Death Positivity and Suicide

[Nonsequitur]

WARNING (to readers):
Obviously from the title, I want to talk about the stigma, and connotation of suicide— not committing suicide itself.
So this forum post might be uncomfortable for some users to read.

This is also a further discussion rooting from this article posted on Scarleteen itself:
https://www.scarleteen.com/article/bodi ... nversation


Can someone give their analysis (or opinionated statement) of why suicide is considered taboo in most westernized countries.
Or also why suicide— or thoughts of death— is seen as an urgency and something needed to be “healed” instead of taken into action.

This old Vox article has an interesting 3rd person view on her friend committing an assisted suicide:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vox.co ... california


So overall, what I’m trying to say is... should we slowly evolve our views on suicide to a more “death positive” note?
(I’m not trying to romanticize suicide here.)

[Sam W]

Hi Nonsequitur,

So, with the term death positivity in particular, the idea is to shift the way a lot of western cultures deal (or don't deal) with death. That means encouraging people to have honest conversations about death and grief, including things like end of life care, burial desires, etc, rather than ignoring death or not wanting to talk about it. It's not really about viewing death as an inherently good or positive thing (more that death is neutral, and happens to everyone, and we can make it less terrifying by acknowledging that reality). A death positive position on suicide is one where people feel able to discuss their suicidal thoughts in a way that results in them being more likely to get support or help, rather than a position where suicide is seen as a positive action to take. This article addresses that, as well as where the taboos around suicide come from (the Order of the Good Death is the originator site for death positivity): http://www.orderofthegooddeath.com/deat ... nd-suicide. It's about breaking the taboo around talking about the issue, if that makes sense.

Too, physician assisted suicide tends to arise under very different circumstances than other forms of suicide. There are lots of very complex, valid arguments to be made about assisted suicide, but those are a better fit for a site or forum that works specifically in issues of death, disability, or mental health, rather than one whose focus is sex and relationships.