Unpacking a Cliché About Suicide
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April 8, 2018 - 1:51 pm
I am 54 years old and have thought about suicide, ruminated about it and prepared for it many times. This is a symptom of bipolar disorder, as well as many other mental illnesses.
After I have regularly declined to complete suicide, I have had many great experiences that I would not have had, had I done what seemed and felt so necessary in a moment of anguish.
For example, I could never have imagined that I would eventually retire at the beach in the Dominican Republic when I was seventeen years old and contemplating building and using a guillotine on myself.
The National Institutes of Mental Health says of bipolarity that, “The illness usually lasts a lifetime. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
I have frustrated friends and family because, with bipolarity, I periodically experience profound depressions wherein I argue for my right and the righteousness of committing suicide, about which I write and publish more than anyone else I personally know.
“In 2015: Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 44,000 people.” https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
“An estimated eight to 25 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.” http://www.assessmentpsycholog...
Since 44,000 people commit suicide in the USA annually, and more than 700,000 are seen in hospital emergency rooms after suicide attempts (NIH), I know suicide is an important issue to discuss.
This so even though suicide is a mode of death, and death itself is a taboo subject to discuss - something we all instinctively abhor and reject for ourselves, friends and family.
Some of us, though, suffer such extreme anguish, depression and hopelessness intermittently and chronically, because of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions, that ideas, ruminations, gestures and attempts at suicide become periodic and seemingly inevitable occurrences in our lives.
The knowledge, even when we are happy, that depression and anguish will probably eventually come back, at least for the 4%-20% of bipolars who suicide, is part of what makes bipolar disorder a "permanent problem".
People tell us that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.
Let’s examine whether this cliché is actually true for people with bipolar disorder.
If it is not true, then by saying it, we are insisting that the ends of *trying* to prevent suicide justify dishonest means.
Moreover, if it is not true that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”, this cliché might not really help people who are suicidal and it might hurt the credibility of those who say it to them.
Like “Just say no” to drugs, this cliché clearly does not really prevent *enough* suicides, because 44,000 people per year, who have heard this argument, take their lives anyway.
Let’s break the cliché down into its two assertions. Is suicide really a “permanent solution”? It certainly isn’t for family members and friends who are left behind.
So, calling suicide a “permanent solution” is simply untrue, unless the problem is conceived *exclusively* as the end of the anguish of the people who suicide.
Since no one who has suicided has been able to describe to us how they felt *after* they were dead, we really have no evidence at all that suicide is a permanent solution to anguish. It's pure speculation.
No one has proved that anguish ends when life ends. We have no evidence that suicide is a "permanent solution", even for them personally, so we ought not assure people that suicide will be a "permanent solution".
For those left behind, the “problem” - coping with the grief, anger and shame" is a permanent problem, not a permanent solution.
Suicide is only conceivably a “permanent solution” *for people who ONLY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES and their own pain*.
Does telling people that suicide is a “permanent solution” really discourage them from committing suicide, or does it encourage chronically anguished people to commit suicide to get rid of their anguish once and for all? I do not know the answer to that.
The second part of the cliché is the insistence that people want to commit suicide because of a “temporary problem”. This is demonstrably untrue in the case of people who are bipolar.
Bipolarity is a psychiatric condition for which there are treatments that are effective for many people, but there is no known “cure”. The psychiatric and biochemical and neurological disorder is a *chronic and permanent problem*, not temporary. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
Bipolar illness is a perfect example of a “permanent” challenge because there is no known cure for it. My therapists and psychiatrists have advised me that I will need a medication regime and therapy for the rest of my life to cope with bipolar disorder.
To do as they recommend requires finding access to prescribing psychiatrists; having access financially and geographically to prescribed medication and therapy. These are “permanent” challenges.
To deny this is to deny the very nature of bipolar disorder, which is a chronic and incurable illness.
So, suicide is *not* a globally “permanent solution” to bipolarity for one's friends and/or family members and bipolar disorder is not a “temporary problem”.
We must examine what we say in an effort to help people and be sure the advice we are giving them is based in reality.
“80%-97% of people diagnosed with bipolar illness do not die by suicide”, so suicide is not the only way to confront bipolar illness. https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
However, “the majority (more than 90 percent) of those who do die suicide have been diagnosed with a mental illness. People with mental illness do have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide than the general population.” https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
These problems - that as many of 20% of bipolars die of suicide - are at least as permanent as the chronic and incurable bipolarity itself. Bipolar illness is demonstrably *not* a “temporary problem”.
So, suicide is not a "permanent solution" to bipolarity for the family and friends of those who suicide. And bipolar disorder is not a "temporary problem".
