over failed crops and the inability to cope with debt). This implies that it is a state of mind present amongst every segment of society and does NOT depend on how poor or un educated you are or will be, but rather relies on our inability to meet our expectations, the shattering of our dreams. As I said before, it is the "rate of change" rather than the "change". This by definition makes suicide an act of impulse, our inability to cope with change. You can still live a satisfying life if you lower your expectations. When you have lost everything, the hope of getting it back (or learning to live without it) is the only thing you have left. Do not throw it away.
2) I have changed as a person as I have grown up, so I know people are capable of changing. My priorities have changed, my outlook has often changed, even my lifestyle and economic conditions have often changed. Many things a "spopo of the past" would do are things I can never imagine "spopo of the present" doing. spopo (Never capitalized >:O) of the past would place money over other things, while in my present outlook money has very little value. spopo of the past was VERY VERY bad at social interaction, but I have improved and I have quite a large friend circle (including women!) now. If, at any point in the past, I had done something that would cripple my present (Hypothetically, if I had taken a workshop of "How to eat noodles" over a life changing course of "How to make friends") I would never forgive myself (Provided I knew what my alternate present could be like). Being a chronic procrastinator this is very relevant to me, spopo of the present highly disapproves of spopo of the past's actions.
Similarly, a person is capable of recovering from depression. If he is lucky and skilful he may lead a relatively happy life. By killing yourself today you are not giving your future self a chance to exist. Now this will be a little difficult to understand and perhaps even borderline mad. Hold on:
The choice to take a decision lies with everyone who will be affected by the outcome
The future you will definitely be affected by the outcome of your present actions. I am a COMPLETELY different person than I once was. If today a person who is a replica of my past sits with me and we need to take a decision that affects both of us, we would disagree completely.
Similarly, you are wrong to take away future you's chance to exist because he *may* just be a completely different person who would go to any lengths to continue living. Do not take a decision that will take away his right to exist.
(Counterarguments:
A: "If you commit suicide, future you does not exist and therefore you are not infringing on anybody's rights."
S: "Yes, but if you DO NOT commit suicide then future you does exist, who may not approve of even the thought of suicide."
S: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimenides_paradox
S: "It is a paradox one way, but not the other!"
A: "This same logic goes for abortion. Are you pro-life?"
S: "...no. Don't ruin this for me please."
This will be a topic for another thread, I guess.
)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Now there is no actual "absolute" way to distinguish between the two kinds of suicides. Euthanasia implies hopelessness, which is something even the other kind of suicide has. My qualitative distinction is that euthanasia involves absolutely 0 hope, while the other kind of suicide does have some degree of hope (Even if it is far-fetched). I have never had a case that falls on the blurred line between the two, but I suppose it is possible. Like, a person who is totally paralysed neck down! I feel that he can still contribute to society and gain some happiness by acts such as writing books (Using a writer ofcourse). I have heard that the construction of Brooklyn Bridge was overseen by a totally paralysed man who communicated with his wife by blinking. (This would be a man of great substance, is it unfair for me to expect others to be like him? Perhaps, or perhaps not.)
I class them into 2 categories, and approve of one and disapprove of the other.
The first is Euthanasia, where the person is terminally ill and has no hope, absolutely 0 chance of living a life even somewhat satisfying. They are terminally ill, and every attempt to save them will just increase the period of their agony. They will simply feel guilt over straining resources of others and will also hate their perpetual agony. In such cases suicide/killing is understandable.
The second class is when life wrecks havoc on you. When you lose "too much too fast" you feel that you have lost everything, even though you have not. It's the "rate of change" that really drives you to that point, not necessarily the change itself. A "slow and gradual" break up will not cause as much devastation as a sudden one. Getting poor gradually does not have the same effect as losing everything in a single go.
I do not approve of suicide in this case.
There are two reasons behind this:
1) I live in India, and I see lots of 6 year olds polishing shoes instead of going to school and 80 year olds doing manual labour to survive. They have enough reasons to be sad, yet they do exist. For suicides related to money, education, or any thing like that, I feel that it would be an "insult" to the people who did not have your privileges in the first place. Not only that, if you ask those people if they ever consider suicide, you will get the same percentage of people giving a "yes" as you would in a more privileged society (Students in the highest ranking colleges committing suicide over failing a grade is just as common in the papers as farmers committing suicide over failed crops and the inability to cope with debt). This implies that it is a state of mind present amongst every segment of society and does NOT depend on how poor or un educated you are or will be, but rather relies on our inability to meet our expectations, the shattering of our dreams. As I said before, it is the "rate of change" rather than the "change". This by definition makes suicide an act of impulse, our inability to cope with change. You can still live a satisfying life if you lower your expectations. When you have lost everything, the hope of getting it back (or learning to live without it) is the only thing you have left. Do not throw it away.
