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See the original image at nytimes.com

The Urge to End It: The Science of Suicide

nytimes.com — Is suicide the deadly result of a deep psychological condition — or a fleeting impulse brought on by opportunity? How to explain why, among the only species capable of pondering its own demise, whose desperate attempts to forestall mortality, there are those who, by their own hand, would choose death over life?

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  • StripeyMagee, on 07/05/2008, -15/+6To be or not to be, that is the question.............
    • JohnboiWaltune, on 07/05/2008, -7/+6I once saw written on a toilet paper dispenser inside a toilet stall:

      TUBE OR NOT TUBE
    • mrinsanity, on 07/05/2008, -7/+4I once saw written in the bathroom of a music school:

      Vivaldi musicians aroud here,
      Verdi good ones Haydn?
      They must have gone Bach home,
      because they couldn't Handel it.
    • arjie, on 07/05/2008, -2/+6" Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
      I'll draw a sketch of thee,
      What kind of pencil shall I use,
      2B or not 2B?"
      - Spike Milligan

      OT: I love the photo. For some reason it appeals to me.
  • broncosoul, on 07/05/2008, -35/+41this article is way too long to read
    • solid12345, on 07/05/2008, -13/+27Makes me want to off myself too trying to read all of it
    • kxxb, on 07/05/2008, -2/+36Six pages? Have you ever read a book?
      • HenvY, on 07/05/2008, -2/+12Not one that was linked to from digg.
    • Seizure, on 07/05/2008, -3/+13My generation has ADD.
    • Qumahlin, on 07/05/2008, -1/+15The amount of people agreeing with this comment show you just how horrible and idiotic our society has become.
      • gonzoceltic, on 07/05/2008, -3/+0I'm not one of the people agreeing with it; I just made a retort to one of the people who left the reply "My generation has ADD."
      • Frisbinator, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2You are the one who has become stupid horrible and idiotic !
      • xNIBx, on 07/06/2008, -1/+1I think it's unfair to judge something, that you obviously dont understand, so easily. I have read hundreds of thousands of pages in my life. But reading text through my pc monitor was never easy and will never be easy. Writing an article that long on the internet just shows the inability of the author to write concise articles. Longer doesnt mean better.

        There is just too much "sauce" in the article. There is a difference between writing a book and writing an article, especially when that article is published on the internet. Maybe this article is part of the printed magazine. If that is the case, then i can understand its length.

        PS Did you read the entire article? Because i think it would be hypocritical to judge others about something that even you didnt do.
    • Hypomanic, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2Sad.
    • thailand1972, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3tl;km : what you think of life before you commit suicide
    • alwilson, on 07/05/2008, -1/+0You are the epitome of laziness.
    • Pyehole, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2I was thrilled to find an article with some actual substance to it as opposed to a three paragraph blogpost that is pretty much duplicated in the digg description.
  • Pinkertinkle, on 07/05/2008, -5/+17Isn't suicide free will?
    • baltar2008, on 07/05/2008, -10/+0Please explain the predictive power of this 'free will' concept...
    • badenglishihave, on 07/05/2008, -4/+3I agree... I'm not so sure suicide is a scientific issue. I'd point more to psychology and maybe even religion (if you diggers can handle that.)
  • mrinsanity, on 07/05/2008, -11/+21Thanks MrBabyMan!

