I know, this is the exact opposite of what you usually hear. The vast majority of times when someone mentions, considers, or attempts suicide, when the topic of selfishness comes up, it is said that the person who is the committer of, or the person who is considering it, is selfish. But, this line of thought always seemed odd to me.

First off, if the suicide method does not physically harm anyone but the person doing it, how is it selfish? In my opinion, taking your own life is the absolute bravest thing a person could be doing. I mean, come on, it's your one and only ****ing life. Furthermore, what does seem selfish to me is forcing a mentally ill person to continue living in a never-ending horrible struggle just so the people who love/like/know him or her could live without guilt.

Meanwhile, if a person attempts suicide and fails (as it happens with the majority of cases), he or she is often forced to go to one of those awful mental hospitals where they usually treat their patients horribly. The vast majority of people will forget about it a month afterward, while the person who attempted it will in a lot of cases just get worse.

So my question is: considering what was written above, do you feel that preventing people from committing suicide is selfish?

As someone who often has suicidal thoughts/idealization, I often find myself saying or thinking that the only reason I'm here is because my family would be upset if I did it. I think its kind of selfish... They'd rather someone live absolutely miserably just so they have them around rather than them be at peace. IDK, I have conflicted thoughts.

The only thing that I know, is that I completely differ from what you state here:

I think it's the absolute opposite. It's a coward act, because if you would be brave enough, you would strive to get out of your problem or find a solution that doesn't mean forgetting about everything. Just like when you are feeling stressed out and you just prefer to ignore, leave something incomplete, give up, instead of searching for a solution that solves your problem. If you are brave, you would fight for the solution no matter the pain that comes along.

Well, that's what I think. About the rest, I could see why it would be selfish. It's really comparable to euthanasia, etc.

I kinda get both sides tbh.
Someone being brave enough to stop you from killing yourself could be the best thing that has happened to you, since they can help you turn your life around(generally speaking).

Sometimes people feel lost and loose their purpose to live and hence, have suicidal thoughts. But if that ONE person gives you a reason to live and manages to help you turn your life around, then it's an amazing thing to do.

The only time I'd stand by someone who wants to kill themselves is when there's an illness involved. Like, if someone is diagnosed with terminal cancer or something as deadly and life threatening, which also destroys you physically and mentally, until you die, then I wouldn't stop them. If they don't want to live their last moments feeling weak, lifeless and doomed, then it's only logical.

If I was in a situation like this, I would try and talk to that person, try to give him reasons to continue to live, try and help him/her any way I can. If that person is 100% sure they want to do it, then it's not my place to stop them.

Absolutely not.

no.

Not surprising based on your following statement

This is the thing though, why do you even give a **** what a person does with their own life? In what way does it affect you? Mental illnesses do not have a cure. If you're born mentally ill or if you developed it, you will never get rid of it. Even if you just have depression and get better, you are very likely to get it again. I recommend you read this (also added the most important quote):

And I'm not even going to start on stuff like Bipolar disorder where you will likely need some sort of therapy for the rest of your life.

By calling suicide "cowardly", you are completely disregarding the struggles mentally ill people go through.

Thank you for your thoughtful contributions.

So do you think that when living in this world, you are living entirely by yourself? You think you don't depend on other people? Don't you think it will affect somebody else? The human experience is what is is because we share this world with other humans. You do not come to this world by art of magic, you do not know the things you know because you first thought about them. You need of other people to live in this world.

This is why I mentioned euthanasia, which I am all for it for both physical or mental illnesses, regarding what you were are asking, but it's crystal clear you lost it with my first statement and stopped reading till the very end.

I kind of get what you are saying except for this

It seems like the opposite of brave to me. Short answer to OP, no

No. I look it as trying to help someone realize that it can get better and that life might actually be worth living. Giving them hope. Being there for them in a time of need. Letting them know that, from that moment forward, they will have a way out and a shoulder to cry on if necessary.

Why should mentally ill people care about other people? They are the ones who are experiencing the most pain, after all.

No, I read your entire post. Doesn't stop it from being completely insensitive.

I would be interested in hearing your long answer.

Life is precious.

I don't really have a long answer, but I can see why it would be considered selfish. I think it comes down to morals. Most of us are taught to protect each other, so it wouldn't be considered selfish but selfless to save a person's life.

It depends though. Some people might really believe that they are better off dead so..

It's only selfish because people don't take the time to understand why people have these thoughts. Instead of reaching out to people in dire need of help, they turn to ignorance.

I've had suicidal thoughts, but I will NEVER take my own life. All it takes is being a friend to someone to help. It's usually loneliness, rejection or self-reflection (sexuality, status, etc.) that makes people depressed and want to commit such an act.

All I know is if I had a friend that talked to me everyday and hung out with me on a weekly basis, I probably wouldn't even be in a mental state where I felt like my life was worth nothing. IF you want to help someone, text them everyday. Make them feel special and be a true friend.

It's so easy to fool people now a days, saying you are friends with them, but outside of [work/school, etc] you neglect to show your friendship. I have many friends at work, for instance, but I can't even recall the last time someone from work who says they are my friend who cares, texted me.

Friendship goes a looooong way and I've learned that a lot of people put up a front and wear a mask. People can be very superficial these days.

As a person that has dealt with severe depression and suicidal thoughts, no. I believe that when a person is having thoughts like that, a good 95% of the time it's just a temporary pain and they can overcome and find happiness if they just hold on. The 5% would cover people that say, are severely ill to the point where they have basically no quality of life left but most people who think about suicide aren't in that boat, they just have depression, which can be treated and dealt with. When I was depressed the thought of going through another day seemed like a Herculean feat, and I thought putting a stop to it was a good solution. But now that my depression has cleared and I can think clearly without mental illness altering my thoughts and feelings, I can see that I wasn't thinking properly, and I am so glad that I didn't give up and still have my life to live. I totally think that people should do everything they can to stop or prevent people from killing themselves, because I do not believe that people that are in that situation are in their right state of mind. They've done studies where they've talked to people that survived suicide attempts, and damn near every single one said that they would've regretted it. That is very telling to me

Hardly.

the person committing suicide is the selfish one.

No, not at all. But I also don't think committing suicide is selfish bc you have no idea what another person is going through and how they rationalize their experiences. They may have a totally valid reason for killing themselves because life does suck a lot of the time. I do believe people who want to kill themselves should take care of the financial aspects first though before taking that final step.