Notes on suicide

This is not an easy thing and there is no easy solution nor path to the solution. The field of suicidology is a new one pioneered in the last century.

There are so many dimensions to it. I have to admit the complexity and mystery is something which interests me. Suicide is so misunderstood.

I believe assisted suicde should be legalised. This is because I have lived with the desire to die for a long time.

It has not always been this way and there are times I've regretted suicide attempts. Now I regret them as failures.

There are so many different reasons and pathways which lead a person to kill themselves. There may be patterns and commonalities but each person's journey is unique and must be treated this way.

It may surprise people that I believe in suicide prevention. I have strong beliefs about suicide prevention. The key is to stop people thinking about suicide as a solution. This is not to be done by censorship nor other unethical means. It is to stop the processes which lead some people to want to die.

This is a far greater problem and there is a problem in the solution. Experiencing suicidal thoughts may also be an important life process, sort of in a very rarified "whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger" sort of way.

What I mean is I also value suicidality. Yes...it is the precursor to suicide for most people (some people kill themselves while experiencing a delusional state of reality). It can also bring clarity and life change.

If I could put it simply. You do not know what life is till you want to die. You do not know what life is till you survive coming close to losing it.

Some people never need to ask why they live or why they should continue to live however these can be life changing questions. Buckerminster Fuller, inventor of the idea of the eponymous substance, made a suicide attempt but turned away. It was instrumental to his life development. Before he walked into the lake he thought he should perhaps change the world and his talent was chemistry.

I too have experienced the value of suicidality for focusng my lifetime. I don't want my life saved by I'll happily die trying to save others. I see no duality or hypocracy in this statement.

I don't believe anyone should get to this point where I am but I think many people in history have felt how I've felt and made change or found focus in their life because they want to die. It may be painful for others but the pain is nothing like the life process which brings an individual to want to die so much.

You could think of the suicidal as canaries in the mine. The gas in the mine is the illness in life and society and systems which bring people to want to die. The 6000 a year are the warning that there is something really wrong with society and behavioural conditioning in its various forms.

Suicide prevention like everything else needs social model thinking. Reduce the suffering in modern life and you will reduce the suicide rate and suicidal ideation rate too.

We build a society and emotional culture for all people and when we fuck up people kill themselves. Unfortunately the psychiatrist builders botched it up so 1 in 6 of us will seriously think of killing ourselves at some point.

We need sociologists to provide the solutions to the future of suicide prevention because what's happening now isn't working and the methods are immoral.

Sent from my smartphone