    /sarc
    • thesparrowband, on 07/05/2008, -2/+7he's got a nice new icon
    • Winckle, on 07/05/2008, -14/+4MrBabyMan should read this article, it might convince him to kill himself
  • vIk34, on 07/05/2008, -12/+1well George Carlin made a lot people laught with it so how bad can it be ?
  • Tyrghast, on 07/05/2008, -24/+2too long, did not read.
    that being said, there is a theory that suicide and homosexuality are natures method of genetic weeding.
    • farfromperfectx, on 07/05/2008, -2/+18There's a theory that you're an idiot.
    • mrinsanity, on 07/05/2008, -2/+18Thanks, Hitler!
    • gnotDigger, on 07/05/2008, -0/+6you need to stop smoking so much genetically modified weeds, moderation my friend.
    • Epistaxis, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3If your attention span had been as much as four paragraphs, you would have seen that mentioned in the article.
    • SquigglyP, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4You sound like one of those religious fruitcakes. The only difference is that they don't like 'theories'.
    • nypix, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2So why are you still here?
    • bobman2007, on 07/06/2008, -1/+1tl;dr newfag
  • theprogrammer, on 07/05/2008, -2/+15The refusal to grant that suicide can be perfectly rational is the fallacy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_consequence ...
    • mrinsanity, on 07/05/2008, -15/+2Awesome Link................


      ..............NOT!
      • Harelin, on 07/05/2008, -3/+3The 90s called. They want their comment back.
    • Stormwern, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2Another fallacy of appeal to consequences, or optimism if you will, is that it disregards facts entirely.
  • over9k, on 07/05/2008, -10/+1It's Happening.
  • farfromperfectx, on 07/05/2008, -2/+42Oh no, all that text, I can't possibly read it all.

    Seriously, SA is right, the internet makes you stupid.
  • gnotDigger, on 07/05/2008, -7/+20I was going to go kill myself after reading this, but there is no way I will ever finish it. You have saved a life.
  • Pikester, on 07/05/2008, -2/+31I think if people want to end their own life, they should be able to. As to why, it's sometimes a better choice to end the burden of life rather than continue to live in pain and suffering.

    At least that's what I think.
    • Jess2mix, on 07/05/2008, -10/+2What about all the other people in that person's life. Is it fair to give the burdon to them instead? Suicide only echoes that persons pain in to everyone who's ever loved them. It's the most selfish act a person can do....but that's just what I think.
      • funklor, on 07/05/2008, -1/+20It sucks, no doubt. Forcing someone to live for the benefit of others sucks more. Keeping someone alive so you don't feel bad is as equally selfish, IMO.
      • jenasaurus7, on 07/05/2008, -0/+8I agree with funklor. If a person so chooses to end their life, it is their decision. Not anyone else's. It is just as selfish to make someone keep living a life they don't wish to be in.
      • Ursapater, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5Have you considered that some people choose to end their lives precisely BECAUSE they have no one in their lives. The implication here is that if they don't have any family or friends it's OK.
      • Tagaiz, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1I don't think suicidal people should be allowed to end their own lives without counseling a the whole nine yards, precisely because suicidal people aren't in their right mind. They think there is no other option but with counseling they may feel differently.
    • RUGERSP101, on 07/05/2008, -2/+22Suicide is not selfish. Its selfish to demand someone suffer in order to avoid burdening others with grief.
      • LittleDas, on 07/05/2008, -4/+2Practically every person on this planet has responsibilities to someone. Perhaps to take care of their children or to pay their debts or honor their parents or whatever consists of an obligation in the society in which they live. Suicide is an escape from obligations, and therefore selfish.
      • earful, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3But if a person's obligations become so great that they obliterate the self, there is no point in going on. If suicide is an act of selfishness, it is the last bit of self the person can muster. And at that point maybe it's time we step back and look at what sort of obligations we're requiring of people that they may feel driven to kill themselves. A person should not be definied solely by his obligations to others.
    • Yookji, on 07/05/2008, -0/+10You didn't read the article. He showed that successful suicides are more often than not impulsive instead of premeditated, so erecting any barrier to allow the impulsive suicidal thoughts to pass has a high chance of preventing the suicide. The majority of those prevented from carrying out impulsive suicides lead fulfilling lives in the future.

