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Neither makes sense to me. And I don't understand how anyone in the mental health profession would be allowed to go there without losing their license.
That being said, I think the fear, guilt and general stigma that surrounds suicide, born of the very spiritual/religious beliefs peddled by the very people you're highlighting, exacerbate the pain that leads to suicide. The pain is here and now, in this life. Seeking the comfort of an afterlife doesn't actually address it.
Have you ever been suicidal? It doesn't seem so. In my personal experience (attempted suicide 3 times before the age of 16) you are not "seeking the comfort of an afterlife" - you are seeking an end to pain in this one.
What helped me then was to hang on to the idea that this, too, will end. That I could remove myself from the entire situation if I could just hang on until I was 18 (actually my mother threw me out at 17 so ... didn't actually have to go all the way to 18).
Meditation also helps a lot. You have to learn to live with your thoughts and sometimes just let them roll on by you without impacting you. Meditation helps teach you those kinds of skills.
Yes. I attempted it in my teens and have struggled with it as an adult.
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In my personal experience (attempted suicide 3 times before the age of 16) you are not "seeking the comfort of an afterlife" - you are seeking an end to pain in this one.
Agreed. I was referring to what made "more sense" in the OP and it neither makes sense nor addresses the problem, though I realize now I misunderstood him.
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Meditation also helps a lot. You have to learn to live with your thoughts and sometimes just let them roll on by you without impacting you. Meditation helps teach you those kinds of skills.
I agree that meditation helps, but thoughts that are meant to impact you shouldn't be shut out.
I am suicidal due to a severe brain injury,I wouldn't be suicidal if not for that.
I can't think,process,remember,feel,my days are just a battle.
Thoughts of Suicide use to be my only source of relief,and I believed heavily in reincarnation due to many past life dreams I had so I assumed I would die and go to a better life with my brain back.The thought of an afterlife encouraged my suicide as I wanted my brain back so much.
Recently the damage got worse and I am unable to process or think or imagine suicide, my brain can't even do it.I try and think of suicide and it's all blocked,as I said my life is torture.
I use to sometimes think of a beautiful cottage I loved but my brain won't even process that.
I don't think anything could make me want to stay alive,but if you asked me before the brain injury I wanted to live a thousand years.
In my case, what makes me want to live is because my therapist believes in reincarnation, so he told me that if I die from suicide, then my next reincarnation will be simply to continue and resume the same problem I have right now. So suicide would not solve my problem at all. Instead, it would result in the resumption of the same problem.
After pondering on it, I realized it makes sense because suicide would be too easy a solution. In other words, too good to be true.
Also having reincarnation as an afterlife makes much more sense than the Christian belief of an eternal Hell. How can a God so cruelly and sadistically torture people in an excruciating furnace for all eternity? And it gets even worse when Fundamentalists insist that any Non-Christian will suffer the same torture eternally. Even if the Non-Christian has been law-abiding and charitable for his entire life, he will still suffer the same agonizing fate, according to the Evangelicals.
So that's why reincarnation makes more sense to me. At least it helps me in preventing suicide.
God created you, and wants only good and wonderful things for you - in this world, and the next.
You are His creation - and therefore Eternally Precious!
In this world, even without us asking, He gives us Everything we need for Life, daily; sunshine, food, time, and even each-other, also Eternally Precious.
Damnation is the Consequence of one Choosing to Permanently Disconnect ourselves from Our Creator (Our Eternal Sunshine , Source of Life, and Source of Eternity) and not some man-made label or procedure.
HE, and HE alone makes me want to stay alive! Ask, and He will grant you you also the strength to cherish every moment, for His Glory!
God created you, and wants only good and wonderful things for you - in this world, and the next.
You are His creation - and therefore Eternally Precious!
In this world, even without us asking, He gives us Everything we need for Life, daily; sunshine, food, time, and even each-other, also Eternally Precious.
Damnation is the Consequence of one Choosing to Permanently Disconnect ourselves from Our Creator (Our Eternal Sunshine , Source of Life, and Source of Eternity) and not some man-made label or procedure.
HE, and HE alone makes me want to stay alive! Ask, and He will grant you you also the strength to cherish every moment, for His Glory!
This is why I believe in reincarnation, although I consider myself a Christian too. God's mercy is *infinite* - He will never condemn anyone to damnation just because they "didn't have it together." I think humans are given lesson after lesson, chance after chance, until ALL of God's children are basking in his glory. We (as a human species, and every individual within) are in the process of evolution to reach a perfect state of being - getting there in a single life just isn't possible, imho.
