Quote:
Originally Posted by Joely  people who kill themselves do it very often feeling that their life is a burden on others and that by ending it, they are actually doing those people a favour. |
That's what I mean by a warped experience. Generating violence and withholding, although someone might think they're doing the world a favor, creates something in the world that doesn't work in a life I love. And frankly, I think that underneath the apparent desire to do the world a favor, there lies a self-interest that is much deeper than any altruistic feeling. Often I think people are powerless to see that there are options for letting go of feeling bad and generating feeling good, that their mental illness or physical pain is blinding them to.
You mention that it would be selfish to keep someone here despite their unending pain, and maybe you're right about that. I'm not advocating keeping someone here who doesn't want to be here. I do think, though, that a more universal atmosphere of 100% responsibility would result in more light being shed on alternatives, in a lot of cases, to this taking of one's life, alternatives that would generate something that works (for me!) better than what suicide generates. Of course each person must make their own choice, and I don't begrudge them that.
It's lovely that you are willing to generously allow people to make their own choices, Joely, and I would like to do that, too. And - I have a very strong preference for an environment in which suicide, and even the contemplation of suicide, would be very, very rare.