|
It seems to me that most human beings practice some type of high risk suicidal behavior regularly, even though they may not think of themselves as being suicidal, still they may have a secret, or subconscious, death wish in practicing such behaviors.
Driving recklessly or with road rage, smoking and ingesting other known carcinogens, injecting heroine or taking other deadly substances, thrill seeking, and a host of other high-risk behaviors. Intention is key because usually people who do these things may say they do not intend to take their own life, yet the behavior they practice throws caution to the wind.
It is widely believed in the mental health field that a person who can take their own life has a high probability of taking the lives of others, and often murder-suicides have been seen on the news. Suicide bombers as well as people who kill loved ones and then kill themselves have demonstrated this.
Then there is “suicide by cop” when a person does not have the nerve to take their own life so they point a toy gun, or unloaded gun, at a police officer hoping the officer will kill them. As a former ambulance paramedic, I have seen first-hand everything I am mentioning here in this post. Intentions may come on suddenly and a person kills themselves without much thought or that person may ruminate about killing themselves.
I would guess that just about everyone at some point in their life will have some sort of suicidal ideation, or ideas and feelings of taking their own life. Suicidal ideations should always be taken seriously and the more details a person has put into such ideas the more apt they are to carry out such ideas. In the U.S. it has been reported that approximately 2,000 people attempt suicide everyday, but this is only reported cases and the total actual number is possibly double or triple that.
I believe in suicide prevention, primarily because we live in a temporal existence and no matter the situation, even this too will pass. I have also seen lots of debilitated people, missing arms, legs, or wheel chair bound like Dr. Stephen Hawkins, rise and achieve great things unimaginable.
Still I have mixed feelings because while I believe in, and practice, suicide prevention, I also believe that a person has the right to determine when and how they want to die. As far as what happens to them in the afterlife, human death is a highly subjective and intimate experience which I believe has countless possibilities, just like human life.
|