      From the article:
      "For generations, the people of Britain heated their homes and fueled their stoves with coal gas. While plentiful and cheap, coal-derived gas could also be deadly; in its unburned form, it released very high levels of carbon monoxide, and an open valve or a leak in a closed space could induce asphyxiation in a matter of minutes. This extreme toxicity also made it a preferred method of suicide. “Sticking one’s head in the oven” became so common in Britain that by the late 1950s it accounted for some 2,500 suicides a year, almost half the nation’s total.

      Those numbers began dropping over the next decade as the British government embarked on a program to phase out coal gas in favor of the much cleaner natural gas. By the early 1970s, the amount of carbon monoxide running through domestic gas lines had been reduced to nearly zero. During those same years, Britain’s national suicide rate dropped by nearly a third, and it has remained close to that reduced level ever since.

      How can this be? After all, if the impulse to suicide is primarily rooted in mental illness and that illness goes untreated, how does merely closing off one means of self-destruction have any lasting effect? At least a partial answer is that many of those Britons who asphyxiated themselves did so impulsively. In a moment of deep despair or rage or sadness, they turned to what was easy and quick and deadly — “the execution chamber in everyone’s kitchen,” as one psychologist described it — and that instrument allowed little time for second thoughts. Remove it, and the process slowed down; it allowed time for the dark passion to pass."
    • Stormwern, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3Suicides are the great faliure of our civilization. Come as far as we have, we should be able to look after our own well enough that they don't resort to this.
  • tzisc, on 07/05/2008, -0/+20when you identify yourself as a threat to your own well being; when you blame yourself for your pain and/or the pain you cause others, and when you cannot reconcile maintaining your concept of self with an escape from your current situation...

    the current societal stigma associated with mental illness is pretty appalling. for all our advances in medical care and education, there is a consistent tendency to ignore and ostracize people with mental issues, even among medical practitioners. but i guess the question is, how do you help people who don't know, or refuse to acknowledge that they need to be helped?
    • Paulish, on 07/05/2008, -2/+1"when you identify yourself as a threat to your own well being; when you blame yourself for your pain and/or the pain you cause others, and when you cannot reconcile maintaining your concept of self with an escape from your current situation..."

      What you seem to be saying is that others are responsible for my happiness. The problem here is that they are not. If I expect the world to please me, I will be in for disappointment. People are not my tools to satisfy my ego or need for happiness.

      In general, people are responsible for their own happiness. Sure there are unavoidable tragedies, but I am speaking in general. I think the problem people have is of control. They feel like they have no control over anything, they can't do anything to make themselves happy. They do the only thing that seems in their power to do... End their life.
      • eviephenomena, on 07/05/2008, -0/+0I'm not sure that was his point. Its not that other people are responsible for your happiness, its your perception and you relate to others.
    • Yookji, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5The age-old question: am I insane, or am I the only sane person in the entire world?
    • Qumahlin, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4"how do you help people who don't know, or refuse to acknowledge that they need to be helped?"

      You don't, you let them off themselves, natures way of fixing the problem and ensuring they don't go on to spread it.
  • Vodd9, on 07/05/2008, -0/+12Some dogs too happen to kill themselves out of depression.
    • dattaway, on 07/05/2008, -1/+8Dogs and cats are perfectly capable of ending it very quickly. If abandoned by their owners, they often find a car in the road or engage a predator.
      • Qumahlin, on 07/05/2008, -4/+3While I have read studies of dogs essentially killing themselves and refusing to eat to the point of starvation due to loss of an owner or companion. I have not however seen any studies on a cat running into a street to intentionally get hit by a car, or intentionally attacking a larger predator with the intent of losing.
      • specialK16, on 07/05/2008, -2/+1-----wooosh---->

        (i made a very cool ascii pic with a dude and all, but digg eats my ///)
  • aftern9ne, on 07/05/2008, -13/+1It's not that this article is too long, but just that I don't care why people kill themselves.
  • Palaceguard, on 07/05/2008, -14/+2suicide is wrong. Taking your own life is no different as taking someone elses. If you aren't terminally ill or crippled, is life so bad that you are will to die? Eventually, everyone will die, but why earlier?
    • funklor, on 07/05/2008, -1/+4No, /you're/ wrong. Of course, I can't demonstrate this, nor can you, but if you can paint opinion as fact so can I.

