Suicide: is it ethical?

Life is beautiful
Life is ugly

Suicide seems like a reasonable way out
Suicide seems like an appalling waste of life

Society might allow
Society might condemn

and inbetween, is the real, the personal. The shoes of another, that we can make conjectures about stepping into, but never truly understand.

I can only judge for myself, never another
and yet, there have been times when I've been tempted
and times when I could never do that, so what do I really know?

Life is so ambiguous, death the only certainty, but how will it happen? When? Where?

I can understand the fear that drives the need to control this. The how and the when and the where.

and yet, there is only so much that can be controlled - and then it happens anyway - you come to that place where you are no longer able to control the outcome, and must surrender.

I wish love to all those who ever come to that place. My heart goes out to them. I wish them peace and serenity at the last.

That is all
 
Context is important in this discussion. Some people commit suicide because they are experiencing an extreme chemical imbalance and do not have the capacity to reason at the moment. Others are angry and destructive and they want to punish as part of their motivation. Some people get so lost in depression that they can't muster a sense of any significance and can't comprehend how much suffering they will cause. Someone else might be in a position of responsibility like a parent, commit suicide, and leave toddlers alone. It's difficult to view it as resulting from complete guilt or innocence. I try to avoid the blame game.

I had a family member who was suicidal. It consumed my life for a number of years. The state of mind that can produce that desire is often altered by depression or something, but it is a markedly ego-centric form of reasoning. I mean that in terms of only having an awareness of self and not of others or consequences of one's actions.

I don't think I could classify suicide as ethical, but that doesn't mean it is unethical in all instances by default, but in some cases perhaps. I think some situations are neither, but are more in the category of mental and/or physical illness.
 
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Julia said:
Context is important in this discussion. Some people commit suicide because they are experiencing an extreme chemical imbalance and do not have the capacity to reason at the moment. Others are angry and destructive and they want to punish as part of their motivation. Some people get so lost in depression that they can't muster a sense of any significance and can't comprehend how much suffering they will cause. Someone else might be in a position of responsibility like a parent, commit suicide, and leave toddlers alone. It's difficult to view it as resulting from complete guilt or innocence. I try to avoid the blame game.

I had a family member who was suicidal. It consumed my life for a number of years. The state of mind that can produce that desire is often altered by depression or something, but it is a markedly ego-centric form of reasoning. I mean that in terms of only having an awareness of self and not of others or consequences of one's actions.

I don't think I could classify suicide as ethical, but that doesn't mean it is unethical in all instances by default, but in some cases perhaps. I think some situations are neither, but are more in the category of mental and/or physical illness.
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Yes! It's not ethical and it's not unethical! It's the result of mental illness or extreme emotional stress that causes one to be unreasonable and take their own life.

A person who commits suicide should not be blamed for their actions and called "selfish" and those around them shouldn't blame themselves for not discerning the issue in time.
 
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