Suicide (Odd post)
If you haven't ever considered suicide, then I'm convinced that you're one of those 5% of people who never gets upset about anything either because your life is perfect or you have a wonderfully cheery disposition. Cool!
Now, cheery people like me? I would wager that most of us have considered suicide. The thing is, every time the consideration comes up, my mind always says, "Har har, funny joke." Maybe when people ask if you've considered suicide, they mean to ask if you've ever seriously considered suicide, or whether you've considered suicide for more than three seconds.
I would say that in my life, I have considered suicide for a total of 120 seconds. Those 120 seconds are spread pretty evenly over the last seven or eight years. I probably consider suicide for approximately 12 seconds each year. That means I consider suicide for about three seconds every three months before my cerebral negotiations cease because I realize how ridiculous they are.
Now, it's interesting to note that I'm not very emotional about suicide (or death in general). I consider suicide a morally appropriate way of solving your life's problems, though I think it's almost always a stupid solution. The routine exception, of course, is certain medical situations (another time, Dr. Kevorkian.). Otherwise, it really does seem idiotic in almost all cases. And honestly, I think that's what will always keep me from killing myself - It's hard for me to identify as stupid.
Now, the way I rationalize this probably couldn't be used for any kind of suicide prevention program; most people who are considering suicide probably wouldn't respond well to being called stupid. This is also why I would never be a good suicide prevention counselor. I can imagine the conversation I'd have with a potential self-killer:
Me: You know, it would be stupid of you to kill yourself.
Depressed guy: SO I'M AN IDIOT EITHER WAY OMG I WANNA DIE.
But I wonder: Would an ad campaign work with this mantra? Remember those old ad campaigns that had animals (a monkey, I think?) smoking with the caption, "It looks just as stupid when you do it." I'm not sure if they worked. If they did, though, maybe that same kind of attitude could be brought into a widescale ad campaign with some kid cutting himself, offering the razor to someone else, and the other kid saying, "No thanks. I'm not stupid." Ok. That's not really about suicide. But it's possible to translate the sentiment, which is my point. Maybe, "Suicide. What a stupid idea."
I mean, I'm aware that this is a stupid idea (ALMOST AS STUPID AS SUICIDE LULZ.), but honestly, being told that people care about me wouldn't keep me from killing myself if I were completely miserable. If I were to commit suicide, I would do it for me. I mean, I'll agree with countless pieces of media that say that suicide is selfish, even when the self-killer writes a suicide note with some lame excuse for a selfless reason on it. It absolutely is. I wouldn't care if other people would miss me, but I would care about being an idiot and being ridiculed. Ridicule sucks. Go ego. If my ego prevents me from being stupid, then shouldn't I opt for a bigger one?
Funny that I had to consider suicide 40 times (at three seconds each, of course) to come to that conclusion. I mean, it was pretty obvious, stupid.
Now, cheery people like me? I would wager that most of us have considered suicide. The thing is, every time the consideration comes up, my mind always says, "Har har, funny joke." Maybe when people ask if you've considered suicide, they mean to ask if you've ever seriously considered suicide, or whether you've considered suicide for more than three seconds.
I would say that in my life, I have considered suicide for a total of 120 seconds. Those 120 seconds are spread pretty evenly over the last seven or eight years. I probably consider suicide for approximately 12 seconds each year. That means I consider suicide for about three seconds every three months before my cerebral negotiations cease because I realize how ridiculous they are.
Now, it's interesting to note that I'm not very emotional about suicide (or death in general). I consider suicide a morally appropriate way of solving your life's problems, though I think it's almost always a stupid solution. The routine exception, of course, is certain medical situations (another time, Dr. Kevorkian.). Otherwise, it really does seem idiotic in almost all cases. And honestly, I think that's what will always keep me from killing myself - It's hard for me to identify as stupid.
Now, the way I rationalize this probably couldn't be used for any kind of suicide prevention program; most people who are considering suicide probably wouldn't respond well to being called stupid. This is also why I would never be a good suicide prevention counselor. I can imagine the conversation I'd have with a potential self-killer:
Me: You know, it would be stupid of you to kill yourself.
Depressed guy: SO I'M AN IDIOT EITHER WAY OMG I WANNA DIE.
But I wonder: Would an ad campaign work with this mantra? Remember those old ad campaigns that had animals (a monkey, I think?) smoking with the caption, "It looks just as stupid when you do it." I'm not sure if they worked. If they did, though, maybe that same kind of attitude could be brought into a widescale ad campaign with some kid cutting himself, offering the razor to someone else, and the other kid saying, "No thanks. I'm not stupid." Ok. That's not really about suicide. But it's possible to translate the sentiment, which is my point. Maybe, "Suicide. What a stupid idea."
I mean, I'm aware that this is a stupid idea (ALMOST AS STUPID AS SUICIDE LULZ.), but honestly, being told that people care about me wouldn't keep me from killing myself if I were completely miserable. If I were to commit suicide, I would do it for me. I mean, I'll agree with countless pieces of media that say that suicide is selfish, even when the self-killer writes a suicide note with some lame excuse for a selfless reason on it. It absolutely is. I wouldn't care if other people would miss me, but I would care about being an idiot and being ridiculed. Ridicule sucks. Go ego. If my ego prevents me from being stupid, then shouldn't I opt for a bigger one?
Funny that I had to consider suicide 40 times (at three seconds each, of course) to come to that conclusion. I mean, it was pretty obvious, stupid.