As concerns bipolar disorder, it is untrue to say that suicide will be “a *permanent* solution to a *temporary* problem.
After I have regularly declined to complete suicide, I have had many great experiences that I would not have had, had I done what seemed and felt so necessary in a moment of anguish.
For example, I could never have imagined that I would eventually retire at the beach in the Dominican Republic when I was seventeen years old and contemplating building and using a guillotine on myself.
The National Institutes of Mental Health says of bipolarity that, “The illness usually lasts a lifetime. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
I have frustrated friends and family because, with bipolarity, I periodically experience profound depressions wherein I argue for my right and the righteousness of committing suicide, about which I write and publish more than anyone else I personally know.
“In 2015: Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 44,000 people.” https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
“An estimated eight to 25 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.” http://www.assessmentpsycholog...
Since 44,000 people commit suicide in the USA annually, and more than 700,000 are seen in hospital emergency rooms after suicide attempts (NIH), I know suicide is an important issue to discuss.
This so even though suicide is a mode of death, and death itself is a taboo subject to discuss - something we all instinctively abhor and reject for ourselves, friends and family.
Some of us, though, suffer such extreme anguish, depression and hopelessness intermittently and chronically, because of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions, that ideas, ruminations, gestures and attempts at suicide become periodic and seemingly inevitable occurrences in our lives.
The knowledge, even when we are happy, that depression and anguish will probably eventually come back, at least for the 4%-20% of bipolars who suicide, is part of what makes bipolar disorder a "permanent problem".
People tell us that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.
Let’s examine whether this cliché is actually true for people with bipolar disorder.
If it is not true, then by saying it, we are insisting that the ends of *trying* to prevent suicide justify dishonest means.
Moreover, if it is not true that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”, this cliché might not really help people who are suicidal and it might hurt the credibility of those who say it to them.
Like “Just say no” to drugs, this cliché clearly does not really prevent *enough* suicides, because 44,000 people per year, who have heard this argument, take their lives anyway.
Let’s break the cliché down into its two assertions. Is suicide really a “permanent solution”? It certainly isn’t for family members and friends who are left behind.
So, calling suicide a “permanent solution” is simply untrue, unless the problem is conceived *exclusively* as the end of the anguish of the people who suicide.
Since no one who has suicided has been able to describe to us how they felt *after* they were dead, we really have no evidence at all that suicide is a permanent solution to anguish. It's pure speculation.
No one has proved that anguish ends when life ends. We have no evidence that suicide is a "permanent solution", even for them personally, so we ought not assure people that suicide will be a "permanent solution".
For those left behind, the “problem” - coping with the grief, anger and shame" is a permanent problem, not a permanent solution.
Suicide is only conceivably a “permanent solution” *for people who ONLY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES and their own pain*.
Does telling people that suicide is a “permanent solution” really discourage them from committing suicide, or does it encourage chronically anguished people to commit suicide to get rid of their anguish once and for all? I do not know the answer to that.
The second part of the cliché is the insistence that people want to commit suicide because of a “temporary problem”. This is demonstrably untrue in the case of people who are bipolar.
Bipolarity is a psychiatric condition for which there are treatments that are effective for many people, but there is no known “cure”. The psychiatric and biochemical and neurological disorder is a *chronic and permanent problem*, not temporary. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
Bipolar illness is a perfect example of a “permanent” challenge because there is no known cure for it. My therapists and psychiatrists have advised me that I will need a medication regime and therapy for the rest of my life to cope with bipolar disorder.
To do as they recommend requires finding access to prescribing psychiatrists; having access financially and geographically to prescribed medication and therapy. These are “permanent” challenges.
To deny this is to deny the very nature of bipolar disorder, which is a chronic and incurable illness.
So, suicide is *not* a globally “permanent solution” to bipolarity for one's friends and/or family members and bipolar disorder is not a “temporary problem”.
We must examine what we say in an effort to help people and be sure the advice we are giving them is based in reality.
“80%-97% of people diagnosed with bipolar illness do not die by suicide”, so suicide is not the only way to confront bipolar illness. https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
However, “the majority (more than 90 percent) of those who do die suicide have been diagnosed with a mental illness. People with mental illness do have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide than the general population.” https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
These problems - that as many of 20% of bipolars die of suicide - are at least as permanent as the chronic and incurable bipolarity itself. Bipolar illness is demonstrably *not* a “temporary problem”.
So, suicide is not a "permanent solution" to bipolarity for the family and friends of those who suicide. And bipolar disorder is not a "temporary problem".
As concerns bipolar disorder, it is untrue to say that suicide will be “a *permanent* solution to a *temporary* problem.
I'd rather have a frontal lobotomy than a bottle in front of me.
