Kai Dracon
Writing a dinosaur space opera symphony
Saying suicide is for cowards and just feeling scorn for people who commit it is in its own way, cowardly thinking. It's offloading your aggravation or anger at the person who was in pain and blaming your feelings on them - ironic. But it's deeply ingrained in culture to 'blame the victim' when it comes to suicide or attempted suicide.
But the thing is, all suicide is not equal.
What some people do, does fit the simple stereotype: attempts to get attention. While usually (but not always) younger people who do this, they don't really understand what they're doing and while emotionally unbalanced, really just want to get attention. Often they want it for petty, selfish reasons.
Then there's suicide among people who have been legitimately broken and are in ultimate suffering. Here, suicide is more of a misfire of the survival instinct and should be understood as such. Survival and escaping pain will push a person (or any animal) to harm themselves for the greater good - break a limb, chew off a foot. When cornered with no other way out and no way to stop paralyzing psychological anguish, suicide is 'logical' because it's the only immediate way to stop the pain.
People don't seem to stop and consider that even attempting suicide means one is overriding a tremendous set of survival instincts that prevent self-harm. That alone should give you pause to stop and consider what is really going on, rather than saying "feh, coward" and feeling superior to a person who is in a bad place and suffering. I suppose also, there's a bit of sour grapes in such attitudes. A "if I can't get out of this shitty life, they shouldn't be able to either" thing.
But the thing is, all suicide is not equal.
What some people do, does fit the simple stereotype: attempts to get attention. While usually (but not always) younger people who do this, they don't really understand what they're doing and while emotionally unbalanced, really just want to get attention. Often they want it for petty, selfish reasons.
Then there's suicide among people who have been legitimately broken and are in ultimate suffering. Here, suicide is more of a misfire of the survival instinct and should be understood as such. Survival and escaping pain will push a person (or any animal) to harm themselves for the greater good - break a limb, chew off a foot. When cornered with no other way out and no way to stop paralyzing psychological anguish, suicide is 'logical' because it's the only immediate way to stop the pain.
People don't seem to stop and consider that even attempting suicide means one is overriding a tremendous set of survival instincts that prevent self-harm. That alone should give you pause to stop and consider what is really going on, rather than saying "feh, coward" and feeling superior to a person who is in a bad place and suffering. I suppose also, there's a bit of sour grapes in such attitudes. A "if I can't get out of this shitty life, they shouldn't be able to either" thing.