2) I have changed as a person as I have grown up, so I know people are capable of changing. My priorities have changed, my outlook has often changed, even my lifestyle and economic conditions have often changed. Many things a "spopo of the past" would do are things I can never imagine "spopo of the present" doing. spopo (Never capitalized >:O) of the past would place money over other things, while in my present outlook money has very little value. spopo of the past was VERY VERY bad at social interaction, but I have improved and I have quite a large friend circle (including women!) now. If, at any point in the past, I had done something that would cripple my present (Hypothetically, if I had taken a workshop of "How to eat noodles" over a life changing course of "How to make friends") I would never forgive myself (Provided I knew what my alternate present could be like). Being a chronic procrastinator this is very relevant to me, spopo of the present highly disapproves of spopo of the past's actions.
Similarly, a person is capable of recovering from depression. If he is lucky and skilful he may lead a relatively happy life. By killing yourself today you are not giving your future self a chance to exist. Now this will be a little difficult to understand and perhaps even borderline mad. Hold on:
The choice to take a decision lies with everyone who will be affected by the outcome
The future you will definitely be affected by the outcome of your present actions. I am a COMPLETELY different person than I once was. If today a person who is a replica of my past sits with me and we need to take a decision that affects both of us, we would disagree completely.
Similarly, you are wrong to take away future you's chance to exist because he *may* just be a completely different person who would go to any lengths to continue living. Do not take a decision that will take away his right to exist.
(Counterarguments:
A: "If you commit suicide, future you does not exist and therefore you are not infringing on anybody's rights."
S: "Yes, but if you DO NOT commit suicide then future you does exist, who may not approve of even the thought of suicide."
S: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimenides_paradox
S: "It is a paradox one way, but not the other!"
A: "This same logic goes for abortion. Are you pro-life?"
S: "...no. Don't ruin this for me please."
This will be a topic for another thread, I guess.
)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Now there is no actual "absolute" way to distinguish between the two kinds of suicides. Euthanasia implies hopelessness, which is something even the other kind of suicide has. My qualitative distinction is that euthanasia involves absolutely 0 hope, while the other kind of suicide does have some degree of hope (Even if it is far-fetched). I have never had a case that falls on the blurred line between the two, but I suppose it is possible. Like, a person who is totally paralysed neck down! I feel that he can still contribute to society and gain some happiness by acts such as writing books (Using a writer ofcourse). I have heard that the construction of Brooklyn Bridge was overseen by a totally paralysed man who communicated with his wife by blinking. (This would be a man of great substance, is it unfair for me to expect others to be like him? Perhaps, or perhaps not.)
There is only one situation that I would say that suicide is acceptable: you know you are going to die, and very soon, and whatever way you commit suicide will be a less painful alternative to whatever way you were going to be killed. In thus situation, the person knows that nothing can prevent their death, and they have no way to impact further positively or negatively on society. Only then should suicide even be considered. If I learned that someone was considering suicide, no matter what their reason, I would try to give them support, and make sure that they were in the right emotional state to be persuaded not to commit suicide. When you're in that state of depression, you aren't able to process the most logical solution; it's just another excuse to hate yourself for considering it in the first place. You're only able to see the most cynical viewpoint on anything, so anything less positive than 'You're doing great!' is considered a personal attack.
If you know someone who is considering suicide, and you have the oppirtunity to help them but you don't, you are, in my opinion, responsible for their death. If you are not in a position, but are still aware of their difficulties, at least show some empathy and support them! That's how I see it, at least.
I've actually been affected by this already. It wouldn't be fair to publicise anyone else's problems, but when I was thirteen, I went through this depressive phase (I won't say depression, my emotions are never that strong.) where I could only see things in a negative light. I was taught that if you were a good person, you would go to Heaven, where life is better in every way. So in that state of mind, my thought processes went something like this:
Heaven = Good, good people
Me = Bad person
Bad person + Good deeds = Good person
Therefore Me + Good deeds = Heaven
I don't think that way anymore. I do good because it's the right thing to do, the best thing to do. The way I thought about it then was just me being a selfish brat. But anyway, since I was taught Talking=Good I talked to my mum about my thoughts. I just wouldn't shut up about it, it went on and on, until she basically told me to shut up.
See, that situation doesn't work. Sure, you get therapy and relief for yourself, but the other person can only take so much before they lose sympathy for you. All you learn is that nobody wants to hear you anymore. There's always someone out there willing to listen, but it's a big thing to ask of someone to be responsible for another person's happiness.
Anyway, all I took out of that situation was that Talking=Bad, therefore Me=Bad, therefore Me=Not Heaven. So I buried those feelings, refusing to acknowledge them, only that doesn't work either because if you do that, then you just make those feelings an integral part of you, leaving you more psychologically-damaged than before.
What you have to do is change the way you look at things, to see things in an optimistic way, so that what you see when you look at the world is a place you want to live in. You either laugh, or you cry. It took a lot of self-hatred, self-pity, a journey of discovery and a place where I could meet people who I had common interests with, but I learned to laugh. It wasn't the only step, but it was the first.
So yeah, that's my personal experience with it.
If you know someone who is considering suicide, and you have the oppirtunity to help them but you don't, you are, in my opinion, responsible for their death. If you are not in a position, but are still aware of their difficulties, at least show some empathy and support them! That's how I see it, at least.
