Have You Ever Seriously Considered Suicide?

[Rival]

Life never sets us up to fail - because "life" doesn't have a mind of its own. I think you're looking at it from a theistic perspective, which doesn't apply. There's no mastermind here but yourself. If we "fail", that's enterily our doing. And yes, we have to keep doing it. Until we learn what we need to learn, and move on.

So a person who has, say, a drunk and a sociopath as parents, a terrible time at school and lives in an area where s/he can't find work isn't being set up to fail?

 

[Lirille]

So a person who has, say, a drunk and a sociopath as parents, a terrible time at school and lives in an area where s/he can't find work isn't being set up to fail?

Set up by whom?

 

[Rival]

Set up by whom?

I think you're reading too much into this.
Should I say "born into crappy circumstances"?

 

[sun rise]

I've never seriously considered suicide. I had a friend who did kill himself and echo what others have said about the pain that the survivors feel and the thoughts of "how could I have helped" etc - guilt and remorse.

 

[Revoltingest]

I've never seriously considered suicide. I had a friend who did kill himself and echo what others have said about the pain that the survivors feel and the thoughts of "how could I have helped" etc - guilt and remorse.

I've known a few who committed suicide.
Guilt never entered my mind.

Dang...I never knew so many of you were on the edge.
Be careful....& happier.

 

[Lirille]

I think you're reading too much into this.
Should I say "born into crappy circumstances"?

Well, I believe being born into crappy circunstances is a direct result of our past lives' choices. You drink too much? You'll probably be born with a liver problem in your next life. You're a violent person? You'll probably be born among violent people in your next life. It's action-reaction and the law of attraction at work. There's no intelligent force behind it - those are (according to my belief) natural laws.

Now that doesn't mean we have to suffer to learn, or have to endure everything alone - if we can help alleviate each other's suffering, we should definitely do so. We can and should help each other in life - it benefits everyone.

 

[Jumi]

Can't remember well the times when I was clinically depressed and near constant pain, so I can't say for certain. Most likely I was struggling to find life which is why I did find a way out of the hole. I've talked about some of that on here to help others in similar circumstances. I highly recommend quiet walks in nature and meditation (prayer might be meditation) if you're looking to heal.

 

[Quintessence]

Well, I believe being born into crappy circunstances is a direct result of our past lives' choices.

This doesn't sound like a helpful narrative for those who are suffering. It's disempowering and reinforces a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I wouldn't recommend telling this story to those who are in pain, sir.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

The title.

And by "serious" I mean you planned when, how and, if you wanted, left a note.

What made you not do it?

I suffer from depression. It's never fully gone away since I was a teenager but it's never been bad enough that I needed medication for it.

I planned my attempt. I wrote letters to the people I cared about most; I left a basic will to my parents detailing how I'd like them to divide my stuff with my friends, how I wanted to be buried etc, I wrote some of those friends their own personalised letter telling them how sorry I was, I planned it on a day when both my parents would take longer than usual getting home from work. I actually came within a few millimetres of opening the carotid artery; the doctor stitching me back together pierced it when he was sewing my neck wounds closed. How's that for irony?

It was the pain that stopped me. Turns out slicing your own throat open with a katana is sore as ****. Who'd have guessed? Not me, apparently. Towards the end my survival instinct kicked in and I dialled 999. To this day I can still only guess at what was going through their heads when they pulled into the car park and were met by the paramedics or the police or whoever it was. Turns out I could have kept the sword too. I'd never bought it with the purpose of using it for suicide; I just did on a whim. Oh well. Not like I'd consider that method again anyway.

 

[Lirille]

This doesn't sound like a helpful narrative for those who are suffering. It's disempowering and reinforces a sense of helplessness and hopelessness. I wouldn't recommend telling this story to those who are in pain, sir.

I'm sorry it came across like that - I need to learn how to express myself better. It can be empowering if you focus on the "I can change my future circunstances if I make good choices now" part of it.

 

[Rival]

I'm sorry it came across like that - I need to learn how to express myself better. It can be empowering if you focus on the "I can change my future circunstances if I make good choices now" part of it.

But the facts are against this. Poor people stay poor if they are born into it. Children of parents with drug abuse problems are more likely to spiral down certain bad roads themselves. Victims of sex abuse are more likely to be abused again. The list goes on. The poverty trap is real.

 

[Lirille]

But the facts are against this. Poor people stay poor if they are born into it. Children of parents with drug abuse problems are more likely to spiral down certain bad roads themselves. Victims of sex abuse are more likely to be abused again. The list goes on. The poverty trap is real.

I never said it was easy, only that it was possible. Now, while one can definitely improve their circunstances on their own (even if it takes countless lifetimes), it's a little easier if you get help. That's why I believe helping people in need is a must for everyone who is able to do so.

 

[Revoltingest]

But the facts are against this. Poor people stay poor if they are born into it. Children of parents with drug abuse problems are more likely to spiral down certain bad roads themselves. Victims of sex abuse are more likely to be abused again. The list goes on. The poverty trap is real.

One can rise above one's parents.
My own were dysfunctional socially awkward clueless incompetent boors.
And look how I turned out!

 

[Rival]

One can rise above one's parents.
My own were dysfunctional socially awkward clueless incompetent boors.
And look how I turned out!

My dad still lives with his parents and relies on them 100%.

 

[Revoltingest]

My dad still lives with his parents and relies on them 100%.

I had a brother like that.
Then the old gravy train died (mysterious circumstances), & he lives off the trust.
Regarding his own kids, the apples didn't fall far from the tree.

Tis wise to not be related to me.

 

[LuisDantas]

One can rise above one's parents.

While that is true, speaking out of my own experience, claims that the need for so doing arise out wrong choices in our own personal past lives are anything but helpful - or, for that matter, respectful. They amount to "it is your fault even if you did not actually do anything to deserve it; you just don't remember it and should accept the blame anyway".

Not what I would call healthy by any perspective.

To remember that there are people actually making such a claim drives me into quite the rage. Worse still, I like it.

 

[Revoltingest]

While that is true, speaking out of my own experience, claims that the need for so doing arise out wrong choices in our own personal past lives are anything but helpful - or, for that matter, respectful. They amount to "it is your fault even if you did not actually do anything to deserve it; you just don't remember it and should accept the blame anyway".

Not what I would call healthy by any perspective.

To remember that there are people actually making such a claim drives me into quite the rage. Worse still, I like it.

You shouldn't think in terms of blame.
One does what one can, & the results are what they are.

 

[LuisDantas]

You shouldn't think in terms of blame.

Right you are. We should not.

One does what one can, & the results are what they are.

So true.

 

[Lirille]

While that is true, speaking out of my own experience, claims that the need for so doing arise out wrong choices in our own personal past lives are anything but helpful - or, for that matter, respectful. They amount to "it is your fault even if you did not actually do anything to deserve it; you just don't remember it and should accept the blame anyway".

Not what I would call healthy by any perspective.

To remember that there are people actually making such a claim drives me into quite the rage. Worse still, I like it.

In my view, the only thing wrong about it is the "it serves you right" mentality, which I do NOT condone. It seems like you're still attached to a view of divine punishment, which is not the case. If you slip, you fall. It's not a punishment, and you don't fall because you "deserve" to fall, it's just the law of gravity at work.

 

[LuisDantas]

With all due respect, @Lirille , I have simply never witnessed a constructive use of that idea. While I have seen enough of the destructive one for, ironically enough, several lives.

I don't think that has to do with any attachment of mine to the idea of divine punishment. I'm fairly incompatible with it as it is.

The Kardecists who most often decree such things here in Brazil, though...