      It's a subjective thing. If I was improvised or starving I'd certainly choose to speed things along.

      Why should a person who finds their life miserable continue?
      • funklor, on 07/05/2008, -0/+0impoverished* epic spell check failure.
    • dondara, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3I'm glad that you can't understand such feelings but do not equate suicide with murder. That's like saying masturbation is rape.

      Suicide is "probably" a mistake is the subject is under 30 years old but as you get older and see not much left down the road, you start to wonder if there is really all that much reason to keep on going. That is why suicide is usually discussed as "teen suicide". Not too many people care if some mid-40's guy rams his car into a tree or swims out to sea drunk. Those stories don't even make the papers most the time.
      • Qumahlin, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4Very true. Teen suicide is typically what you will hear about, but suicide amongst the elderly is much much higher
    • scott88008, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3"No different"? There's the little element of choice in suicide, quite absent from the murder equation.
  • jgambleii, on 07/05/2008, -2/+32I had a friend blow his brains out in high school... I hope they find something that would help those on the edge. It's a shame to see a young life snuffed out.
    • Speaking, on 07/06/2008, -1/+2I know, old life isn't so bad though, we already know they have nothing more to contribute.

      But seriously suicide is better than living with untold years of misery... Why is suicide a wrong choice?

      Often times, people who have tried to kill themselves and fail, regret that they ever tried.

      But, people who succeed never complain.

      I think suicide is a wonderful choice to use one's higher reasoning to reject the biological slavery/imperative to live.

      Take comfort that your friend is in a better place, nowhere. No misery, no striving, no pain, no turmoil. Nothing.
  • Aidje, on 07/05/2008, -0/+6single page: http://digg.com/arts_culture/Understanding_Suicide ...
    • Jess2mix, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1that doesn't make the article any less painful to read through. same length, just on one page though.
      • Aidje, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3I didn't say it was shorter. I just prefer single page versions. Most diggers do.
  • luke16, on 07/05/2008, -10/+4Suicide is not the answer........unless you are trapped in a room with Rosie O'Donnel and she is hungry.
  • triferlinks, on 07/05/2008, -11/+1Open yourself to the darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself.
  • seastobble, on 07/05/2008, -0/+23I think this is one of the most poignant articles I've ever read on digg.
    • RickHavoc, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1It's a great article. It up-ends a lot of assumptions (e.g. the "coal-gas" story).
  • nypix, on 07/05/2008, -3/+12If you're going to live another untold years and are going to be miserable suicide is a viable option.

    Nothing can replace health and happiness.
  • Pusod, on 07/05/2008, -11/+29If you're so desperate to end you life right then and there, you should think about doing something that might cheer you up, like rob a bank first. If you get away with it, then suicide averted. If you get caught, well then blow your head off! No use in wasting your chance to get filthy rich right? Just saying.
    • Jess2mix, on 07/05/2008, -1/+12Well that's only a solution if you find value in life through currency.
      Money doesn't always bring happiness. There are plenty of rich people who live miserable lives.
      • Pusod, on 07/05/2008, -0/+8To those people I say, "Blow it all on hookers, beer & weed!" That'll prolong your life.
      • flashback99, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2all that costs money and thats why we have jobs. reminds me of the scene from fight club where he crashes the car.
    • banmaster, on 07/05/2008, -0/+6As Jess2mix correctly states, this is only a good option if you're the kind of shallow bastard who thinks that 'stuff' is the ultimate goal of life.
      • Pusod, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Well if they suffered so severely for the sake of money, they should endure all torment, if need be.
    • Qumahlin, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3You've never known someone who has attempted a truly impulsive suicide. I have and let me tell you they don't stop and think. They aren;t even the same person at the time its happening. I had a friend who went from doing his laundry to attempting to hang himself within 15 minutes. Thankfully his parents walked in and managed to cut him down.
    • gryphon50, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5i've oftentimes thought that desperate times call for desperate means...Maybe not robbing a bank or breaking the law, but if your life has you so down that you are considering suicide, maybe you should do something crazy like withdraw your savings, quit your job and go on vacation. Who knows, you might somehow get a new perspective or new hope in life. If the alternative is killing yourself and losing everything, why not make a radical change of some sort? As long as you're not hurting anyone, it can't be worse than suicide.
    • brundlefly76, on 07/05/2008, -0/+8Yeah depression is actually quite prevelant among people who become suddenly wealthy - you suddenly understand that money was never holding you back from being happy, just as much as it will not make you happy.

