A lot of people say that committing suicide is a selfish act. I believe that the people that want to keep you here suffering so they don’t suffer are equally as selfish. I have people that love me but they all have their own lives and it’s not like they stop living them for me. On these lonely weekends I’ve been spending on my own, they are out with other people, laughing and having fun. Their day is not affected by the fact that I am depressed. They don’t think of me while they are out and about; instead I should think of them.
Why is euthanasia a merciful act and suicide is not? Some understand that physical pain can be so great that out of sympathy and love they are able to let their loved ones go, but since depression is invisible and they don’t get it, they can’t even begin to imagine how torturous it is.
I also hear some depressed people saying that they feel guilty that they don’t have cancer and because of that they shouldn’t have the right to complain. Well let me tell you that sever depression’s pain is equally as valid and just as real as the worst physical disease. In fact I’d exchange my condition for theirs if I had the chance. This is the cancer of the mind for which there’s a lot less sympathy and awareness and definitely a lonelier place.
Finally, I feel that my loved ones are better off without me. Instead of joy, I bring burden. I don’t think sticking around is selfless given the fact that I’m just in the way.
13 comments
i completely agree with you.
the only reason i am still here now is because i made a promise to a woman who no longer loves me, that i wouldn’t leave her in financial ruin. i have to sell the home we bought together, and carry the burden of all of the bills alone. as soon as i can get her name off of the mortgage, and she is safe from harm, i will have no reason to be here.
but being here still every day now is so miserable, painful and hollow. she abandoned me when i needed her most, and i still remain devoted and in love with her. i hate myself for wanting to die, but i hate myself without her around even more.
but, your words are true. and i wish it wasn’t so taboo to kill yourself.
Selfish is a meaningless term.
yes it is but its true suicide is selfish.
i debated the selfishness of suicide just three days ago with some people. no one was willing to change their minds, as they believe “life is a gift given by God”, and i think, as you said black swan, its just as selfish to expect us to suffer every day just so other people’s feelings don’t get hurt
people are selfish by nature. of course, there are exceptions, but most people consider themselves their first priority
Why not let someone quit suffering… yes it does cause others suffering… but isnt it wrong to leqve them suffering and not do somthing to completely fix it?
i totally agree but there are other ways out of this your right no one deserves to go through pain nor death but it will get much better.
please see XSeven’s post “No such thing as 100%”. it doesnt always get better
i know that but i sure would like to think it did.
I have wondered about this very thing for a long time. But the truth is can you ever really expect people to be ok with someone they care about ending their life? I mean what type of person do you think is capable of accepting that someone they love or care about wants to die, especially when they are not terminal. Accept it to the point that they say if you chose to die that’s your choice and I will try to be ok with it. Who does that? and what would you think about that person if it was someone close to you? It’s a paradox. If they can’t accept it in a way their selfish but if they do, do they really care about you?
i guess “if you love me, let me go” doesn’t work for this one, huh?
The death of a loved one will hurt no matter what way they go. And depression can be a terminal illness otherwise it wouldn’t sometimes result in death. I really don’t know why people diminish emotional pain and put it in an inferior category of importance than physical pain.
People diminish emotional pain possibly because it’s not as obvious. It’s hard to see people’s emotional pain and even harder to understand it. People feel that emotional pain is treatable that there are always cures or at least ways of coping with depression.