Three Types of Suicide
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In this explanation, Jack breaks down his understanding and beliefs on the topic of stigmatized suicide and the three groups of suicidal people.
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We currently live in a world where discussions on suicide are so viciously stigmatic that they’re nearly unheard of. Sometimes the discussion is enough to help an individual, but the risk of getting institutionalized is too great to attempt the dialogue at all. We’re underdeveloped in the area as a result. Most with suicidal thoughts aren’t even planning to act on them, they’re no more than thoughts. But the inability to discuss these thoughts lead to the held energy manifesting in other ways. Many times it turns into action because there is no other way to process the information.
We should be capable, as a society, nation and planet, to discuss things without another person deciding what it is you mean by it.
In this short explanation I offer perspective on the matter by walking you through the three forms in which acting on suicide can manifest.
Let us begin…
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The Unstable
These individuals are the depressed, the schizophrenics, the manic depressives and many more. People with chemical imbalances or physiological disorders which prevent them from making rational lucid decisions in life. In other words, this is the one and only group of people we should intervene on when it comes to suicide. Because of their condition they find suicide a rational option and until they’re perfectly lucid the choice to do such a thing should be taken from their hands. Whether it’d be institutionalization or medication, the appropriate measure should be taken. This is also the minority of people who commit suicide. Yet, we treat all cases as if they were this group of people when such a small number of people have psychological disorders that might land them here.
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The Broken
These are the individuals most people picture when they think of suicide. These people are dealing with such difficult circumstances that the emotional pain they feel overwhelms any physical pain they might encounter. They are the ones that feel hopeless and as though there is nowhere else to go. Because of our poor understanding of suicide, we much rather have these individuals stick around so we feel good about ourselves even if it means they must suffer internally for longer. So long as we don’t suffer we’re happy and that’s ultimately where preventing suicide begins. Regardless of the hell one of these individuals might be living, because we don’t experience it too, we assume it’s not real. We believe we’d cope better with the same circumstances. And although this might or might not be true the pain of these individuals is real. And it is their life and their pain to handle. They shouldn’t be obligated to suffer just so that someone else doesn’t have to deal with their emotions. It’s unfair. These people aren’t depressed. They feel hopeless. They’ve exhausted all possibilities within their reach and come up empty. As it is their lives, we should allow them to do whatever it is they want to do with it. We tend to treat these people as if they had psychological disorders of chemical imbalances but that is simply not the case. These are people making a lucid and calculated decision based on their circumstance and should be allowed to end their own suffering when they see fit without another person’s input on the matter. Your life, your choice. These are also the people who are best at hiding their plans up until the last moment, because they are lucid enough to plan and execute.
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The Curious
This group of people comes with some confusion, but they seem to be dead center on how frequent a suicide is one of these three mentioned groups. These are the people you usually hear “they seemed so happy. I didn’t know they were dealing with anything” when spoken of. The reasons (when it’s not simply that their issues are well hidden) is that they’re curious. They’re either satisfied and fulfilled on this end of reality or are more curious about what is happening on the other side. Like the previous group, these people should also be left do handle their lives the way they please because it is a lucid decision being made. Just as someone is allowed to drink and potentially die in a car accident or of liver failure, or allowed to smoke cigarettes and slowly develop cancer and fade through chemotherapy, these people should be allowed to take their lives if they so please because they aren’t doing it for any reason other than their own interest. Whether it be that they feel they’ve accomplished everything they want and would like to die at the height of their happiness, or they’re just eager to investigate what comes next, no one has the right to intervene with their choices simply because they wouldn’t be able to handle their own emotions. It is unfair to force someone to do something just so you’re happy.
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In the two lucid cases, I applaud the bravery it takes to face the vast unknown when death is what we know least about and fear the most. I am not against suicide unless it is for the unstable who are not making lucid or thought out decisions about their own life. In the other two instances, they’ve given it the amount of thought they feel they should have and no one should obligate them to think more or less, or even stop their actions.
Dialogue on suicide needs to happen more frequently to allow those feeling hopeless and those who are broken to find practical ways to cope if it is at all possible. As a society we need to grow and look at multiple perspectives when it comes to things of this nature. There are too many irrational taboos and stigmas floating around our planet. Discussions of this nature need to be had free of judgment and until the day we do we won’t fully understand what goes on right under our noses and why.