Is suicide a sin of pride?

[eucharisteo]

Your story broke my heart. I understand the extreme pain felt by the family left in the wake of suicide.

Keep in mind (if you don’t already know) that the Church allows much latitude when it comes to suicide, understanding, in Her wisdom, that there are many circumstances that would mitigate culpability. Your brother, having taken his own life while under the influence of alcohol, would likely have NOT been in full control of his free will - thus compromising his ability to fulfill the requirements for mortal sin. And I don’t know if this applies, but alcoholics and alcohol abusers are never really operating at full capacity - years of altering the brain chemistry have the effect of impacting one’s ability to exercise free will.

I will keep your family in my prayers. God bless.

Thank you very much for your prayers. My younger brother could really use them. He stresses me out once in a while when he’s really down and out. It seems that all of it is associated with long term alcohol use and/or abuse. Louisiana and south Texas is so guilty of letting minor’s drink - especially during the 70’s when their drinking abuse began. That’s why I don’t drink much. I teach my own children moderation and mainly to avoid it and not let it become a source of filling in a need. Only God can fill the void within us. That is why I believe I’ve been spared with such temptations. So society is to blame as well as family and their historical experiences passed on down through the family.

In Christ

 

[blessedtoo]

Thank you very much for your prayers. My younger brother could really use them. He stresses me out once in a while when he’s really down and out. It seems that all of it is associated with long term alcohol use and/or abuse. Louisiana and south Texas is so guilty of letting minor’s drink - especially during the 70’s when their drinking abuse began. That’s why I don’t drink much. I teach my own children moderation and mainly to avoid it and not let it become a source of filling in a need. Only God can fill the void within us. That is why I believe I’ve been spared with such temptations. So society is to blame as well as family and their historical experiences passed on down through the family.

In Christ

I will pray for your brother. Alcohol is a killer, in so many ways.

God bless!

 

[Burdock]

suicide is not a sin of pride depression is a serious illness i have experienced it my self and was in hospital twice with severe clinical depression . I will probably have to take a lower dose of my antideppressants for life it keeps it at bay so i dont mind. People who have never suffered depression should not make negative comments about it its a serious illnesss and when in the grip of it the sufferer is unable to think rationaly about anything.

 

[Jack_245814]

I’ll repost the links I provided so that you might better educate yourself on the nature of suicide and mental illness.

You’re right, I spoke too harshly and quickly. I’ve had troubles with depression myself, and thought of suicide, and that’s just the view I take on it in my personal case - because my depression isn’t anywhere near as bad as that of other people. It was wrong of me to think that that applies for everyone.

My apologies.

 

[blessedtoo]

You’re right, I spoke too harshly and quickly. I’ve had troubles with depression myself, and thought of suicide, and that’s just the view I take on it in my personal case - because my depression isn’t anywhere near as bad as that of other people. It was wrong of me to think that that applies for everyone.

My apologies.

It’s a rare thing indeed to see someone self-correct! God bless you for that!

Be kinder to yourself and you will find it easier to be compassionate with others.

I will keep you in my prayers and ask God to alleviate your depression.

God bless!

 

[Burdock]

to jack245814 thankyou for your comments that you shouldnt have spoken so harshly. I will pray for you as well god bless you Burdock

 

[Jack_245814]

It’s a rare thing indeed to see someone self-correct! God bless you for that!

Be kinder to yourself and you will find it easier to be compassionate with others.

I will keep you in my prayers and ask God to alleviate your depression.

God bless!

Don’t worry about me too much Almost all of my depression came from guilt which arose from sin . . . this guilt was a form of God’s call, our vocation as Christians, and rejecting it was leading to the disorders of depression.

The more I battle sin in my everyday life, the more my depression lessens.

Thank you very much for your kind thoughts and words; God bless you as well

 

[Andruschak]

Hi everyone. A friend told me that suicide is a sin of pride. Is this true?

Not in my limited experience. I am 24 years sober in Alcoholics Anonymous. We have had many obvious suicides. We have had more who died from too much alcohol and/or drugs. For most, it was despair. They had lost hope.

Most people commmit suicide when depressed. Alcohol is a systemic depressant. Put drugs on top of all that and you have despair, physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain…

…but some of us do walk through the valley of the shadow of death and come out alive. I am one of those touched by God’s grace.

