Suicide is a big deal. It’s important to me because it’s something that is usually preventable. It’s also a topic that seems to bring out the worst in people as demonstrated by some of the commentersin this blog post I read today.
If you read the comments, you’ll see how people are quick to offer their sorrow and condolences. You’ll also see how people just as quickly negate the value of their sympathies by saying things like:

“…it’s so hard on the survivors.”
“It hurts so much to see someone take their own life.”
“Suicide is a very selfish thing to do.”
“Nine years ago I lost a very dear friend to suicide via hanging. It’s a painful thing to inflict on others.”

It is a painful thing to inflict on others? Really? Really!?!? People are very good at demonstrating how self-absorbed and selfish they really are.

This was my response:

I don’t mean to rock the boat here, but for all of you who say that suicide is selfish and that it is painful to those other than the one who committed suicide, I would like for all of you to read up on suicide.

Please, take a step back from yourselves. Saying how suicide is selfish and painful to the victim’s loved ones is, when you think about it, in fact a self-centered thing to say.The person who commits suicide is in so much pain and suffering. Imagine if you were suffering the worst pain you can possibly fathom, and the only solution to ending it was to end your life: would you be thinking of how everyone else feels? Even when you are simply having a terrible rotten day, do you think of how someone else might feel because of your nasty attitude? Magnify that a thousand times and you may begin to understandhowsome suicidal people may feel.I’d like to take this opportunity to remind all of us that we should be more conscientious towards those we love. We never know when they will leave us, so treat each day as an opportunity to show how much you love them.

I just want to expand a little on my response, which was not as well written as I’d like due to my morning rush (hence my writing of this piece). Actually, I’ve decided to rant.

People, WAKE THE FUCK UP. Do you REALLY fucking think that someone who committed suicide GIVES ONE DROPLET OF SHIT about what the fuck YOU’RE going to go through due to their death??? TAKE YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASSHOLE YOU SELF-CENTERED PIECES OF SHIT. That person was suffering through an immense amount of pain, and ultimately ended their life in order to escape that pain. Do you REALLY THINK that people WANT to fucking die? They have NO OTHER FUCKING CHOICE. They have nowhere to go. Their spirit is crushed, and the pain they endure cannot be endured any longer.

Blaming the suicide victim is absolutely fucking absurd. It’s one of the most ignorant and selfish things I have ever heard. Here, you have someone who took their own life. They ended their life. It’s a permanent thing. There’s no turning back. And you have the fucking gall to make it about YOU?

I didn’t notice any “survivors” of suicide (I mean the people who were close to the suicide victim) say anything like, “I wish to God that I could’ve done something about it.” Instead, they blame that person for causing them grief.

Outfucking standing. This is precisely the type of shit that is part of the reason why I wish to withdraw from the world…