Is it selfish?

Okay, I have been debating this for quite a while now... Is suicide selfish? Some say yes, some say no.

I think it's both.. Depends on all circumstances. Like what they go through and stuff like that...

I also think that it's both selfish and unselfish to tell a suicidal person that suicide is selfish, only because they aren't really listening to the suicidal person and they don't know what that person is going through. Would you really want to make someone live in torture? Then again, I think it's not selfish, because they're only trying to help them choose not to do it, because it doesn't solve anything...

I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts were on this.

~BJ~

personally i think it's selfish i came close to commiting suicide and well i was only doing it for myself and well my friends/family were the reason i decided not to so i guess yeah it is selfish in my eyes at least

that's a good one...I think in a way it is selffish...but if nobody tries to help you...then you really can't base it on selfishniss..cause you tried and nobody wanted to pay attention...cause they were to absorbed in their own stuff

I can honestly say that I have no idea weather or not it would be selfish...many people should consider themselves selfish for pushing someone to the point that someone may think that suicide is the answer. Those people are the selfishness in themselves. If it were selfish to a person, what I am trying to say is that the selfishness would belong to the people who caused the pain that other had.

ShhhhItsASecret©....
i agree with you, i think its both
but im thinking that its more
selfish in any situation

yea some people have HORRIBLE lives
but there has to be at least one good thing
in their life or hopefully something good will
come along.

idk, i thought about suicide and why people would
and i see how much it has hurt my friends and
family when someone really really close to me
commited suicide.

god i was so pissed at the world, mostly at god
but then i got mad at her because she could
have came to me and she knew that
and theres a part of me that feels guilty 24/7
for not realizing what she was going through.

so for the simple fact of going through all of that
i think its more selfish but still somewhat unselfish.

The way I see it, though, is...

What drove that person to that ultamatum?... I mean seriously... If that person thinks their life isn't worth living, who's to tell him/her that he/she is wrong?...

It's selfish to want that person to continue living so that you and his/her close ones don't get hurt...

~BJ~

well who's point of view are you looking at a 3rd party or the person commiting suicide or the people that would get hurt as a result of it? i guess it kinda changes on who's perspective your looking at

Personally, I think it does depend on the situation, but mostly I think its selfish cz you could still have someone out there that loves you..like family/friends that still need you to be there, but yet you might not think so. But I think its the situation that would be happening or whatever.
~Take Care~

~DyingBlackRose~

I guess that came out wrong. I mean if the ONLY reason you want that person to live is so that other people don't get hurt, then I think it's selfish....

What's the point in living if you can't ENJOY life. Like... If that person is truly living in hell on the inside and they really feel there will be no help. No one should live in misery...

~BJ~

in all honesty, i think it could go both ways.

the person who is suicidal is most likely not doing it just in order to hurt all those around them. the reason most people go through with it is because they are unhappy with THEMSELVES and they hate the person THEY'VE become. so they view it as unselfish because their "ridding" this world of just another unhappy human being..

but their decision is i guess in a way selfish because if you think about it, it really does revolve around them. in their eyes it is usually seen as unselfish whereas to all those around them, it is taken personally and as a selfish act. most people react with feelings such as "how could this have happened to us or me?" and they feel as if that person didn't taken them into consideration when making the decision to go through with it.

it really can go both ways, because a suicidal person is definitally on the opposite end of the spectrum as another individual who is happily enjoying their life.

all i can say is that i personally know someone who has taken his life and although many of us reacted with shock at first and didnt understand how he could just take himself away from us without warning..i know he was truly unhappy so i guess if it was his choice to end it, then im going to have to accept that and somehow be okay with it.

To say that someones own mind is selfish...hmmm
I disagree that its selfish.
I mean some people have everything and have something haunting them in their mind.
That doesnt mean that they HAVE to commit suicide but it doesnt mean if they did it's selfish.

Seriously if someone close to you commited suicide would you stand their at the funeral whinging to everyone about how selfish it was or would you be upset?

I think its a good question but personally I have thought of suicide and tried to commit suicide.

But thinking back I wasn't being serious i just couldnt keep up with the deppression I was going through.

And to be 100% honest i was so upset and scared I almost did the other day but my sanity kept me here. And about 4 of my friends.

But yeah good question but I think some people just tell people its selfish so their guilt keeps them here.

~Emah

Self-absorbed, maybe, but not necessarily selfish.

It all depends on the situation, as stated before several times. I find it is more not selfish than selfish. When someone is going through that ordeal, they have no consciousness of their surroundings. Some may call that selfishness but personally I think it's not. Being suicidal is a mental condition, not a choice. Those that are suicidal believe that their termination won't affect anyone or even make other people's lives better, the mind is unbalanced. It isn't selfish because when going through the suicidal stage, one doesn't think anyone will care or be affected. In their mind they think there's one thing that will make them and everybody else satisfied, and it's sadly suicide.

That's just my overall opinion, but there are many situations that were overlooked but there is no need to go into great detail I find. Well that's it!

~Dana

there's many things you should consider with suicide.. financial state for example.. if you have sooo many problems in life, and you really want to escape since there seems to be no relieving them... BUT you're really being depended on for financial support... then you aren't thinking about other people needing you. other people have other problems that they need help with. even though your own questions and problems are left unanswered... your dying would only cause more to the living... ehh..?

^^ Good point, dwelt

ok, you can always go and get help
therefore there is someone to go to
even if it isnt a friend or family member....
causing suicide to be selfish.

why would you kill yourself
when you're meant to live
yeah life hurts, it KILLS sometimes
but that doesnt mean everytime
something is going wrong you should consider
suicide.

and yeah people get caught up in
depression but here we go again,
you can get help.
and if the help that you are getting isnt working
get more or try something different
theres thousands of alternatives to suicide

and about the people wanting the person
to stay and not commit suicide about being selfish,
the person commiting suicide is selfish
so why cant they be?

wouldnt you rather have them be selfish
and keep that person alive then be like oh,
they can do whatever they want i guess

if its truly that much of suffering then i dont know

i guess it all really does depend on the situation.

and I would like to again draw the distinction between 'selfish' and 'self-absorbed.' I believe selfish has more to do with possessiveness, or desiring to inflict pain on others by dying so that they finally notice you. but on the other hand, 'self-absorbed' really wouldn't be thinking about you or the people they would affect at all. but just too lost within their own problems to deal with it in a healthy, socially acceptable way. 'self-absorbed' may also take on a kind of 'it'd be better if I died' for the people that are left behind, so as not to be any kind of a burden on them anymore. this seems to be more common with older people and the mentally ill. and some divorcees. people who have a very small support system, or one that is purely institutional in nature.

'selfish' suicidals are probably just selfish people, and have cut friends off for one reason or another and decide to get back at them out of pure spite. and their suicides are probably the least preventable. so, to say that all suicide is 'selfish' is kind of a cop out to me. because it shifts all accountability from the friends and relatives to the suicide victim.

but, also, parents who have responsibilities to their children, who commit suicide are obviously also being extremely selfish too. because there is absolutely no way to justify their actions as being 'better' for their children's lives. and I can see really good friends who felt frustrated by the victim's lack of responsibility to the friendship, or whatever cause they worked together on, calling it selfish for not thinking of them. How dare they!