Pride? Get real

 

[Christy_Beth]

Which is exactly what I was trying to say earlier. Severe clinical depression is debilitating. And sometimes there may be more than that in a person’s life. Major depression and Anxiety disorder is only the beginning with me. There are other things that are there as well.

I grew up in a dysfunctional family myself. As the only girl I was definately treated different. I won’t tell of some of the abuse. But there were sexual overtures. Then the Army, marriage to my ex. along with being a single parent for awhile all took their toll. By the time I was admitted to a pshyciatric ward, I was no longer able to take proper care of myself.

Did I consider suicide a sin? At the time, it seemed like the only way out of a nightmare. And while my mental illnesses are being treated, I’m still living on disability. I’ll probably never return to work. And that is inspite of several years of counseling and medication. Yes, it’s under control for now. But definately not cured.

Please that in mind before you judge someone who has either tried, or succeeded, suicide.

 

[Fran65]

Suicide and thoughts of suicide can, in some cases, be a sin of pride. It is rejecting of God’s plan and wanting things your own way. However, I do not consider this to be necessarily true of those who are depressed or otherwise mentally ill.

It may appear to be particularly true of those who choose and argue for ‘euthanasia’. In the UK we have had several high profile court cases where the person seeking assisted suicide (travel to Dignitas in Switzerland) has argued that they do not wish to be dependent on others or to be no longer the active and intellectually alert person that they were. Dame Mary Warnock, an eminent philosopher, has made the same argument publicly and in addition added that people should not have to be a burden to their families if they do not wish to be.

Very, very sad.

 

[blessedtoo]

Suicide and thoughts of suicide can, in some cases, be a sin of pride. It is rejecting of God’s plan and wanting things your own way. However, I do not consider this to be necessarily true of those who are depressed or otherwise mentally ill.

.

Please see my post on the first page.

It is estimated that over **90 percent **of those who attempt or commit suicide are suffering with mental illness.

Assisted suicide is a separate issue. In such cases, the person seeking the assistance is likely to be also suffering depression and would best be served by mental health intervention and not legal encouragement to kill themselves.

 

[colliric]

I don’t see suicide as a sin of pride. Looking at it from my end, and I’m mentally ill, suicide comes from something far worse then basic despair. I’ve had major depression since the age of 7. I’m now 46. And, yes, I’m under treatment. But that doesn’t make the depression magically go away. Nor my other diagnosis.

My position is also one of being mentally ill myself, I have had depression and anxiety steming from an extreme version of “Social” Phobia, which is otherwise more commonly known by it’s nick name of “Stage Fright”(The fear of being judged in social situations). I also recieve some professional help for this.

I personally find as do most other Mentally Ill people that sometimes seeing a councilor helps and other times it doesn’t for various reasons, including the councillors own personal issues or inexperience.

There were times I had those thoughts which I stated in my first post, but everntually they end up going away because I go in and talk to someone and have a good conversation.

 

[Fran65]

Please see my post on the first page.

I’m not sure what your point is.

I don’t disagree at all.

There are however, as the statistics that you cited show, @10% where depression or other mental illness is arguably not a factor. It was to these poor souls that I was referring.

God bless.

Karen

 

[EasterJoy]

Whether suicide is even a sin, let alone a sin of pride, depends on a) the freedom of the person to choose freely and b) their motives.

Mental illness can mitigate or even totally remove one’s ability to make a rational decision. In this case, suicide is becomes more and more a death by disease, rather than by choice.

Even when suicide is a choice, it is as easily a choice of despair as a choice of pride. One can commit suicide out of wounded pride or a desire to avoid humiliation, but that should not be automatically assumed.

A person who committed suicide cannot explain or defend their actions. We can guess at them, but we can’t know or judge. That is for God to judge.

 

[Christy_Beth]

Exactly. There is the person who basically throws a temper tantrum over not getting what they want. And there is the one who sees no other way out.

I once worked in a nursing home (actually, I’ve worked in more than one, it’s the last one that this comes from), and in one room were two fairly young men. One had brain damage due to an accident that wasn’t his fault. The other one had self induced brain damage. He had been a cop and when his girlfriend ditched him, he tried suicide. Both were in a “vegetative state.”

So, yes it can be from wounded pride. But only in a few cases. In the long run, that is. Mine doesn’t come from that. I’ve experienced depression from an early age. Then, pride had nothing to do with it. I had become convinced that I was worthless and unwantedd. I’ve already stated that my family was disfunctional.

