Philosophical question: can you be suicidal but mentally healthy?

[mario5757]

I personally don't feel depressed, but I still feel ctb is the most rational choice in my situation. I would say it is a stoic position, or in the 1700s the Enlightened philosophers used to say that one should have the freedom to assess whether their life is worth continuing living or not.

 

[FuneralCry]

Yes, of course you can. Wanting suicide can be perfectly rational in a world like this. I do not see myself as being mentally ill, I see the world for what it is and I do not see my life as being worth living. Suicide is the only thing that makes sense for me and I simply want to not exist. Life is all so pointless after all, it is tedious, repetitive and it is just suffering for the sake of it.

 

[mario5757]

Agree. I guess if you are in a position where you can enjoy it, despite the downs, it's great. Otherwise it seems totally meaningless. And true, luck exists, but some people are more likely to be lucky than others, for example if you are good looking you are esponentially more likely to find a partner, than if you are not, and so on...

 

[yive]

"the task of psychiatry is to convince a healthy person that he is mentally ill"

 

[Journeytoletgo]

"the task of psychiatry is to convince a healthy person that he is mentally ill"

100% agree there is nothing wrong with anyone. It's natural to have a reaction to unbearable circumstances while others were lucky and have fulfillment

 

[Sunset Limited]

It's definitely possible. If life is about no self-fulfillment, just the maintenance of meat, you don't have to lose your mental health to want to end it. Billions of people live this way and they do think about CTB, even if they don't desire it as strongly as we do.

 

[SpaceCadet]

You couldn't say WW2 soldiers who killed themselves when caught by the enemy were mentally ill, everybody has a breaking point, some situations are horrific to live through. Some decide to end it all, like the example above, they examined their reality: Torture or Death, they chose the latter.

 

[Al Cappella]

Absolutely you can. Folks with any number of terminal illnesses not affecting cognition/mood choose to MAID as it's preferable than prolonged, gruesome decline. There are even folks who decide they've lived long enough and don't care to live through the slow dissolution of their bodies in advanced age. Then there are political reasons, etc.

 

[Fadeawaaaay]

I've struggled with depression my whole life but have had years of semi functional and enjoyable living. Mental health is unlike catching the flu. Based on brain chemistry and life experience we all have different thresholds of resilience. We all have our breaking points. I, for one, do not wish to live in poverty or desperation.

 

[ThisIsNotMeR]

I personally don't feel depressed, but I still feel ctb is the most rational choice in my situation. I would say it is a stoic position, or in the 1700s the Enlightened philosophers used to say that one should have the freedom to assess whether their life is worth continuing living or not.

I'm in the same boat. I have no mental conditions to my knowledge, but am instead facing circumstances which will make living my life more unpleasant than pleasant (and so will logically choose to end it when it gets to that point).

There are many things that make one decide that living life is no longer worth it. Mental conditions such as depression are indeed one such thing. But there are others, for example a physical condition that causes incurable and intense pain, or the total irreparable collapse of your life.

 

[8AEM]

The definition of mental health is murky, and seems to be relative to culture/era. Right now, it seems that most people view wanting to die as a sign of being mentally sick.

Answer: It depends on who you ask.

 

[Someone123]

I personally don't feel depressed, but I still feel ctb is the most rational choice in my situation. I would say it is a stoic position, or in the 1700s the Enlightened philosophers used to say that one should have the freedom to assess whether their life is worth continuing living or not.

Honestly yes, it seems like a pretty high percentage of suicidal people are actually mentally healthy and are dealing with depression because they have really bad problems that they may or may not be able to solve- thie depends on how you define mental health, though. If a person feels really sick from depression- headaches, low energy, not feeling well overall- does that mean they are mentally unhealthy? Not necessarily, even though they feel sick. A person liftin a very heavy weight may feel a lot of strain on their muscles, but does that mean their muscles are unhealthy- clearly not.

 

[Al_stargate]

I think most people here would consider themselves mentally healthy enough to make rational decisions. I felt perfectly fine and happy a couple of months ago, then had an event happen and now feeling suicidal. Don't feel mentally ill, but just that my condition is hard to live with. I think most people feel this way. And it's patronizing when people treat you like a mental case, no therapy or pills are going to help my problem. I guess every person has a different issue. If there is no apparent reason as to why someone is feeling suicidal then perhaps it's worth considering mental health issues. But a lot of people have f*up situations and suggesting that a pill or a therapy gonna make you not feel a certain way is absurd.

 

[Hurt]

Yes. Kamikazes are an example of this.