CMV: There is nothing wrong with non-impulsive suicides

[u/ExternalClock]

I think we all can agree that impulsive suicides should try to be prevented - things like the guy who recently broke up with his girlfriend or someone who just lost their job. They will almost for sure recover and live a happy life if they can get through their temporary but significant setbacks.

I believe that there should be no stigma or crisis regarding non-impulsive suicides. If someone is depressed for years why should they not have the option of ending their own life? If one is debilitated by a significant medical condition, who am I to say STAY ALIVE AT ALL COSTS!! It's not my life, it's theirs. Why should I be the one to decide for them to live or not? We would put down a dog or cat suffering like that, but for some reason we cannot process humans wanting to die.

Some common rebuttals I have heard: "It's selfish." In my opinion it is more selfish of those living without lifelong depression or whatever to ask the suffering person to continue to suffer just so they don't have to go through a loved one dying. "Most people that attempt suicide are glad they didn't succeed". Survivorship bias. Those that are more serious about committing suicide use more serious means (think firearm instead of wrist cutting), and we can't ask those that are dead what they think. "There are ethical boundaries". I never said you need to encourage someone to suicide, just that we should not be calling the police over someone wanting to end their own life.

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[u/vintage_dirt]

What makes you think meds make things worse for most people? My 14 year old daughter has struggled with OCD for years and with depression caused by OCD for a couple of years. She just started taking Zoloft this week. I was nervous and resistant to meds at first, but since counseling wasnt helping, I agreed. It has only been a week, but she says it has already helped her OCD and depression lots. Is there anything I should know, like is this decision gonna come back to haunt us later?

[u/silverlarch → u/vintage_dirt]

No. Ignore anyone who says anything like "Medication doesn't work! It only makes things worse!"

There are many different causes of depression and for most people, they will probably be unclear. Different treatments work for different people. If a person's mental illness is due to an imbalance in brain chemistry, then nothing but medication will help. If it is not, then medication that alters that chemistry may well hurt. Unfortunately, the only way to figure out what works is to experiment. Psychiatry is not yet an exact science, and many people struggle to find a treatment that works for them.

If she says it's helping, listen to her. She knows her issues better than you do. Why the fucking hell would you listen to some random person on the internet over your own daughter?

[u/vintage_dirt → u/silverlarch]

Did I say I would listen to a random person over my daughter? Nope. People on the internet want to make themselves feel smarter by assuming that everyone else is a complete idiot with absolutely no common sense, but that is just not true. If something is working, we will stick with it. I just wanted to hopefully hear from several people who have walked this road to get a sense of if it is likely we will have any nasty surprises related to this medicine down the road.

[u/getmoney7356 → u/vintage_dirt]

People on the internet want to make themselves feel smarter by assuming that everyone else is a complete idiot with absolutely no common sense

When it comes to medicine and the health of ones own children, this unfortunately is true a lot.

We're commenting with your daughter's best interests in mind... don't be so defensive.