Suicide as an alternative option for lifelong torment.

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All of this:

I don't think suicide is a good alternative to anything, barring a few exceptions*, it's the ultimate decision you usually can't take back, unless it fails.

Scientifically speaking, there is no life after death, since... well it's impossible, regardless of what an old book depicts. Death is final, life is something of a treasure, the very odds that you would exist after the world formed to harbour life, out of all your mothers eggs, after so many impossible instances, evolution, plagues destroying generations, wars that have killed millions, natural catastrophe's etc, and to throw it all away because it all seems a bit much? Time, and a bit of intervention usually balances out of the bad with the good. No matter how bad you think your life is, there is always someone worse off who is probably more optimistic than you.

*Of course, I believe there are instances where suicide is fair.
We euthanize our pets when they are old, or sick beyond remedy, but the subject is still taboo for people. Talking about death amongst the civilized will often leave you with cold shoulders, nobody wants to talk about the inevitable doom each of us will eventually face, so we like to avoid it.
Assisted suicide is too much like murder, it may be too difficult for authorities to tell the difference, but it might one day be permitted. Not because you are depressed, or because your boyfriend cheated on you, but because you have 100% fatal illnesses that you could never recover from, and you would often die a long, painful or completely paralysed death.

I'm not at all religious, though, so when I hear about someone who has committed suicide, I feel empathy for the people who have to deal with the burden, but other than that, I don't believe there is any real loss, since as you say, death is the final destination for everyone.
At the end of the day, in comparison with everything (the entire Universe) we are nothing but quark-sized parasites, if that, whose sole purpose is to survive and nothing else. Whatever happens between birth, and death, is purely the result of free will (ie: religious theories).

But in saying that, you might no longer be suffering, but you are causing grief for those who knew you, or simply those who are strongly affected by suicide and hearing about death in general. I certainly wouldn't want to live in a world where suicide was as common & legal as ordering pizza, it would disturb me way too much.

I think there is some logic to your thinking. Whether it is immoral or sinful to commit suicide is of little interest to me.

I have opinions on euthanasia that I think a lot of people would disagree with, and though euthanasia can be considered to be suicide, I consider it a very different thing, so I'm assuming here you're just talking about healthy people, or at least people who have a quality of life choosing to end their life.

People commit suicide because they have problems. There are very few problems that can't be sorted. Suicide doesn't get rid of problems, it simply passes them on to those you leave behind. If you don't leave anyone behind, you simply disappear into nothingness, everything that you were, everything that you could have been, gone.

As someone who once attempted suicide, and failed obviously, I can honestly say it was the most stupid thing I've done in my life. It's been almost ten years since I did, and my life has changed immeasurably. At the time, I could never have predicted, or even hoped that my life would turn out the way it has. I think suicide is foolish. Nobody knows what might happen in the future, you might as well live your life while you have it. You have millennia to be dead afterwards.

I would live any way, anywhere, do anything, I want as much experience as I can before I die, I want so many memories I can't choose which one to focus on when I pass, I want to know I've done done things and that I've left things behind, and that I fought for every moment, and every smile. I don't get depressed or suicidal any more, because everything is an experience, good or bad, painful or joyful or sorrowful, I want to know every single one.

As for the stigma attached to it, I think it's mostly fear nowadays. Most people don't believe it's a sin any more, they are scared by what they don't understand, and most people don't understand a desire to kill ones self. It goes against our very nature, we are built for survival, it's written in our genes, it's our instinct, they tell us that if someone wants to die there is something very very wrong.

If you're thinking of committing suicide, I recommend you visit a health professional.

I have never attempted suicide but I had thought of it and felt that way before. So I can't understand why others would take their own lives and not think rational while I knew if I killed myself it would hurt my husband and my son and family. My son may not remember his own mother committing suicide over a rough spot we hit in his life when he was one, but he would be growing up without a mother and would only see pictures of her and have no memory of her. Why do that to a child?

People are against it because it hurts other people; your friends, your family, your partner, your kids. It effects other people when you take your own life.

I don't really see it as immoral...and I don't know I've attempted once and I cannot really say I am all that thrilled it didn't work, because it feels like things have only gone down hill. I don't necessarily desire death but sometimes it feels like the only option....it comes down to that being better than the constant misery but I guess living things are programmed to try and survive so its weird having that battle in your mind over the desire to survive at all costs vs. being in so much pain your desperate to end it by any means possible including death. I cannot speak for everyone though that is just my description......it is a rather dark place either way.

People can still care about you even though you feel alone. It would not be good for them at all.

It is likely to be a horrible experience that you survive. That does not help you.

When you are not afraid of death, why be afraid of anything else? Do all those things that you wanted to do but couldn't because you were afraid / made excuses / were anxious about.

Live a little before skipping to the next part. This may be all the living we get to do.

I suppose it would be, the problem is that very few people can accurately say that they will experience lifelong torment. For most, it's an irrational belief.

Of course. If you can't take it anymore, then kill yourself.

Suicide is not a moral issue.
Suicide is not a religious issue.
Suicide is not a family issue.

Suicide is a personal issue.

I'm not religious, so I don't care about the moral or ethical implications of suicide, but I do believe, personally, that suicide is a coward's way out. It's nothing more than a weak-willed person's get-out-of-jail-free card. Killing yourself isn't proof of a strong will, it's only proof that you don't have enough self-respect and enough of a sense of responsibility to those who care about you to continue working to solve your problems and make things work out in the end. Staying alive and facing your fears, problems and responsibilities in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds is a true display of willpower.

My is that religion is a system to control suicide and immoral behaviour.

If religion is fully removed, there is no after life, death is eternal. This bleak view would drive people into depression. Why live life if it will end? Most religions provide a helpful belief to counter this.

If the religion supports the idea of a better after-life in exchange good behaviour, if suicide is permitted then this would encourage fanatics to take short-cuts. This is also why "Thou shalt not kill" is so important, if an afterlife is assured, what is the harm in murder or sacrifice?

I'm atheist, but these are good useful benefits. Anti-depressants have only existed for 60 or so years, religion has served a useful purpose for the last 500,000 years or so.

Jason