Why do people commit suicide?
While society sees this as a complex answer, I find it to be quite simple. When a person's
emotional or physical pain exceeds that person's ability to cope with that pain, the human
mind searches for a way to reduce or eliminate the pain. We are naturally wired up to avoid
pain because pain is a warning that we are in danger. You would not think to place your
hand on an open fire because it would hurt. The human mind searches for years or even
decades for ways to achieve freedom from the emotional pain that is responsible for suicidal
thoughts. While suicide may come and go as a potential resolution, hope wans over time.
Once the person reaches the point of seeing no other way out and no end to the suffering,
a breaking point is reached and suicidal thoughts are acted on. Statistics reveal that the
most common age range for suicide for adults aged 18-65 is 45-54. Suicide is not
something people want to do. Men and women struggle for many years before succumbing
to thoughts of suicide. Suicide is not something that happens as a response to a single
challenging life situation. Suicidal thoughts are a life-threatening symptom of a underlying
mental health disorder such as depressive illness.
I am having thoughts of suicide. What should I do?
If self harm is imminent, you MUST call 911 or a suicide crisis hot line. The National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) & the National Hopeline at
1-800- SUICIDE (784-2433) both have trained counselors waiting for your phone call.
If you are not in immediate harm, the single most important thing you can do is admit to
yourself that these thoughts are not normal and agree to seek the help of a medical or
mental health professional.
Look at the facts:
- 90% of suicides are by people with an underlying mental heath disorder (the other 10%
are accidental self-injury deaths)
- 60% of suicide victims have a depressive illness
- 80% of depressive illnesses respond to treatment
The bottom line is that you must be willing to seek help so that your underlying ailment can
be diagnosed and treated. You must admit to yourself that your thinking is skewed. You
need to know that you do not have to live with suicidal thoughts! Take action TODAY to get
help! Your life depends on it!
Do you think people who commit suicide are selfish?
I imagine that this topic of selfishness can get pretty heated especially if you are speaking
with survivors who have lost a loved one. It is always hard to lose a loved one, especially to
a mental illness you do not understand. I personally think folks on both sides of the
argument are selfish.
Yes, it is selfish to kill yourself and leave your loved ones behind in a state of turmoil and
grief.
And yes I think it is selfish to call someone with a life-threatening mental health disorder
selfish because this holds no regard for the suffering individual and passes judgment on
circumstances for which one has little or no knowledge. To completely disregard a person’s
underlying mental health disorder and stoop to name-calling is insensitive and self
protective.
I am rather opinionated about this issue because I do find the mentally stable person's
position to be one of greater selfishness because this person can think clearly and
rationally. The person with the suicidal thoughts is by definition not a mentally and
emotionally healthy person. This person is in a life-threatening situation and needs support,
not ridicule.
Telling a suicidal thinker that he is selfish only adds to the irrational belief that he is a failure
and that others are better off without him.
Is it true that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem?
This is not a true statement. A more accurate statement would be that suicide is a
permanent solution to a long-term problem. I have a response to this issue in my book.
Here is an excerpt from this response, "For people who experience recurrent suicidal
ideation, these thoughts can persist for years or even decades and are not short-term. This
conclusion also makes the assumption that an emotionally healthy person is going along in
life, runs up against a challenging bump in the road and selects suicide as the solution to
that particular problem. This conclusion could not be farther from the truth.
For many people, there is not a single event that brings about suicidal feelings. Instead, a
person’s long-term persistent state of hopelessness and isolation gets triggered to create
an overwhelmingly intense emotional pain that does not feel survivable. The triggering event
that precedes the suicide is simply the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back."
Are people who commit suicide weak cowards?
"There are strong and brave people who commit suicide, and there are weak and cowardly
people who do not commit suicide. There is no basis in fact to conclude that people who
commit suicide are weak cowards.
Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame is a prime example. Meriwether Lewis journeyed across America
and is one of our nation’s most notable explorers. In addition to being a great explorer, it is
also believed that Lewis suffered from a depressive disorder. Clark and others very close to
Lewis noted emotional extremes in the life of Meriwether Lewis. Over time, these emotional
ups and downs became increasingly severe.