I've actually been affected by this already. It wouldn't be fair to publicise anyone else's problems, but when I was thirteen, I went through this depressive phase (I won't say depression, my emotions are never that strong.) where I could only see things in a negative light. I was taught that if you were a good person, you would go to Heaven, where life is better in every way. So in that state of mind, my thought processes went something like this:
Heaven = Good, good people
Me = Bad person
Bad person + Good deeds = Good person
Therefore Me + Good deeds = Heaven
I don't think that way anymore. I do good because it's the right thing to do, the best thing to do. The way I thought about it then was just me being a selfish brat. But anyway, since I was taught Talking=Good I talked to my mum about my thoughts. I just wouldn't shut up about it, it went on and on, until she basically told me to shut up.
See, that situation doesn't work. Sure, you get therapy and relief for yourself, but the other person can only take so much before they lose sympathy for you. All you learn is that nobody wants to hear you anymore. There's always someone out there willing to listen, but it's a big thing to ask of someone to be responsible for another person's happiness.
Anyway, all I took out of that situation was that Talking=Bad, therefore Me=Bad, therefore Me=Not Heaven. So I buried those feelings, refusing to acknowledge them, only that doesn't work either because if you do that, then you just make those feelings an integral part of you, leaving you more psychologically-damaged than before.
What you have to do is change the way you look at things, to see things in an optimistic way, so that what you see when you look at the world is a place you want to live in. You either laugh, or you cry. It took a lot of self-hatred, self-pity, a journey of discovery and a place where I could meet people who I had common interests with, but I learned to laugh. It wasn't the only step, but it was the first.
So yeah, that's my personal experience with it.
Suicide? Well, it's kind of an awkward word to say. Suicide. Suicide. Soo-ih-side. Soo-ih-side. Soo-ee-coon. Suicide really does sound kind of like Suicune when you think about it. Suicune has nothing to do with suicide, though.
Ohh, wait, you meant what I thought about the *action*, not the word itself. That makes a lot more sense.
I think I probably have a controversial opinion on suicide, in that I don't think it's an evil horrible selfish bad bad meanie racist act approved of by the devil in He... Hestia, but I do think that calling it selfish to coomit suicide is, in itself, selfish. Imagine how the suicidal person in question must feel. "Either I try and everyone hates me, or I end it and everyone hates me!" It's like how I feel about basketball. If I don't do it, people complain, because I have to *try* and maybe it'll be *fun* and then maybe the moon will go rogue and start eating people. If I do do it, people complain, because I suck at basketball. It's a lose-lose situation.
*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS NOT SERIOUS. DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO NO-SERIOUS STUFF!!*
You know, now that I think about it, suicide really is the answer to anything and everything. Out of milk? SUICIDE. Bad at basketball? SUICIDE. Can't commit suicide? SUICIDE. Maybe we've been underestimating the strengths of suicide. I'm going to go try it now.
*END NON-SERIOUS STUFF. BACK TO SERIOUS. OR MORE SERIOUS, AT ANY RATE.*
I think suicide is a harsh, but acceptable, final solution to a problem. It's certainly not the FIRST think anyone should try, but if all else fails, rant about it on Fighu- I mean, uh, suicide. Suicune. Yes.
I can see why the whole 'no return' thing bothers people, but if someone can't, really can't, get better, there is always the final ragequit. Now that's a much nicer term than 'suicide', isn't it? Final ragequit. I should copyright that.
In conclusion, Suicune.
Ohh, wait, you meant what I thought about the *action*, not the word itself. That makes a lot more sense.
I think I probably have a controversial opinion on suicide, in that I don't think it's an evil horrible selfish bad bad meanie racist act approved of by the devil in He... Hestia, but I do think that calling it selfish to coomit suicide is, in itself, selfish. Imagine how the suicidal person in question must feel. "Either I try and everyone hates me, or I end it and everyone hates me!" It's like how I feel about basketball. If I don't do it, people complain, because I have to *try* and maybe it'll be *fun* and then maybe the moon will go rogue and start eating people. If I do do it, people complain, because I suck at basketball. It's a lose-lose situation.
*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS NOT SERIOUS. DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO NO-SERIOUS STUFF!!*
You know, now that I think about it, suicide really is the answer to anything and everything. Out of milk? SUICIDE. Bad at basketball? SUICIDE. Can't commit suicide? SUICIDE. Maybe we've been underestimating the strengths of suicide. I'm going to go try it now.
*END NON-SERIOUS STUFF. BACK TO SERIOUS. OR MORE SERIOUS, AT ANY RATE.*
I think suicide is a harsh, but acceptable, final solution to a problem. It's certainly not the FIRST think anyone should try, but if all else fails, rant about it on Fighu- I mean, uh, suicide. Suicune. Yes.
I can see why the whole 'no return' thing bothers people, but if someone can't, really can't, get better, there is always the final ragequit. Now that's a much nicer term than 'suicide', isn't it? Final ragequit. I should copyright that.
In conclusion, Suicune.