I am 54 years old and have thought about suicide, ruminated about it and prepared for it many times. This is a symptom of bipolar disorder, as well as many other mental illnesses.
After I have regularly declined to complete suicide, I have had many great experiences that I would not have had, had I done what seemed and felt so necessary in a moment of anguish.
For example, I could never have imagined that I would eventually retire at the beach in the Dominican Republic when I was seventeen years old and contemplating building and using a guillotine on myself.
The National Institutes of Mental Health says of bipolarity that, “The illness usually lasts a lifetime. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
I have frustrated friends and family because, with bipolarity, I periodically experience profound depressions wherein I argue for my right and the righteousness of committing suicide, about which I write and publish more than anyone else I personally know.
“In 2015: Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 44,000 people.” https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
“An estimated eight to 25 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.” http://www.assessmentpsycholog...
Since 44,000 people commit suicide in the USA annually, and more than 700,000 are seen in hospital emergency rooms after suicide attempts (NIH), I know suicide is an important issue to discuss.
This so even though suicide is a mode of death, and death itself is a taboo subject to discuss - something we all instinctively abhor and reject for ourselves, friends and family.
Some of us, though, suffer such extreme anguish, depression and hopelessness intermittently and chronically, because of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions, that ideas, ruminations, gestures and attempts at suicide become periodic and seemingly inevitable occurrences in our lives.
The knowledge, even when we are happy, that depression and anguish will probably eventually come back, at least for the 4%-20% of bipolars who suicide, is part of what makes bipolar disorder a "permanent problem".
People tell us that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.
Let’s examine whether this cliché is actually true for people with bipolar disorder.
If it is not true, then by saying it, we are insisting that the ends of *trying* to prevent suicide justify dishonest means.
Moreover, if it is not true that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”, this cliché might not really help people who are suicidal and it might hurt the credibility of those who say it to them.
Like “Just say no” to drugs, this cliché clearly does not really prevent *enough* suicides, because 44,000 people per year, who have heard this argument, take their lives anyway.
Let’s break the cliché down into its two assertions. Is suicide really a “permanent solution”? It certainly isn’t for family members and friends who are left behind.
So, calling suicide a “permanent solution” is simply untrue, unless the problem is conceived *exclusively* as the end of the anguish of the people who suicide.
Since no one who has suicided has been able to describe to us how they felt *after* they were dead, we really have no evidence at all that suicide is a permanent solution to anguish. It's pure speculation.
No one has proved that anguish ends when life ends. We have no evidence that suicide is a "permanent solution", even for them personally, so we ought not assure people that suicide will be a "permanent solution".
For those left behind, the “problem” - coping with the grief, anger and shame" is a permanent problem, not a permanent solution.
Suicide is only conceivably a “permanent solution” *for people who ONLY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES and their own pain*.
Does telling people that suicide is a “permanent solution” really discourage them from committing suicide, or does it encourage chronically anguished people to commit suicide to get rid of their anguish once and for all? I do not know the answer to that.
The second part of the cliché is the insistence that people want to commit suicide because of a “temporary problem”. This is demonstrably untrue in the case of people who are bipolar.
Bipolarity is a psychiatric condition for which there are treatments that are effective for many people, but there is no known “cure”. The psychiatric and biochemical and neurological disorder is a *chronic and permanent problem*, not temporary. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
Bipolar illness is a perfect example of a “permanent” challenge because there is no known cure for it. My therapists and psychiatrists have advised me that I will need a medication regime and therapy for the rest of my life to cope with bipolar disorder.
To do as they recommend requires finding access to prescribing psychiatrists; having access financially and geographically to prescribed medication and therapy. These are “permanent” challenges.
To deny this is to deny the very nature of bipolar disorder, which is a chronic and incurable illness.
So, suicide is *not* a globally “permanent solution” to bipolarity for one's friends and/or family members and bipolar disorder is not a “temporary problem”.
We must examine what we say in an effort to help people and be sure the advice we are giving them is based in reality.
“80%-97% of people diagnosed with bipolar illness do not die by suicide”, so suicide is not the only way to confront bipolar illness. https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
However, “the majority (more than 90 percent) of those who do die suicide have been diagnosed with a mental illness. People with mental illness do have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide than the general population.” https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
These problems - that as many of 20% of bipolars die of suicide - are at least as permanent as the chronic and incurable bipolarity itself. Bipolar illness is demonstrably *not* a “temporary problem”.
So, suicide is not a "permanent solution" to bipolarity for the family and friends of those who suicide. And bipolar disorder is not a "temporary problem".
As concerns bipolar disorder, it is untrue to say that suicide will be “a *permanent* solution to a *temporary* problem.
After I have regularly declined to complete suicide, I have had many great experiences that I would not have had, had I done what seemed and felt so necessary in a moment of anguish.
