Suicide

Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending one's own life. Suicide is sometimes used as a noun for one who has committed or attempted the act. Medical views of suicide Modern medicine treats suicide as a mental health issue. Overwhelming suicidal thoughts are considered a medical emergency. Medical professionals advise that people who have expressed plans to kill themselves be encouraged to seek medical attention immediately. This is especially important if the means (weapons, drugs, or other methods) are available, or if the patient has crafted a detailed plan for executing the suicide. Special consideration is given to trained personnel to look for suicidal signs in patients. Depressive people are considered a high-risk group for suicidal behaviour. Suicide hotlines are widely available for people seeking help. However, the negative and often too clinical reception that many suicidal people receive after relating their feelings to health professionals (threats of institutionalization, simply increasing dosages of medication, the stigmatization of suicide as a topic of discussion, etc), often causes them to keep their suicidal thoughts to themselves. SCIENTIFIC MODELS OF SUICIDE  Medical model This model, heavily influential throughout most of the twentieth century, has understood suicide in terms of disease: if suicide is not itself a disease, then it is the product of disease, usually mental illness. Suicide is understood as largely involuntary and nondeliberative, the outcome of factors over which the individual has little or no control; it is something that “happens” to the victim.  Cry-for-help Model A second model, developed in the pioneering work of Ewin S. Shneidman and Norman L Farberow in the 1950’s, understands suicide as a communicative strategy: it is a cry for help, an attempt to seek aid in altering one’s social environment.  Sociogenic Model Originally developed by French sociologist Emile Durkheim in his landmark work Suicide, the sociogenic model sees suicide as the product of social forces varying with they type of social organization within which the individual lives. o Altruistic suicide- product of a society that is highly integrated and the behavior is rigorously governed by social codes and customs. Ex. Kamikazes during WWII o Egoistic- a society that is loosely integrated; self-referential Ex. Unmarried male who commit suicide o Anomic – a society where individuals are neither over- nor under integrated but the society itself fails to provide adequate regulation of its members. Ex. Widows who commit suicide after the death of their husbands.

Arguments against suicide There have been many philosophical arguments made that contend that suicide is immoral and unethical. One popular argument is that many of the reasons for committing suicide, such as depression, emotional pain or economic hardship, are transitory and treatable through therapy and lifestyle changes. Classical Liberalism It is important to note that the liberal view above is not associated with classical liberalism; John Stuart Mill, for instance, argued in his influential essay On Liberty that since the sine qua non of liberty is the power of the individual to make choices; any choice that one might make that would deprive him or her of the ability to make further choices should be prevented. Thus, for Mill, selling oneself into slavery or killing oneself should be prevented, in order to avoid precluding the ability to make further choices. Utilitarianism William Godwin showed his extreme optimism by stating that suicide was almost always a mistake, as more pleasure is to be gained by living. As he was a utilitarian, who saw moral judgments as based on the pleasure and pain they produced, he thus thought suicide to be immoral. Deontologism Immanuel Kant, considered by many to be the father of deontologism, argues against suicide in Fundamental Principles of The Metaphysic of Morals. In accordance with the second formulation of his categorical imperative, Kant states that "He who contemplates suicide should ask himself whether his action can be consistent with the idea of humanity as an end in itself." Kant then argues that if the person chooses to commit suicide that he/she is using themselves as a mean to satisfy him/herself. But a person can not be used "merely as means, but must in all his actions be always considered as an end in himself." Therefore, it would be unethical to commit suicide to satisfy oneself. Existentialism The French existentialist philosopher Camus saw the goal of existentialism in establishing whether suicide was necessary in a world without God. For Camus, suicide was the rejection of freedom. He thought that fleeing from the absurdity of reality into illusions, religion or death was not the way out. Instead of fleeing the absurd meaninglessness of life, we should embrace life passionately. Arguments for suicide There are arguments in favor of allowing an individual to choose between life and suicide. This view sees suicide as a valid option.

This line rejects the thought that suicide is always or usually irrational, but is instead a solution to real problems; a line of last resort that can legitimately be taken when the alternative is considered worse. No being should be made to suffer unnecessarily, and suicide provides an escape from suffering. Idealism Some thinkers have had positive or at least neutral views on suicide. Some pessimist philosophers, such as Goethe and Schopenhauer, view suicide as the greatest comfort in life. Liberalism Liberalism asserts that a person's life belongs only to him or her, and no other person has the right to force their own ideals that life must be lived. Rather, only the individual involved can make such decision, and whatever decision he or she does make, should be respected. TERMINOLOGIES o Suicide attempt- any act intended to end in suicide o Suicidal ideation- thoughts of harming oneself o Suicidal gesture- any action that appears to be a suicide attempt but that is actually contrived or manipulative and that results in only minimal harm, such as superficial cut on the wrist or small overdose of sleeping pills. o Suicide threat- verbal threat to commit suicide. o Completed suicide- suicide attempt resulting in death o Lethality- the level of risk in suicide method chosen to cause death. o Rational Suicide- self slaying base on reasoned choice and is categorized as voluntary active euthanasia. o Right-to-refuse-treatment- well-informed patients with decision making capacity have an autonomous right to refuse and forego recommended treatments.