I currently seeing a doctor once a month, and taking medication. I’ve been doing this for many years. Some of that was seeing doctors who wouldn’t listen. How can they help if they don’t know what’s going on with the patient? When I was an (name removed by moderator)atient back in 1995 this was a real problem. Trying to catch the doctor to talk with him was a difficult thing. Then, they didn’t want to really talk. They were going on the nurses’ notes and decided that was all they needed to know.

I’ve been with my current consoler for about 10 years now. I’ll be seeing her for a long time yet. And I doubt I’ll ever be off my medication. So, my mental illness is “under control” for the moment, but I don’t think of it as “cured.” I will sometimes have flare ups. Or, as I like to call them, grousing days.

 

[blessedtoo]

One had brain damage due to an accident that wasn’t his fault. The other one had self induced brain damage. He had been a cop and when his girlfriend ditched him, he tried suicide. Both were in a “vegetative state.”

So, yes it can be from wounded pride. But only in a few cases. In the long run, that is.

Even in cases like this, I would wonder about how “stable” was the person who attempted suicide over a break-up.

Recently, a co-worker hung himself because his wife left him. Upon a collective reflection, everyone, including his sainted mother, admitted that his emotional problems exited long before this violent act. He had been encouraged to seek help, had been given medication (which he did not take) and had displayed signs of instability. We often only see the end result and are tempted to draw conclusions without all the information. I think it’s human nature to want to understand how someone can be driven to such an extreme and senseless act - especially if we are emotionally impacted by the event. But this really sums it up for me:

A person who committed suicide cannot explain or defend their actions. We can guess at them, but we can’t know or judge. That is for God to judge.

 

[rayne89]

And that’s right. But what I mean is people being proud of the depression is just silly.

Not being proud of depression. The opposite of pride is humility. Lacking humility stops people from reaching out for help when they need it. Lacking humility makes people believe they are the only one suffering as do. The sin of pride is not being proud of things (like accomplishments) but the lacking of humility.

 

[Christy_Beth]

I’ve been battling depression since the age of 7. And I can tell you, it isn’t due to pride. I would have given almost anything to keep from feeling that misery for so long. Not reaching for help isn’t a sign of pride. It’s a sign of having given up hope for “normal.” To me, that misery was my “normal” for years. As a child, how was I to know that it wasn’t normal? And as the years went by, it was all the harder to deal with. And it wasn’t due to pride.

Humility playing a part? More like humiliation. When I did try to reach out, I was told that there wasn’t a problem. Or that I was merely making it up. With my problems, it wasn’t a matter of making it up. With some of the diagnois I was given, I couldn’t have told you what was wrong. It took psychological testing and years of therapy before I was told what the problem was. Try doing a web search for “Borderline Personality disorder” sometime. That does along with my depression, dysthymia and anxiety disorder. Oh, and let’s not leave out OCD.

 

[rayne89]

I’ve been battling depression since the age of 7. And I can tell you, it isn’t due to pride. I would have given almost anything to keep from feeling that misery for so long. Not reaching for help isn’t a sign of pride. It’s a sign of having given up hope for “normal.” To me, that misery was my “normal” for years. As a child, how was I to know that it wasn’t normal? And as the years went by, it was all the harder to deal with. And it wasn’t due to pride.

Humility playing a part? More like humiliation. When I did try to reach out, I was told that there wasn’t a problem. Or that I was merely making it up. With my problems, it wasn’t a matter of making it up. With some of the diagnois I was given, I couldn’t have told you what was wrong. It took psychological testing and years of therapy before I was told what the problem was. Try doing a web search for “Borderline Personality disorder” sometime. That does along with my depression, dysthymia and anxiety disorder. Oh, and let’s not leave out OCD.

Christy I’m not saying it automatically is I’m saying in some cases it could be. I have someone close to me with BPD, I know the kind of pain that comes with. My husband suffered from major depression for years, it wasn’t from pride. I was trying to explain that I didn’t think the OP meant proud of being depressed but having too much pride to seek help.

 

[wjp984]

How about is it ever a sin of pride for one’s reason not to kill one’s self. For example, what if a person hates his life and thinks suicide is an option but thinks it is just too much of a waste of his brain and intelligence not to stay alive and do something with it and he might as well keep on living and see what he can do even if life in general sucks.