Why is discussing suicide still a taboo?

[BlueIce123]

I'm not blaming my parents, but none of us are born wanting to suffer. We live through hardships that we didn't choose, and at the very least, shouldn't we have the right to control our own lives and deaths?

When I try to share these feelings with family or trusted friends, I often encounter reactions like "Are you okay?" or "Maybe you should see a doctor." They avoid engaging in the discussion altogether. I understand that my mental state isn't exactly stable—I am on antidepressants, after all. But I don't think shutting down the conversation is the right approach.

Search engines heavily censor content related to "suicide," and governments pursue even those who attempt to share information or seek help, often punishing them severely. It's almost like something out of George Orwell's 1984, with Big Brother watching and controlling every word. Sometimes, I even wonder if having these thoughts makes me abnormal.

I genuinely want to hear your opinions.

(I used a translation tool because English is not my first language. Please forgive any awkward expressions.)

 

[Satori Komeiji]

I think overall we as a society tend to ignore topics relating to death rather than engage with it. Death is already bad but death by ones own hands is even worse. It's a topic that I think most people would rather ignore because death is scary and most would rather just not talk about it. Due to suicide already being taboo a lot of people feel uncomfortable or don't know how to respond when suicide is brought up.

 

[Saponification]

I suppose that suicide is heavily stigmatized because it goes against the belief most people have of life having some inherent infinite value. As a society we created this narrative of life's value to cope with the fact that life is meaningless suffering. When prolifers see someone who desires death, it shatters their fragile little bubble that not everyone attributes to life the same value that they do.

 

[JobuLio111m]

I can't reveal where I read it because I want to be as anonymous as possible for my CtB method, but a resource I used to decide how I want to die also talked about a concept called "suicide contagion". Simply put suicide has showed sufficient evidence to be sometimes regarded as a "contagious phenomenon" where the knowledge of suicides or just suicide has been linked to additional suicide rates.
Evidence only goes so far, but i have a feeling that this has been true for a long time. Overtime, its possible a taboo label being attached to suicide has reduced suicide risk and has normalized itself into the status quo for said topic.

The dissertation also briefly mentions the concept of "peer suicide" where especially in isolated communities, suicide rates can temporarily peak as peers commit suicide. Perhaps the sort of dismissal of these topics or suggesting professional help is a defense mechanism. An attempt to not engage in the topic and risk suicidal ideation.

 

[Ch4in3dcr0w]

I can't reveal where I read it because I want to be as anonymous as possible for my CtB method, but a resource I used to decide how I want to die also talked about a concept called "suicide contagion". Simply put suicide has showed sufficient evidence to be sometimes regarded as a "contagious phenomenon" where the knowledge of suicides or just

It absolutly exist but the concept relates to death of a loved one even when the death doesnt occur because of suicide. On the boarder view when someone not important to the person dies because of suicide and that leads to a suicide its more of a acknowledging that suicide is an option when for most people suicide is mostly a fantasy not taken into consideration.
Much love

 

[GhostInTheMachine]

Same reason most other things are taboo, most people are outright scared to talk about it. The are many reasons behind that fear, most of it religious, but regardless of it your common person has likely never even considered the idea outside of something they know occasionally happens. People don't like to think about dying, much less having to die by their own hands. I'd wager that even if it wasn't outright taboo, people would still rather not have the conversation.

As for your family, they're likely under the thinking that suicidality is purely an irrational state of mind. So instead of confronting the factors that have lead you here, they want to throw "solutions" at you to make the big bad suicidal ideation go away forever.

 

[FuneralCry]

I understand and I always suffer so much from existing in this terrible, dreadful anti-suicide world where the suffering and torture of existing is seen as to force and prolong no matter what, I see so much cruelty in how there is no acceptance towards the right to die with many humans doing all they can to make existence into a prison for others so that they suffer for as long as possible until they decay, be tortured by old age and die anyway, it's really all so horrific, all that anti-suicide does is cause way more harm and suffering in an existence where there is already no limit as to how much one can be tortured.

 

[Ligottian]

Here's a stray thought from the great Arthur Schopenhauer.

Might it not be that the voluntary giving up of life is a a poor compliment to him who said "(And God saw) every thing (that he had made, and behold, it) was very good." (Genesis1:31)

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

it's ridiculous i can't even talk about suicide or Death. only here.

it seems to me they are heavily programmed. it's only words and i want to say i want to kill myself but that's taboo. do they understand that : We are all going to die anyway.? so i can't talk about the only certaintity in life Death ? i can't talk about anything real .

you have to live by first principles . first you have to know what is objective facts. that is the most fundamental fact: we are all going to die anyway. so all other thoughts and actions must be based on that and other first principles. another is extreme suffering is bad. not much else is true only a few other things. they certainly have muddled the question what am i , what is life when there is a hundred years of cell biology , and nueroscience and evolution sciences that show what life is what a human is and so what happens to a human after Death.

what is the meaning of life none just avoid long lasting extreme suffering and extreme pain .

there is no reason to not talk about Death or suicide. what their faces are going to fall off? it's just words but they act like it's a crime to even mention things like that. and i don't because i fear they'll call the police on me and have me put in a mental hospital for talking about suicide, or Death or even why life is bad. so have to act and keep quiet. if they ask how i am what do we have to say? "i'm good" or else you know....

 

[Forveleth]

1. Society avoids the idea of death. Death is not accepted in some cultures so many people push back on the topic existing at all.
2. Suicidal people are unhappy with their lives. This requires society to admit there is a flaw that would cause people to prefer death over continuing to exist. No one wants to face that ugly truth so we just will not talk about it and pretend everything is fine.

 

[cookiencream]

Same reason most other things are taboo, most people are outright scared to talk about it. The are many reasons behind that fear, most of it religious, but regardless of it your common person has likely never even considered the idea outside of something they know occasionally happens. People don't like to think about dying, much less having to die by their own hands. I'd wager that even if it wasn't outright taboo, people would still rather not have the conversation.

As for your family, they're likely under the thinking that suicidality is purely an irrational state of mind. So instead of confronting the factors that have lead you here, they want to throw "solutions" at you to make the big bad suicidal ideation go away forever.

They also think that all the factors are simply temporary, which they can be so I don't fully disagree there. But sometimes, the factors are things innate to life itself.

 

[ankawannadie]

From my personal experience, you get ostracized by others even when you mention mental illnesses. It makes others uncomfortable and nobody wants to associate with you anymore since you're "different." I have seen cases where people trash on someone behind their backs because they say they're suicidal.