There are different motives for suicide. Perhaps the most common is out of a depression which is the child of repressed anger. If so, suicide can be an act of revenge. Anyone contemplating suicide should ask if they would do it if there would be no audience for the consequences.

--Brant

Earlier in this thread a user wrote two messages suggesting that another user commit murder. Whether the user was serious, or whether this was meant to be a joke I don't know and I don't care. For obvious reasons this kind of behavior is unacceptable on the SOLO message forums.

I have deleted the messages in question, and the user who posted the messages has been moderated.

- Jason

If you discover your friend or relative has just intentionally overdosed on some substance to committ suicide, are you initiating force on them by taking them to emergency medical treatment for help?

No, you're not. How do you know they were trying to commit suicide? That it wasn't an accident? Or a set up? Or a cry for help? It's an emergency situation and you have every right, in my humblest of opinions, to do whatever you can to save them. What you can't do is stop someone from committing suicide if you know he is acting on his considered judgment.

If it becomes known that a teenager is contemplating suicide, should they simply be left to decide for themselves?

Oh my, absolutely not! A teenager doesn't have the capacity to make such a decision, and just as his parent is not violating his rights to prevent him from entering into a contract he wants to enter into, the parent is not violating his rights to forcibly prevent him from committing suicide. If he wants to kill himself, he can wait until he's legally an adult or petition the court for emancipation.

Thankyou for sharing that, suicide's not a subject many would care to touch.My mother is in a rest home and often talk's of such things as she is bedridden and not enjoying life much more. I try to see her atleast once aweek because my philosophy is to grieve for the living the dead can't hear you.That way when a person dies you hold your head up high and know you were there for them.I am allso new to solo and was Lindsay's invitation on air when I asked him where can an atheist go?,solopasion ..and I'm slowly working out how to do things,like spell and puntuate.To be honest I'm my favourite philosopher.

Sandi, I'm sorry for you. Try to remember the happy times.

My grandfather "Warren" shot himself dead as bad health was taking him over. He was in his 80s. What a terrible experience (I was 16) to be woken up at 2 AM on a Saturday night to be told that news. But for him I think it was courageous and for the best. He'd always said he wouldn't let sickness overtake him and he stuck to his word. A difficult month or two for the immediate family and then we didn't really talk about it any longer. What is there to say? It's a strange dynamic.

Your emotions must be in a frenzy, Sandi. Again I'm sorry. Remember there are better days ahead.

Sandy, sorry to hear about your loss. Not an easy thing to deal with.
My father did the same when I was 4, although no one knows why. It sounds strange, but I'm glad that you, at least, don't have that uncertainty of knowing why.

It's a sad thing to be able to understand it. I was angry for some time at my father, but I've hit points in my life where I considered suicice myself, and decided to keep fighting. But like you, came to accept it as his choice. If the cause was that bad, I didn't want him to suffer. I can't call him my hero, either.

But it's up to the individual to determine their own breaking point, and I am sorry so much pressure was applied to your mother. Rereading the Fountainhead, and just got to the scene with Roark meeting Mallory. Rand had quite a few sympathetic characters that killed themselves, out of sheer despair. It's disgusting how people can live with themselves when their victims are broken so. Some people would point to this as proof that Roarks and Galts can't exist, and proceed to belittle heroism, but it really proves just who the killer is.

... fully empathise with your mother's action. That kind of treachery knocks the wind out of one's sails completely.

I've always promised myself that I'm going to pick my moment, unless it comes upon me suddenly, which would be wonderful. I've no intention of enduring a lingering, painful, death—or an intractably painful life. Not an issue yet, of course, but when I do exit, chances are high it'll be by choice.

Linz

In a case like that I'd feel too pissed(us) to do something like that.
But ultimately I don't think spite is a good enough reason to live.

From hearing your story I kind of find myself wishing she had found a way to improve her life from that point and start over better than ever. But doing this is much harder than it sounds so to some degree I think I could understand.

But like you said it was her choice and I have no right to judge. But ultimatly I feel sorry for your loss and there's nothing wrong with wishing she was back, happy secure and functioning.

I don't wish my father was still living as a parapalegic in diapers barely strong enough to lift food to his mouth and going through regular bouts of dementia. Sometimes I wish he was still alive, but happy and healthy. It makes me sad that he never got a chance to meet the wonderful woman I'm going to marry.

All I'm saying is that there's nothing wrong with missing someone even though you respect their decision. But I'm starting to remember how much advice like this bothered me at the time so I'll end it here

---Landon

Inking is sexy.

http://www.angelfire.com/comics/wickedlakes

This is an excellent issue to bring up, as it raises interesting questions for those comitted to individual liberty. Some questions for discussion (for which I have not found a satisfying answer):

- If you discover your friend or relative has just intentionally overdosed on some substance to committ suicide, are you initiating force on them by taking them to emergency medical treatment for help?

- If it becomes known that a teenager is contemplating suicide, should they simply be left to decide for themselves?

This is a tricky subject for me because I imagine in many cases you could save someone's life and have them later thank you for it once they work through their psychological issues. Also, many suicide attempts are really just a cry for help (especially among young people).