Suicide Part 2: Selfishness

[naamah_darling]

Part 1: Personal HistoryToday, part two on suicide. I've put it off for a long time because it's just tremendously difficult to talk about, and I still don't feel like I have my words right, and I still haven't responded to some of the best, most important comments on the last entry, but this needs to go up

Comments

[superlib]

Its hard because may times a person doesn't know what they need to help them. I usually offer hugs first, help second - and my offers of help aren't usually taken, despite them being genuine. Whether because people want to face their demons on their own, or they just don't really want the help.. I can only think of one or two situations where someone has actually come to me with a real need, and accepted my help. Usually sympathy is all I'm allowed to give.
Its a very difficult thing, to help someone with the mess of their lives... something I've come to realize recently is that nearly -everyone's- life is a mess, at least in their perspective. Mine certainly is. This world we live in is very complicated, and it only takes one little slip in any area to let everything fall into disarray that seems impossible to dig yourself out of. So there is no "one thing" that someone can do to solve the problems, ofttimes. And on the other hand, its very difficult to offer to help someone with a real problem, when you struggle to keep yourself afloat as it is.

[clayshaper]

I think that's why I don't feel angry at people who choose suicide- everyone has problems, and everyone wants to help- but occasionally, even the best of intentions to help someone isn't really going to FIX anything. (and I don't mean a fast insta-fix! I mean small things too.)

I would draw the parralel to a person with a terminal disease. Lots of people survive what they believed would be terminal! But not everyone is up to the task of fighting it. And tragically, not everyone has access to the medical care they need to even try to fight it.

I could name a single thing that in MY life, would make the difference between now and later- but would it fix all the myriad of problems that caused it to begin with?

Sometimes life is like that. So complex, you run in circles! :P Problems have causes, and fixing the problem doesn't always fix the cause.

[cissa]

Speaking from the POV of someone who's spent an appreciable amount of her life suicidal to some degree- most of the time, sympathy would be more welcome than more concrete things. But that does not (unfortunately) mean one would be able or willing to accept it. Still- sympathy and understanding are probably rarer than concrete solutions, and at least as valuable.