After Lewis’ passing, people tried to claim that his death was not a suicide because they
could not accept that the great explorer could have committed such an act. Lewis’ life did not
meet the stereotype of a selfish weak coward who exercised a permanent solution to a
temporary problem. However, those who knew Lewis personally, including Clark and
President Thomas Jefferson, never questioned suicide as the cause of death. Those closest
to Lewis knew too well the emotional torment that lead to his demise."*
Do people who commit suicide automatically go to Hell?
The short answer is no. A person's eternal destination is not determined by means of
death. Here is a more expanded response:
"Many people including some Christians believe that if you commit suicide you will
automatically go to Hell. I think people believe this because they know it is a sin to commit
suicide.
You have probably heard of the Ten Commandments. The sixth commandment in Exodus 20:
13 (NIV) says, “You shall not murder.” Now, a murder is an unjustified or unlawful killing. In
other words, the death did not involve self-defense or an accident. If you take your own life,
this is not a justified killing. Therefore, suicide is a sin.
The term sin simply means missing the mark. As humans, we continually fail to live up to our
expectations for ourselves, let alone God’s expectations. I have great news! Committing sin
does not determine your eternal destination. Okay, take a moment to stop your head from
spinning out of control and think about this. If committing a sin determines where you will
spend eternity, then we will all go to Hell with no hope of getting to Heaven because every
person has committed sin.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 NKJV.
Our eternal destination is determined by our relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible says in
Romans 10:9 (NKJV), “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This means that if you
acknowledge that you have sinned, ask for forgiveness, and then invite Jesus to be in
charge of your life from this day forward, then you will be saved from eternal death.
Regardless of your means of death, you will go to Heaven when your physical body dies.
This is because Jesus saved us from ALL of our sins - past, present and future."*
For more information about this subject, go to An Abundant Life.
While society sees this as a complex answer, I find it to be quite simple. When a person's
emotional or physical pain exceeds that person's ability to cope with that pain, the human
mind searches for a way to reduce or eliminate the pain. We are naturally wired up to avoid
pain because pain is a warning that we are in danger. You would not think to place your
hand on an open fire because it would hurt. The human mind searches for years or even
decades for ways to achieve freedom from the emotional pain that is responsible for suicidal
thoughts. While suicide may come and go as a potential resolution, hope wans over time.
Once the person reaches the point of seeing no other way out and no end to the suffering,
a breaking point is reached and suicidal thoughts are acted on. Statistics reveal that the
most common age range for suicide for adults aged 18-65 is 45-54. Suicide is not
something people want to do. Men and women struggle for many years before succumbing
to thoughts of suicide. Suicide is not something that happens as a response to a single
challenging life situation. Suicidal thoughts are a life-threatening symptom of a underlying
mental health disorder such as depressive illness.
I am having thoughts of suicide. What should I do?
If self harm is imminent, you MUST call 911 or a suicide crisis hot line. The National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) & the National Hopeline at
1-800- SUICIDE (784-2433) both have trained counselors waiting for your phone call.
If you are not in immediate harm, the single most important thing you can do is admit to
yourself that these thoughts are not normal and agree to seek the help of a medical or
mental health professional.
Look at the facts:
- 90% of suicides are by people with an underlying mental heath disorder (the other 10%
are accidental self-injury deaths)
- 60% of suicide victims have a depressive illness
- 80% of depressive illnesses respond to treatment
The bottom line is that you must be willing to seek help so that your underlying ailment can
be diagnosed and treated. You must admit to yourself that your thinking is skewed. You
need to know that you do not have to live with suicidal thoughts! Take action TODAY to get
help! Your life depends on it!
Do you think people who commit suicide are selfish?
I imagine that this topic of selfishness can get pretty heated especially if you are speaking
with survivors who have lost a loved one. It is always hard to lose a loved one, especially to
a mental illness you do not understand. I personally think folks on both sides of the
argument are selfish.
Yes, it is selfish to kill yourself and leave your loved ones behind in a state of turmoil and
grief.
