Do you believe that only mentally ill people commit suicide?

[leodeo]

I get frustrated a lot by this thing, I spend a lot of time in the mental health scene both for my own issues and I do a lot of peer support groups. One thing I don't like is how whenever someone kills themselves everyone automatically says they had a mental illness.

IE: Recently my friend ended her life, she lost her job and was in huge debt, homeless, and was in a very tough situation. Everyone I talk to just says "oh she must have had an underlying mental illness otherwise she wouldn't have killed herself..." but I think its BS because I knew her for many years and she was a very healthy and positive person, and there is no known history of mental illness in her family! I wish I could have helped somehow but I live in another state now and haven't talked to her in a while and didn't know she was in this trouble.

I think that anyone would kill themselves if things got bad enough, it's just that everyone has different tolerance levels. There are people who have gone through what she has gone through and didn't end their lives, some got back on their feet, some became homeless.... So does that mean she had a mental illness??

[Chad32]

No, I don't think so. It could be PTSD, which I don't consider a mental illness. It could be because life just sucks, so see if you can roll a different character for the next one. Of course it could be because the person is really old and just decided they want to end it on their terms. There are justifications for wanting to end your own life. Sometimes death is a mercy.

[CapnAwesome]

No, I don't think so. It could be PTSD, which I don't consider a mental illness. It could be because life just sucks, so see if you can roll a different character for the next one. Of course it could be because the person is really old and just decided they want to end it on their terms. There are justifications for wanting to end your own life. Sometimes death is a mercy.

How is Post Tramatic Stress Disorder not a mental illness? Of course you have to be mentally ill to end your life. The only exception would be people with terminal illness.

[Chad32]

I don't equate trauma to something like schizophrenia.

[paulpablo]

I think it's fairly common for old people to kill themselves so they can control how they die, or sometimes its a cultural thing where suicide is seen as honorable.

[Rahul]

My grandfather killed himself when I was a kid. He was in his early 70's and had a ton of health issues. Mean old fart too. He had gotten so bad off he would pee in a bucket because he couldn't get himself to the bathroom.

I'd probably off myself at that point too. Seems like a rather sane and logical choice.

[c172]

PTSD is a "disorder", not a "trauma". It is caused by trauma. Hence it is a traumatic disorder.

As for me, I don't know. I have had a history of mild depression. On my 32nd birthday, I fell out not with one, but several important people. At the end of the night, I was pacing between my 3rd floor windows trying to figure out if I had a clear path to my death (there are bushes at the bottom). This carried on for several hours, and I was in a fog for a good week or so.

My mother, a social worker, seems to think I have some version of PTSD that builds over many traumas, not just a single terrible moment. So....I lean toward my having a mental illness of some sort, but I'm not sure.

Interesting thread by the OP. I'm just not sure.

[Angrboda]

I don't have figures, but it's always been my understanding that it's quite common that PTSD results from repeated exposure to traumatic stressors, that this is more the norm than developing PTSD from one or a limited number of events. Dissociative identity disorder (what used to be called MPD) typically develops from repeated traumatic stressors, and it has been implicated in borderline personality disorder. People who have been sexually abused as children can develop PTSD from the recurrent trauma. Even recurrent stress like from living in war zones, or constantly being homeless, can lead to PTSD. It's important to point out that PTSD is considered an abnormal response to life stressors. Some people can experience the same stressors and not develop the disorder. Others may experience seemingly normal stressors, such as living with an alcoholic spouse, and still develop the disorder. More severe stress, more repetitions, and other factors (such as feeling helpless) can contribute to the likelihood of developing the disorder. They have done brain imaging studies that show conclusively that a person with PTSD's brain doesn't function the same as a healthy brain, and reversion to normal brain function can be tracked with the intervention of therapeutic treatment.

[Chad32]

Ok, I guess PTSD is a mental illness too. I just thought it was something else for some reason.

[Faith No More]

People without mental illnesses kill themselves for various reasons. Look at that Castro guy that held those girls captive and raped them for years. He got caught and put in prison, so rather than serve his time, he offed himself. No mental illness needed for that.