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My second guess is less religious people these days and those less religious people don't think suicide is a sin.
This would be my guess. Throughout history there have always been people who "wanted out" but didn't take that route because their religion said it was a sin.
I don't know if I would do this, however I cannot predict what circumstances I will be in near the end of life and I do want to call the shots if I am able.
I'd like to die in my sleep as some of my parent's friends did. They just went to bed or took a nap and never woke up.
I wonder how many took a few extra sleeping pills to help them get over the edge of life ?
We used to live to be in our 60's with a quick death. Now we stretch that out to where an 85 year old has a terminal illness.
He then avoids the pain and heartbreak by taking his life.
People commit suicide when they can't gather the energy to go on. Whether this is due to clinical depression, medications affecting brain chemistry, or just worn out from fighting a losing battle, when the time comes that you can't muster what it takes to keep putting one foot in front of the other, you start considering your options.
We worked out butts off to raise kids, pay off mortgages, put a little away for our retirement only to find our grown kids still moving in and out of our homes and needing to "borrow" money every time we turn around.
Our nest eggs and pensions were robbed, our homes aren't worth anywhere near what we had been counting on.
To add insult to injury, the government we've been making regular contributions to all these years now acts like we're all a bunch of moochers.
We've been put out to pasture and begrudged the grass. I see nothing on the horizon that would lead me to believe that the suicide rate for those over 60 is going anywhere but up.
While some people soldier on because of religious beliefs against suicide. Others look forward to heaven.
I know of two who simply willed themselves to death without "props." One was my father at age 71 and a year after my mother's death from pancreatic cancer. The other was my former father-in-law at about age 56. As a literally hope-to-die alcoholic he simply gave up on life. I have no idea where those types of death fall when considering religion. My father was an atheist and my FIL a life-long, observant, cradle-Catholic. Either way, they're both at peace.
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Originally Posted by cindersslipper I also believe the shame of suicide needs to be eradicated. I feel its a persons right to decide how they end their own lives, and folks shouldn't be so horrified about it.
Sometimes this world can be an ugly grim place and I don't blame anyone for wanting to get off.
It is absolutely possible and, I suppose, a right for each person to decide to terminate their life whenever they choose to do so. By all means, life can be tough and throw you curves. But is it also their right to saddle their survivors with the pain, the doubts, the guilt that go along with such an act?
A very tough question. But can it just be possible that some human beings have had enough of 'life'? Life to them is not rejuvenation but a relentless drift to dessication. I can understand but yet I cannot imagine the pain that those thoughts engender. Yes we are all human beings and I'm sure without a doubt can empathize but really I don't think we cannot dive deep to the very soul of another human being and fill in the so-called blanks. Really in the end we are all alone with ourselves to make the big decisions. I firmly believe it is a human right.
I'm reading "The Final Leap" - about the suicides off the Golden Gate Bridge - the top suicide site in the world. Out of the recorded approx. 1600 suicides since it opened in 1937 (it's believed that there are closer to 2000 but many have never been recovered and are believed to have been washed out to sea), 37 have survived.
While most are younger people there are many that are 55+. Of those interviewed after they recovered, most said they regretted their decision the minute their hand left the railing. I understand many older people make this choice due to terminal illness but I wonder how many of the others would feel today if they had been rescued and given the psychological help they needed.
The survivors told storied of utter despair and complete loss od hope and many now are living wonderful lives.
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