(November 29, 2015 at 1:44 pm)bennyboy Wrote: qYes, but I think there's a double standard. If I'm overwhelmed by uncontrollable anger and cause harm to someone, I will be demonized and thrown in jail. I will be sued for everything I have, and all because I have uncontrollable feelings. The same would go for serial killers, pedophiles, and all those considered the worst of society-- they will all be demonized and thought of only with disgust and horror. Nobody feels sorry for them-- sorry that the pedophile has to live with confusion and guilt, for example, or that the serial killer is so tortured by his bloodlust that he finally snaps and gives in to it.
Out of all these people, with all their complex issues and uncontrollable urges, why is it that the suicide gets the moral pass? Why should destructive chemical sadness be seen as any better than any other brain or chemical imbalance that causes people to behave extremely badly?
Those who have the capacity to turn their lives around should, and their failure to do so should be thought of as a moral failure. Those who do not have that capacity should be identified and treated, by force if necessary; and failure for this to happen is on the family, friends, and society which doesn't take their threats and comments seriously until too late.
See my post above. Suicide has more in common with pleading not guilty by reason of mental defect than it does with being convicted for murder. We let murderers get treatment instead of punishment if it turns out they were mentally impaired, because we recognize a person can reach a state where they are not culpable for their actions. Suicide is quite often done in a state where the consequences cannot be truly appreciated.
