The suicide rate for people of middle age has gone up in every state in the US. My question is this. Does suicide, always have to mean the person was depressed? I don’t believe it does. I do not believe in today’s world that “not wanting to live” always equates to “being depressed”. In some cases without doubt it does stem from depression. I ache for people who hurt so badly that ending their life looks like relief. This hits very close to home for my family with tragic results. At the same time, to better understand what is going on in our society, to think about what else might be going on is valuable.
Could suicide be a pragmatic decision that an individual has a right to make? I believe for this population, middle-aged Americans, the increased suicide rate could in part be an illustration is that they just aren’t at all interested in what their future, those remaining years, looks like. Maybe sort of a “tap out”. And in a world where so many of our liberties are being taken from us, could it be the ultimate “I control this” we have left? This is not meant to be a political statement at all. It is much deeper than that – because I would argue that the most recent celebrity deaths probably are not people who were concerned about their “loss of liberties” the same way the conservative right defines them. I do NOT pretend to know however if these losses were or were not directly related to depression; these events however prompted thought.
If as a nation this trend concerns us, I recommend that we look to the much lauded, socialist utopias of Scandinavia. These nations, while touting high rates of “national happiness” also have higher suicide rates than the United States. So how can a nation be “happiest” and also have a high suicide rate? Might suicide not always be connected to “depression?” It is worth pondering and even worth study.
The following are A-political ponders. Nothing more. Nothing less. I do not have any judgement here – they are just like I said, ponders.
- As the nation becomes less and less religious, we have no religious pressures around suicide – it isn’t a sin if you don’t believe in sin.
- This generation has grown up in a world were abortion has been nothing but a political issue – it isn’t a “life”. It is just a “procedure” or “a choice.”
- We have legal channels through which we can commit suicide if we are faced with a low quality of life. We have fought for this right based on our right to choose.
So now life – is a choice – based on both abortion and assisted suicide.
Is life sacred for this generation? Or has life simply become somewhat of an idea of “energy in a vessel” – is it just a choice? Can life be sacred without faith anyway? Is life sacred for any generation after?
I know that I cannot be the ONLY one who ponders this topic this way. That would be impossible because I am simply not that “special.” Personally, I have a DNR; even 30 years ago they were uncommon. Fifty years ago - unheard of. I have very deliberate and well thought-out directives about the perpetuation (or non-perpetuation) of my life under certain conditions. If faced with certain things I do NOT want to live. "Quality" for each of us is different but if a person sees that “quality” is highly improbable then why should we be surprised when they opt out? Even a celebrity who seems to “have it all” might see their future as unappealing for their own personal reasons. Their standards are uniquely their own; no one of us has the same standards of what is or is not “quality” and I don't believe that those "standards" always include depression. I argue too that “quality” is directly connected to liberty and freedom in the most basic, NON-political sense -- whatever their interpretations of liberty and freedom are.
The mere idea that people can HAVE almost clinical-type thoughts about this and not be shocked by it tells me that something has changed in our culture. I do not believe that a culture that sees abortion as a choice and also embraces assisted suicide can expect that this disconnection with “life” would not also affect the suicide rate. In effect, “Life is a choice and I have the right to choose.” That is the message from conception to old age.
I believe there is something that runs DEEPLY in each of us, that most don’t even know they have that screams, “I MUST BE THE MASTER OF MY OWN DESTINY.” That is why young men run bravely into war. Freedom, whatever that looks like to a person, is worth dying for. If that freedom (quality) seems impossible then ending their life is not a surprising response.
As we insidiously lose personal liberties and the things that make our lives have “quality” does our unconscious mind struggle to find ways to offset that loss? Couple that with laws that support the ending of life – both at the beginning and at the end – is it any wonder that people who are not depressed consider taking their own life into their own hands?
Is there something inside us that screams for personal freedom and is some suicide an expression of that?
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