[markjo]

Can we please try to stay on topic? This thread is not about whether or not suicide is right, or whether or not it should be committed. The topic is: given that a person is committing suicide, what could they do to diminish the impact of it?

I would think that a lot of that would depend on the age and health of the person.  The impact of young, healthy people committing suicide is generally a lot more severe because young, healthy people aren't supposed to die (especially by their own hands) because they "haven't lived their lives yet".  One of the hardest things in the world for a parent to do is to bury one of their children and a suicide would only be that much harder. 

However, elderly people and/or people with horrible, terminal diseases would be a much different story.  In situations like those, you start getting into quality of life issues and you can start to weigh which would be the lesser of the two evils, so to speak.

[Ghost Spaghetti]

I once had to commute to and from work by train (Now I take Shank's Pony - much nicer.) One day my train was cancelled at peak rush hour because someone had thrown themselves in front of the train. My first thought was not 'How terrible, someone's life has been cut short'' but 'what a fucking bastard, couldn't he have waited five more minutes?' I was totally shocked at myself, how had a ten minute inconvenience overshadowed a distressed man's life?

As hard as it can be, I think we have to treat suicides and the attempted suicides with disproportionate compassion. We don't know what was going through their heads and for those who survive it is sometimes only the care of others which stops them from trying again.

[Particle Person]

We don't know what was going through their heads and for those who survive it is sometimes only the care of others which stops them from trying aga

rip

[Tau]

There's a Jain concept called Sallekhana where the Jainist commits suicide through a long, ritualized fasting process. I like that. It seems, to me, to be the most responsible form of suicide. It tests your determination to die, gives you a long time to think about your choice, and provides the opportunity to set your affairs in order.

[Yaakov ben Avraham]

It would also be extremely painful, although I admit, if I had to take my life as a form of civil disobedience, which I have considered doing before, I would choose that method (Gandhi was influenced by Jainism to a point).

[spoon]

However, elderly people and/or people with horrible, terminal diseases would be a much different story.  In situations like those, you start getting into quality of life issues and you can start to weigh which would be the lesser of the two evils, so to speak.

Quality of life issues can arise in young people as well. Health issues aren't the only things that affect quality of life.

[markjo]

Quality of life issues can arise in young people as well. Health issues aren't the only things that affect quality of life.

True, but in many of those cases, suicide is used as a permanent solution to a what is usually a temporary problem.

[Vongeo]

Quality of life issues can arise in young people as well. Health issues aren't the only things that affect quality of life.

True, but in many of those cases, suicide is used as a permanent solution to a what is usually a temporary problem.

Just because something is a cliche to say doesn't mean its true in most cases.

[markjo]

Quality of life issues can arise in young people as well. Health issues aren't the only things that affect quality of life.

True, but in many of those cases, suicide is used as a permanent solution to a what is usually a temporary problem.

Just because something is a cliche to say doesn't mean its true in most cases.

That's why I said "many" instead of "most".  Besides, if it wasn't true most of the time, then it wouldn't be a cliche, would it?

[Vongeo]

Cliche comes from spouting something off enough, not its validity.

[markjo]

I don't know about that.  The cliche of FE'ers going off on irrelevant, pedantic tangents seems to hold pretty true.

[Tau]

Quality of life issues can arise in young people as well. Health issues aren't the only things that affect quality of life.

True, but in many of those cases, suicide is used as a permanent solution to a what is usually a temporary problem.

Just because something is a cliche to say doesn't mean its true in most cases.

Doesn't mean it's false, either. There are probably studies about what percent people who survive suicide attempts are glad to have survived them. That would probably give a good idea of whether or not the problems are as insurmountable as we assume them to be.

[Vongeo]

Yea, I just think its overly applied and catchphrasey.