    • thailand1972, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5Money is a bad example, but I understand what you mean: just "go crazy" (like fly to Laos and meet the woman of your dreams, and open a cushion shop in Vientiane for example). This life has so many possibilities, it's a real waste not to realise this.
  • lostformat1125, on 07/05/2008, -5/+7It would be a lot harder to kill yourself if you didnt have any thumbs....
    • Yookji, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5*cuts off thumbs*

      IguessI'msafenow.Dammit,Ican'thitthespacebar!
  • welliwonder, on 07/05/2008, -10/+1Many people should probably start considering this.
  • funklor, on 07/05/2008, -11/+0Remember: Only the mentally ill wish to end their lives, therefore if someone wants to commit suicide, even if, you know, they're already dying an excruciating death from a terminal disease and just want to ease their suffering, it means they're positively psychotic.

    And the former athlete now a quadriplegic who thinks that while that life may be fine for others, it isn't for him? ******** INSANE***
    • rootsm3, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4***** insane? Is that your clinical diagnosis? Is that your tact on the floor?
      • funklor, on 07/05/2008, -3/+0Not that I had any tact to begin with. Not really my diagnosis, rather the diagnosis you see most people conferring on those who end their lives.

        Most people find the concept so uncomfortable that the only way they can deal with it is to label people as mentally incompetent and prattle on with Hallmark nonsense.
  • jaydedragon, on 07/05/2008, -1/+4If your actually interested in the study of suicide.. look up Emile Durkheim
  • AchaIemoipas, on 07/05/2008, -2/+16Oh again with "Only humans can do X".

    Dogs suicide. Cats suicide. Apes suicide. Elephants suicide. Most birds suicide.

    They just choose to stop eating instead of choosing the violent route.

    This article really sucked. He asks how suicide rates go down from the reduction of poisoning when it was thought that mental illness causes suicide. Except he forgets to look at the mental illness numbers. Making the other 5 pages useless.

    Lots of things can cause mental illness and mental illness can cause suicide. But, suicide doesn't require mental illness.
    • banmaster, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1It sure helps though.
    • alwilson, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1If you think the article sucks, maybe it's because you don't know how to read? The article wasn't about comparisons of mental illness and suicide. It was about how a lot of suicides are impulse driven. A high percentage of people who try to kill themselves is due to impulse; those who survive often regret that they tried to kill themselves and never try again. If you take away the impulse by adding time for the person to think about what they are going to do, they will probably not kill themselves, nor try again later.
  • pbone, on 07/05/2008, -6/+17hey mr. babyman has a new icon
  • tomd123, on 07/05/2008, -5/+3The happening sucked, should have been labeled g for get ready to have a reason to kill yourself.
  • calantus, on 07/05/2008, -7/+1this article makes me want to kill myself because of its length
    • dha07030, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1You should read the other comments first. OK done? proceed.
  • Inohavehalos, on 07/05/2008, -1/+10If you EVER consider suicide--instead, just flee to some other place... and restart your life.

