Suicide and depression
JosephSBAR
Naturally, most people who are suicidal are depressed. But what if someone
comes to the conclusion, after rational thought, that life sucks and wants
out, without being depressed. Isn't that possible? I understand there was
an ancient Greek school of thought that held: The best thing that can a
happen is that you are not born; the second best thing that can happen is
you die young; the third best thing is that you die in your sleep. Were
they all bipolar? If you were given the opportunity to live your life over
again, just as you had lived it. Would you? What makes you think the next
35, 45, or 50 years are going to be any better? I have been feeling better
since I started on Serzone about 2 weeks ago. But life is totally absurd,
just the same. I would appreciate any feedback. My previous screen name
was JoeSBRA.
Mike in SF
Would I want to live life over again just as it was? NO. If I was going
to do it again, I would want a chance to do some things differently, as
I guess a lot of us would. But, that does not mean I want to end this
life because of the fact that I can not relive what is already gone by.
I have hope that the years coming are going to be better than now. Of
course having this hope does not make me feel better now, it just one
of the things that keeps me hanging on... No matter how bad I feel.
I also have to remember that despite all the downs I have experienced
and guilt I may feel, that I have also had positive impacts. Thank God
that I have a good family circle. This helps alot, I know we don't all
have that. But I still feel bad, especially when I am alone or have no
fun in my life.
Can I decide that life sucks and not be depressed? Sure, I would think
so. But I don't think that this leads to thoughts of suicide, in
general. I think instead it causes one to think about ways to make it
'unsuck'. I guess this is what coping is about.
It is funny, but when I am not depressed and not manic, I am very good
at being there for other people around me. So there is something to all
of this..
It is just the roller-coaster part of it that really tires me out.
Mike
S.T.V.C.
My suicidal periods have not always been associated with classical
depression. I have learned that the first sign that the lithium is
working is a change in my thought patterns, not a change in the feelings
of leaden depression, that comes later. My closest brush with
successful suicide bloomed out of a state of mind utterly lacking much
emotion of any kind. It was an almost clinical, technical decision: If
A, and B, then suicide. That particular state of mind responds
amazingly well to lithium in my case. That leads me to believe there
are complexities to bipolar thinking relative to emotional cycles or the
lack of them that could relate to what you are saying. On the other
hand, not all suicidal thought is related to bipolar disease. Don't
assume everything fits neatly into artificial categories. There is no
strict line of demarcation between each mental disorder and the
subsequent output of our minds. Good luck. Stay alive.
Steve
MoiraArwen
I have decided (only my opinion-of-the-moment, mind you :) that people who
commit suicide or are suicidal have got to be clinically ill in some way.
The reason for this is because I just think it's not natural to want to
die... I have spent most of my life wishing I were dead, and yet I don't
think that is how people are meant to be.
I don't have anything to back me up on this, it's just something I've been
thinking about lately... I haven't even mentioned it to anyone before.
What does everyone else think?
Moira
Joe & Becky
In article <19970106054...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
moira...@aol.com says...
I had the same feelings for years (past 20) and didn't think to much
about it. after all I was told I had everything...so what should I be
so depressed about to think suicide...It wasn't until my marriage of 20
years broke up...that I searched for good therapy and realized a
lot...through the therapy I found validity in my irrational
thinking...and now I can concentrate on getting my life back...please
find counseling...sounds like there are some pretty heavy stressers in
life whether you realize it or not..you may be pushing them back so as
not to have to confront them...please call a support group or
center...let them lead you in the right direction...your local Mental
Health Center may be the place to start and good luck...I almost gave up
and I am glad I am fighting back...it's worth it...whether we see it
right now or not...
Becky & Joe (Joe...my dearest friend, who helped me see things I'd never
given myself a chance to see before and encouraged me to continue to
seek help...
ACTofMIND
Suicide is likely not a "natural" state, meaning every biological stock,
at all levels, has a tremendous will to survive. Individuals will suffer
the most cruel or degrading circumstances just to live.
On the other hand, every biological individual survives by eating another
biological life form. There is an essential tension between survival and
death.
Most if not all of us humans (reading here) have it better than struggling
for mere physical survival. The essential tension plays out in more
subtle ways between the ethnic identity and the individual desire for free
expression.
Some succumb and die. Suicide, though it may not be "natural," seems to
be inevitable.
BTW, I am not depressive or suicidal now. Thanks to Paxil!!