June 9, 1984
If you are a
person who contemplates suicide often, you should indeed talk to a confidante
about your problem.
This
communication on your part will help clear the air to some extent. Such a person is considering an irreversible
step – one certainly that should not be taken lightly. Often such people are in a very depressed state
of mind, so that they have already closed their thoughts to the reasons for
living, and only keep reminding themselves of the availability of death.
Often other
people can make some small, seemingly innocuous comment that suddenly opens the
disturbed person’s mind to new possibilities.
Because the entire mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual portions
of the self are always stimulated to seek further growth and development and
satisfaction, then it is quite possible for the mind to seize upon even the
smallest event that will spontaneously release the person at least momentarily
from depression, or even despair.
If you are in
such a situation, do remind yourself that it is far more natural and probable
for any problem to be solved, and that every problem has a solution. Death is not a solution. It is an end in a very basic manner.
No matter how
depressed you may feel, you do still want to live, or you would be dead by now
– so there is a part of you that seeks life and vitality, and that portion also
deserves expression. It is a good idea
to put off making any decision for a while. After all, if you do choose suicide, you can
always kill yourself. If you commit
suicide, however, your choices for this life are over.
Tell yourself
you will make no decision until after your birthday, or after the holidays, or
that you will put off any decision for a month, or even a week – whatever you
feel most comfortable with.
Any therapist
can also follow through by making such suggestions, thus gaining the client’s
cooperation at the same time by letting the individual choose the time period
for which such a decision will be delayed.
It is futile to
tell such a person that he or she cannot, or must not, commit
suicide – and indeed, such a procedure can be quite dangerous, hardening the
person’s leaning toward a death decision.
The idea of making choices should be stressed: to live or to die is
indeed each person’s choice.
Some people
might say, “I have a right to die”, when they are arguing the case for suicide. And while this is true, it is also true that
the people on your planet need every bit of help and encouragement they can get
from each person alive. In a certain
sense, the energy of each individual does keep the world going, and to commit
suicide is to refuse a basic, cooperative venture.
It is also true
that persons in ordinary good health who often contemplate suicide have
already closed themselves away from the world to an important extent. Even their physical senses seem blurred,
until often they seek further and further stimulation. These same attitudes are apparent in a lesser
degree to varying extents in periods of mental or bodily illness or in
unsatisfactory life situations. If you
are such a person, however, there are also other steps that you can take. Project yourself into a satisfying
future. Remind yourself that the
future is indeed there if you want it, and that you can grow into that
future as easily as you grew from the past into the present.
Many depressives
concentrate almost devotedly upon the miseries of the world – the probable
disasters that could bring about its end.
They remind themselves that the planet is overpopulated, and project
into the future the most dire of disasters, man-made and natural.
Such thoughts
are bound to cause depression. They are also
painting a highly prejudiced view of reality, leaving out all matters
concerning man’s heroism, love of his fellow creatures, his wonder, sympathy,
and the great redeeming qualities of the natural world itself. So such people must change their focus of
attention.
The other
creative, positive, achieving portions of life are ever present, and thoughts
of them alone can bring refreshment and release from tension.
The point is
that all of the world’s problems also represent great challenges. Young people in particular are needed to work
for the promotion of peace and nuclear disarmament, to take up the tasks of
deregulating and redistributing food sources, and of encouraging nations to
join in such a creative venture. Those
are indeed worthy and stirring causes, as noble as any that faced any
generation in the past. The world needs
every hand and eye, and cries out for expression of love and caring. To devote oneself to such a cause is far more
praiseworthy than to steadily bemoan global problems with a sorrowful eye and a
mournful voice.
If you are
lethargic, resolve to take the first small steps toward action, however small
they might be. Remind yourself that life
implies action and motion, and even the activity of the most despondent thought
flows in great bursts of rhythm.
All of the
suggestions given here will also help in lesser situations, in ordinary bouts
of worry, stress, or poor health. Even
those with very serious diseases can always hope for improvement, so even if an
individual is considering suicide because of a severe health dilemma, the matter
should be carefully weighed.
The most seemingly
irreversible physical situations have changed even drastically for the better,
so each tomorrow does offer that possibility. Again, however, the individual must make his or
her own choice, and without facing the additional burden of worrying whether or
not the soul itself will be condemned for such an act.
Nature does not know
damnation, and damnation has no meaning in the great realm of love in which all
existence is couched.
No comments:
Post a Comment