    • Jess2mix, on 07/05/2008, -1/+7Traveling is probably the best cure for depression
      • lostformat1125, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1traveling will only make you feel good for so long......
      • triferlinks, on 07/05/2008, -1/+1til someone from your past comes back and reminds you the ***** life you used to lead.
      • nikkilai, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2Sometimes, but it's overall just another way to run away from your problems. I always thought escaping San Diego would solve all of my problems, until I did and realized I still had the same problems in Europe that I did in San Diego.
      • earful, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0...if you can afford it! And even then, doesn't immigration law get in the way?
    • duggdowncatisad, on 07/05/2008, -0/+0That wouldn't have worked for Deborah Jeane Palfrey.
      http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/01/dc.madam/in ...
    • banmaster, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4And its NOT feasible for most people.
      That suggestion is like telling a severely depressed person to 'just snap out of it', ignorant and thoughless.
    • dondara, on 07/05/2008, -1/+3So you have never heard anybody say that you can't run away from your problems? No matter how far you travel, there you are.

      It's actually good to see how many diggers can't understand suicidal feelings. I'm glad of that. Of course the ignorant comments are why most people who do feel these things never seek help as you all have proved there is shortage of compassion and understanding. Let's hope you never need any.
      • gryphon50, on 07/05/2008, -1/+0I do understand suicidal feelings, lots of people do. And I understand that they come from long-standing issues....Even so, many times the "straw that broke the camel's back" is your terrible job, horrible parents, bad spouse, etc. Running away from those issues is probably the best thing you can do if the alternative is suicide.
      • amightywind, on 07/06/2008, -2/+1Suicidal people are weak. It is best that they leave the gene pool.
      • wacomwacoff, on 07/07/2008, -0/+1You're a sick person, amightywind.
  • MaceSoul, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4We're not the only species to kill itself. From whales to dolphin to lemmings to dogs to lions, plenty of animals kill themselves.
  • leontes, on 07/05/2008, -1/+5It is a fascinating topic: suicide. It is interesting to consider that most people who attempt, but do not succeed reconsider and no longer wish to end their life. Of course, those that succeed, we have no data on whether they would wish to live now, should they have the choice.

    What should you do if you are suicidal, or a friend is suicidal or if you are nervous? Go to a hospital right away. THe majority of stays in hospitals these days (at least in the US) are brief, stabilizing affairs, but can help find the impetuous to get a therapist and make the huge shift in life in order to deal with depression and eliminate suicide as an option.

    To those people who think: let those people die, if they want to die, leave them the hell alone! I want to remind them that sucidality is an affliction and symptom of depression, rather than an active desired choice. I think right to die at the end of life or after a debilitating illness is a different thing entirely.


    • alwilson, on 07/05/2008, -0/+1Well said, but I'm afraid it was lost to most of the people who post here. They have difficulty reading more than a sentence or two and contemplating what is written. If you could somehow embed your message into WOW, you might be able to get through to them.
  • wolferz, on 07/05/2008, -0/+8He is right, we are the only species on earth known to be capable of pondering our own deaths. This is the root cause of why we intentionally commit suicide and other creatures do not. However it's just the tip of that iceburg.

    We are capable of pondering death, we are also capable of communicating complex concepts to each other without having to share the experience. Thus a 15 year old can learn what it's like to lay in a death bed for 2 years waiting to die. We can also take what we know of death and compare it to what we know of life and even place that within the context of our own life. Also we, like some other mammals, feel strong emotions. Now emotions are primarily just chemical reactions in the brain that cause physiological and psychological "reflexes" such as the tightness one feels in your chest at breaking up with your girlfriend or the way you no longer have the desire to get out of bed in the morning.

    Put it all together what do you have? You have a mammal that is uniquely equipped to make logical decisions and yet has a habit of throwing logic out the window over emotional factors. Enter suicide. If life is being good to you and you are otherwise healthy you would examine your life and the concept of death and see death as a definite bad thing. You would be losing all those good times that are still yet to come. On the other hand if your life is an utter cesspool or, because of emotional/mental health issues, you think it is you will examine your life and the concept of death and see that death is a good thing. You will lose all those bad times that are still yet to come.