And yes I think it is selfish to call someone with a life-threatening mental health disorder
selfish because this holds no regard for the suffering individual and passes judgment on
circumstances for which one has little or no knowledge. To completely disregard a person’s
underlying mental health disorder and stoop to name-calling is insensitive and self
protective.
I am rather opinionated about this issue because I do find the mentally stable person's
position to be one of greater selfishness because this person can think clearly and
rationally. The person with the suicidal thoughts is by definition not a mentally and
emotionally healthy person. This person is in a life-threatening situation and needs support,
not ridicule.
Telling a suicidal thinker that he is selfish only adds to the irrational belief that he is a failure
and that others are better off without him.
Is it true that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem?
This is not a true statement. A more accurate statement would be that suicide is a
permanent solution to a long-term problem. I have a response to this issue in my book.
Here is an excerpt from this response, "For people who experience recurrent suicidal
ideation, these thoughts can persist for years or even decades and are not short-term. This
conclusion also makes the assumption that an emotionally healthy person is going along in
life, runs up against a challenging bump in the road and selects suicide as the solution to
that particular problem. This conclusion could not be farther from the truth.
For many people, there is not a single event that brings about suicidal feelings. Instead, a
person’s long-term persistent state of hopelessness and isolation gets triggered to create
an overwhelmingly intense emotional pain that does not feel survivable. The triggering event
that precedes the suicide is simply the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back."
Are people who commit suicide weak cowards?
"There are strong and brave people who commit suicide, and there are weak and cowardly
people who do not commit suicide. There is no basis in fact to conclude that people who
commit suicide are weak cowards.
Lewis of Lewis & Clark fame is a prime example. Meriwether Lewis journeyed across America
and is one of our nation’s most notable explorers. In addition to being a great explorer, it is
also believed that Lewis suffered from a depressive disorder. Clark and others very close to
Lewis noted emotional extremes in the life of Meriwether Lewis. Over time, these emotional
ups and downs became increasingly severe.
After Lewis’ passing, people tried to claim that his death was not a suicide because they
could not accept that the great explorer could have committed such an act. Lewis’ life did not
meet the stereotype of a selfish weak coward who exercised a permanent solution to a
temporary problem. However, those who knew Lewis personally, including Clark and
President Thomas Jefferson, never questioned suicide as the cause of death. Those closest
to Lewis knew too well the emotional torment that lead to his demise."*
Do people who commit suicide automatically go to Hell?
The short answer is no. A person's eternal destination is not determined by means of
death. Here is a more expanded response:
"Many people including some Christians believe that if you commit suicide you will
automatically go to Hell. I think people believe this because they know it is a sin to commit
suicide.
You have probably heard of the Ten Commandments. The sixth commandment in Exodus 20:
13 (NIV) says, “You shall not murder.” Now, a murder is an unjustified or unlawful killing. In
other words, the death did not involve self-defense or an accident. If you take your own life,
this is not a justified killing. Therefore, suicide is a sin.
The term sin simply means missing the mark. As humans, we continually fail to live up to our
expectations for ourselves, let alone God’s expectations. I have great news! Committing sin
does not determine your eternal destination. Okay, take a moment to stop your head from
spinning out of control and think about this. If committing a sin determines where you will
spend eternity, then we will all go to Hell with no hope of getting to Heaven because every
person has committed sin.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23 NKJV.
Our eternal destination is determined by our relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible says in
Romans 10:9 (NKJV), “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This means that if you
acknowledge that you have sinned, ask for forgiveness, and then invite Jesus to be in
charge of your life from this day forward, then you will be saved from eternal death.
Regardless of your means of death, you will go to Heaven when your physical body dies.
This is because Jesus saved us from ALL of our sins - past, present and future."*
For more information about this subject, go to An Abundant Life.
| A Time to Live Surviving Suicidal Thoughts |
Questions and Answers*
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
*These responses reflect the personal experiences of the author's
struggles with suicidal thoughts.
struggles with suicidal thoughts.
| 2007 Copyright. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, information on this website can be used for individual use. Commercial use or distribution requires permission. Contact admin@atimetolive.com for additional information. |
*Portions abridged from A Time to Live: Surviving Suicidal Thoughts by Kimberly Andry