Archived Should a depressed person be allowed to End their life? (AskVoat)
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Archived Should a depressed person be allowed to End their life? (AskVoat)
submitted ago by PM_ME_YOUR_BOOBS2
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[–] TelescopiumHerscheli 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I think you're missing the point: if a highly effective and painless suicide pill exists, anyone who "attempts" suicide in any other way will instantly label themselves as not being serious about their suicide. For example, if a parasuicide swallows a lot of aspirins, and is subsequently treated and returned to full function, the first question we would ask them is "Why did you not take the effective suicide pill?" The only logically possible answer is "because I didn't really want to certainly die". If one does not wish to die then one must, however little, prefer to live. My aim in this proposal is to force people to really confront the consequences of their actions. Certainly, some people will genuinely wish to kill themselves, and under this social arrangement will successfully do so. However, I suspect (though I freely admit that I have no evidence to support this suspicion, other than a general feel for how humans think and operate) that many others, those who are really aiming with their suicide "attempt" to get someone to pay attention to them and help them resolve their problems, will avoid "accidental" death through "attempted" suicide. The point is that you want to make the suicide pill a last resort, once other options have been exhausted: I want to make the suicide pill a possible first resort, so that people are forced to make the stark choice early, and are forced at the earliest possible moment to conclude that, actually, they don't really want to die. Once people have reached that realisation, I suspect they will be far more amenable to psychological treatment that will help them make the best of their situation. I want to help people be realistic about the ups and downs of life, rather than indulge any prima-donna-ish behaviour. Attempted suicide is often a histrionic act, frequently linked to emotional blackmail: I want to prevent this kind of behaviour, and force the would-be parasuicide to adopt a more realistic view of their situation.
[–] Antima ago
I can see your argument. I still believe it should be approached as a last resort. If we make it overly accessible I think people who are acutely ill will end up killing themselves who otherwise may not have done so. I'm talking about people with a mental illness who are experiencing an episode. If we make a suicide pill easier to get than their regular medication then we are telling them we want them to use the suicide pill. I think we should be treating their issues before we give them the option. I'm not as concerned about the suicide as a means of attention. People will continue to do it despite access to a suicide pill. We might look at the differently but they will likely continue to take too much aspirin and be treated.
[–] TelescopiumHerscheli 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
On your second substantive point - "People will continue to do it despite access..." - I suspect the only way to actually know this is to actually try the experiment: at present we're both just stating opinions. On your first point - people "experiencing an episode" - I agree to a point, and on balance tentatively concede this to you, but I think I'd need to know more about "episodes" before fully agreeing. This is an area where there's a lot more thinking to be done on both our sides, I suspect, as well as within broader society. I don't know exactly what I think now.