    Many people commit suicide for petty reasons... ie girl friend dumped them, Marylin Manson told them to, their character got nerfed in WoW, etc. If these people were thinking locally they would see that whatever emotional distress they are in will pass and things will be alright... but emotional distress robs people of their ability to think logically. That's not to say people can't make comparisons at such times... just that their results tend to be rather heavily skewed.

    However, take away the capacity for communication and pondering esoteric concepts and everything else I just said becomes irrelevant... of course so does all of the human races accomplishments. You can't have one without the other. For this reason I some times wonder if suicide isn't natures way of maintaining a sort of natural selection over a race of beings capable of building tools to defend themselves from anything else that she could through at them.
    • nypix, on 07/05/2008, -2/+1That post made me suicidal.

      Too deep. WAY too deep.
  • triferlinks, on 07/05/2008, -4/+1blame the parents?
  • gonzoceltic, on 07/05/2008, -6/+0One of my buddies who I've known for 15 years committed suicide in May, after being laid off from his job and dumped by his girlfriend. It just made me realize how selfish of an act he pulled. It's been emotionally painful to think about since, because he was one of the only people I know who didn't try to fit the mold of what society wants. Yet what he did was selfish, as it has caused pain to his family and friends (myself included).

    We all have thoughts on suicide. It's that our stable mind knows how to handle it afterwards. It's what we do to alleviate that pain to deface the problem.
    • lostformat1125, on 07/05/2008, -0/+5dude your being selfish for calling him selfish....his pain is gone....yours will be too...
      • gonzoceltic, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0What? Me, being selfish? It's one selfish act to delve into. His pain was something temporary that he would have eventually got over. The pain that he's left to his family and friends will last forever.
    • JohnboiWaltune, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1Follow him into oblivion!!

      DO IT
    • birdman33, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0I'm sorry to hear that, Gonzo......I agree though....for something that he was going through with the job loss and how he was dumped by his girlfriend, there was no reason to do that....yeah, we all have thoughts on suicide but most of us actually have the mentality to think about our families and what they would go through...suicide is very selfish.

      JohnboiWaltune should be reported for an idiotic comment like that. How childish.
      • gonzoceltic, on 07/06/2008, -0/+0Thanks, Birdman. At least there's some sanity out there.
  • Orangadan, on 07/05/2008, -0/+2"The man was grabbed on the eastern promenade of the bridge after passers-by noticed him pacing and growing increasingly despondent. The reason? He had picked out a spot on the western promenade that he wanted to jump from, but separated by six lanes of traffic, he was afraid of getting hit by a car on his way there."


    ahhh what a conundrum..
  • DiggGeek24, on 07/05/2008, -7/+1Suicide is the most selfish thing you can do my brother killed himself 10 year ago my mom blames herself she cries everyday for hours I hate my brother for it I there is a hell I hope he is there.
  • WoollyMittens, on 07/05/2008, -4/+5Too, many, commas, and, recursive, sentences, in, the, description, make, it, seem, pretentious, and, overcomplicates, reading.
    • flibuste, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1It's not overcomplicated. It's just that apparently you seem to underunderstand.
  • DroppedGT, on 07/05/2008, -0/+3I like the thought that I can just end it all when I choose...
  • kokoshka, on 07/05/2008, -0/+4Gotta die sometime.
  • alwilson, on 07/05/2008, -1/+6For those of you who are too lazy or stupid to read the article, let me just say they brought up some good points. It's not so much that people shouldn't have the right to die, but often people are not thinking rationally when the make the decision to off themselves and those who live through it regret making the attempt. A very small percentage of people who fail at the first attempt go on to successful completion later. By making the act of suicide more difficult you can save the lives of people who might act out on impulse. It gives them some time to think things over. How many times have you been upset about something but after a good nights sleep, the problem doesn't seem so bad? If you had a loaded gun by the bedside, you probably wouldn't give yourself the chance to think about what you are about to do.

