Suicide is the most selfish act there is as it revolves only around self: pain the suicide thinks he/she cannot bear, whether physical or psychological; the suicide's right to do as he pleases with his/her own body. As thoughts of suicide move from the theoretical to the impulse to commit the act, it is like a hammer coming down in the night and the consideration of anything or anyone else is excluded in a strange kind of tunnel vision. The suicide is at that point more alone than at any other time in hs/her life; how can he/she be otherwise?
Any act that selfish is unethical, at least in my book, no matter how much I may understand, even empathize with the decision to end one's life. Both my parents committed suicide within four months of each other. In each case I understood the decision. I have made several attempts, all in my 20s before I was diagnosed with and treated for bipolar disorder; all before I became a mother. Those attempts--the consequences of which were miserable in every case--were clearly the result of a chemical imbalance, but I don't believe that made them any less selfish or unethical, helpless as I was to control my impulses at the time.