For example, I could never have imagined that I would eventually retire at the beach in the Dominican Republic when I was seventeen years old and contemplating building and using a guillotine on myself.
The National Institutes of Mental Health says of bipolarity that, “The illness usually lasts a lifetime. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
I have frustrated friends and family because, with bipolarity, I periodically experience profound depressions wherein I argue for my right and the righteousness of committing suicide, about which I write and publish more than anyone else I personally know.
“In 2015: Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 44,000 people.” https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
“An estimated eight to 25 attempted suicides occur per every suicide death.” http://www.assessmentpsycholog...
Since 44,000 people commit suicide in the USA annually, and more than 700,000 are seen in hospital emergency rooms after suicide attempts (NIH), I know suicide is an important issue to discuss.
This so even though suicide is a mode of death, and death itself is a taboo subject to discuss - something we all instinctively abhor and reject for ourselves, friends and family.
Some of us, though, suffer such extreme anguish, depression and hopelessness intermittently and chronically, because of bipolar disorder and other psychiatric conditions, that ideas, ruminations, gestures and attempts at suicide become periodic and seemingly inevitable occurrences in our lives.
The knowledge, even when we are happy, that depression and anguish will probably eventually come back, at least for the 4%-20% of bipolars who suicide, is part of what makes bipolar disorder a "permanent problem".
People tell us that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”.
Let’s examine whether this cliché is actually true for people with bipolar disorder.
If it is not true, then by saying it, we are insisting that the ends of *trying* to prevent suicide justify dishonest means.
Moreover, if it is not true that “suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem”, this cliché might not really help people who are suicidal and it might hurt the credibility of those who say it to them.
Like “Just say no” to drugs, this cliché clearly does not really prevent *enough* suicides, because 44,000 people per year, who have heard this argument, take their lives anyway.
Let’s break the cliché down into its two assertions. Is suicide really a “permanent solution”? It certainly isn’t for family members and friends who are left behind.
So, calling suicide a “permanent solution” is simply untrue, unless the problem is conceived *exclusively* as the end of the anguish of the people who suicide.
Since no one who has suicided has been able to describe to us how they felt *after* they were dead, we really have no evidence at all that suicide is a permanent solution to anguish. It's pure speculation.
No one has proved that anguish ends when life ends. We have no evidence that suicide is a "permanent solution", even for them personally, so we ought not assure people that suicide will be a "permanent solution".
For those left behind, the “problem” - coping with the grief, anger and shame" is a permanent problem, not a permanent solution.
Suicide is only conceivably a “permanent solution” *for people who ONLY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES and their own pain*.
Does telling people that suicide is a “permanent solution” really discourage them from committing suicide, or does it encourage chronically anguished people to commit suicide to get rid of their anguish once and for all? I do not know the answer to that.
The second part of the cliché is the insistence that people want to commit suicide because of a “temporary problem”. This is demonstrably untrue in the case of people who are bipolar.
Bipolarity is a psychiatric condition for which there are treatments that are effective for many people, but there is no known “cure”. The psychiatric and biochemical and neurological disorder is a *chronic and permanent problem*, not temporary. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/healt...
Bipolar illness is a perfect example of a “permanent” challenge because there is no known cure for it. My therapists and psychiatrists have advised me that I will need a medication regime and therapy for the rest of my life to cope with bipolar disorder.
To do as they recommend requires finding access to prescribing psychiatrists; having access financially and geographically to prescribed medication and therapy. These are “permanent” challenges.
To deny this is to deny the very nature of bipolar disorder, which is a chronic and incurable illness.
So, suicide is *not* a globally “permanent solution” to bipolarity for one's friends and/or family members and bipolar disorder is not a “temporary problem”.
We must examine what we say in an effort to help people and be sure the advice we are giving them is based in reality.
“80%-97% of people diagnosed with bipolar illness do not die by suicide”, so suicide is not the only way to confront bipolar illness. https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
However, “the majority (more than 90 percent) of those who do die suicide have been diagnosed with a mental illness. People with mental illness do have higher rates of suicidal thoughts and suicide than the general population.” https://suicideprevention.ca/t...
These problems - that as many of 20% of bipolars die of suicide - are at least as permanent as the chronic and incurable bipolarity itself. Bipolar illness is demonstrably *not* a “temporary problem”.
So, suicide is not a "permanent solution" to bipolarity for the family and friends of those who suicide. And bipolar disorder is not a "temporary problem".
As concerns bipolar disorder, it is untrue to say that suicide will be “a *permanent* solution to a *temporary* problem.
I'd rather have a frontal lobotomy than a bottle in front of me.
Joined: 08-11-2012