    I feel sorry for anyone who is too lazy to read the article because it was very interesting.
  • raskali, on 07/05/2008, -1/+5I think it's great to see so many thoughtful responses here rather than the righteous inDiggnation and knee jerk reactions shown by a few. I think for some suicide is a necessary step for them to end their suffering, so be it. I respect them and their choice.
  • tama00, on 07/05/2008, -3/+4A quote from the article:
    "People who comment on digg without reading the article are lame and should kill themselves"
  • alldigit, on 07/05/2008, -2/+3I would kill myself, but there's just no easy way to die. Maybe it's about time the government embraced suicide and installed suicide booths for those that are too lazy to do it themselves.
    • ewc80, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1That was one of the points in the article, actually. It would seem that any barrier to completing the act makes it far less likely to be completed, even trivial barriers have this effect.
  • CHANNELOCK, on 07/05/2008, -4/+4Life is one long suicide anyway.
    9-5 ***** jobs eating away at your soul for like 50 long ***** years...then you get sick and die two years after you retire .

  • Aurabolt, on 07/05/2008, -1/+4"...in 2005, approximately 32,000 Americans committed suicide, or nearly twice the number of those killed by homicide."

    Wow...
  • Syklopz, on 07/05/2008, -4/+1Suicide's main purpose is redemption. What better way to right all of your wrongs than shooting yourself in the face?
  • mrinsanity, on 07/05/2008, -2/+4Yeah, well... the jerk store called... and they're running out of YOU!
  • EdwinJ85, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4*The sheer numbers would seem to support this idea: in 2005, approximately 32,000 Americans committed suicide, or nearly twice the number of those killed by homicide.*

    I wonder, why do we spend so much time debating over how to stop people commiting suicide rather than how to make them want to live again?

    Because mostly we can't. Let those who want to, die. It is the most basic human right.
    • Frisbinator, on 07/06/2008, -0/+2Did you read the article? If not, you should. One the statistics cited was that only 10 percent of those whom attempted impulse type suicides and survived attempted them again. Seriously, read the article.
      • EdwinJ85, on 07/06/2008, -1/+1And how about those who don't do it impulsively? I know of people who tried long and hard to get a gun, planned it all out and blew there brains out over the course of months. Where do they fall in this little study?

        If the state allowed people to die painlessly after applications that take, say, a month, there would be no useless waste. People who succeed in suicide do the impulsive and painful way - jumping, cutting, etc. Planners obviously do not want pain so they try gasing and shooting and as guns can easily be taken away and gasing takes a while, they are often stopped. Their lives however, are not fixed. It does nobody any good to make the long term suicidal people to stay alive by force. If you can not fix their life and make them want to live, you have no right to deny them death.

        The state should assist suicide for however wants it and can prove they have wanted to die for more than a month. The waiting period should be say, 3 months and after that nobody can say they are doing this by impulse. Special cases could get speeded up but nobody should be able to do it in under a month.

        Many people do not want to live, period. This is a fact. It does nobody any good to force them to live because we ourselves fear death and enforce our fears on others. God also has no part to play as he does not exist.

        There are too many people on earth as it is, let those who want out of the ride.
      • Frisbinator, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1"Planners obviously do not want pain so they try gasing and shooting and as guns can easily be taken away and gasing takes a while, they are often stopped."

        GasSing and shooting are both considered to be impulse suicides, and neither is often stopped nor unsuccessful. READ THE ARTICLE, the statistics are all there for your athiest-survival-of-the-fittest brain which thinks that it has all of the answers without having to actually do any work to back up what it is saying.
    • flibuste, on 07/06/2008, -0/+1You should read the article BEFORE you comment on Digg.
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