I absolutely *refuse* to believe in this erroneous concept of Hell - and I'm so grateful that more and more Christians are coming around to that belief in this day and age.
I want to stay alive in this life, and learn all I can, so I can do better in the next one. When I get to the "end", whatever that may be, I expect to be there with all my brothers and sisters.
This is why I believe in reincarnation, although I consider myself a Christian too. God's mercy is *infinite* - He will never condemn anyone to damnation just because they "didn't have it together." I think humans are given lesson after lesson, chance after chance, until ALL of God's children are basking in his glory. We (as a human species, and every individual within) are in the process of evolution to reach a perfect state of being - getting there in a single life just isn't possible, imho.
I absolutely *refuse* to believe in this erroneous concept of Hell - and I'm so grateful that more and more Christians are coming around to that belief in this day and age.
I want to stay alive in this life, and learn all I can, so I can do better in the next one. When I get to the "end", whatever that may be, I expect to be there with all my brothers and sisters.
Great post, and summed nicely. I always liked to think of it like a fabric of life. The threads themselves are too fragile to hold. I cannot be good if I turn others evil in the process....something along those lines. It's tough to do...perhaps impossible. There is only one way to progress, and for that we need God's wisdom.
Even in the Catholic viewpoint, there is a reincarnation of sorts. While it is often ridiculed, it is called purgatory. A place for souls to go that are not ready to be one with God. I believe Islam also believes that souls must be prepared for the afterlife and do not go directly. Yet if you read further into religions, it seems almost all of them have a concept similar to this. Seek it out though. Don't take my words.
The damning has some interesting theories as well. I've pondered if heaven and hell could be the same place where the secrets are revealed based upon our actions. Our perceptions based upon what we've actually done. It's tough to know. Seek and ye shall find.
Yes. I attempted it in my teens and have struggled with it as an adult.
Agreed. I was referring to what made "more sense" in the OP and it neither makes sense nor addresses the problem, though I realize now I misunderstood him.
I agree that meditation helps, but thoughts that are meant to impact you shouldn't be shut out.
Which is not ANYTHING like what I said. Meditation does not teach you to shut anything out, but to acknowledge it without being hurt by it - thus letting it "roll on past you". As opposed to letting it steam roller you and send you into a suicidal fugue.
As Thich Nhat Hanh says, when thoughts arise, you tend to them as if they are your children, coming to you in hurt and pain.
"In each of us, there is a young, suffering child. We have all had times of difficulty as children and many of us have experienced trauma. To protect and defend ourselves against future suffering, we often try to forget those painful times. Every time we’re in touch with the experience of suffering, we believe we can’t bear it, and we stuff our feelings and memories deep down in our unconscious mind. It may be that we haven’t dared to face this child for many decades.
But just because we may have ignored the child doesn’t mean she or he isn’t there. The wounded child is always there, trying to get our attention. The child says, “I’m here. I’m here. You can’t avoid me. You can’t run away from me.” We want to end our suffering by sending the child to a deep place inside, and staying as far away as possible. But running away doesn’t end our suffering; it only prolongs it."
Not allowing yourself to be controlled and perpetually hurt by your thoughts has nothing to do with trying to ignore them. That is the polar opposite of what I said.
Wow ... that is seriously messed up. I cannot believe a professional would say that to you.
I am sorry that you have felt the need to attempt suicide. In my experience, motivating someone through avoidance and fear is not as effective as teaching them through the positive motivation.
I agree - it's an act of desperation from a person who can't take the pain of depression any longer. When you are at that point your only goal is to make the pain stop. Anyone who thinks it is selfish act has never suffered through a serious depressive episode.
This is why I believe in reincarnation, although I consider myself a Christian too. God's mercy is *infinite* - He will never condemn anyone to damnation just because they "didn't have it together." I think humans are given lesson after lesson, chance after chance, until ALL of God's children are basking in his glory. We (as a human species, and every individual within) are in the process of evolution to reach a perfect state of being - getting there in a single life just isn't possible, imho.
I absolutely *refuse* to believe in this erroneous concept of Hell - and I'm so grateful that more and more Christians are coming around to that belief in this day and age.
I believe Hell is separation from God. For whatever reason, being here on earth, we are separated and in Hell. Once we figure out what it is or why it is that we are separated and we learn from it, we will once again be reunited with the Lord.
I am a Christian, but I, too, believe in reincarnation of some sort. I am not particularly religious, but I am spiritual. I have full faith in God and His Plan. I do not believe he forsakes anyone in the end. He wants us all back.
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