Is there Anything to Justify Suicide

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The definition of suicide is the act of killing oneself. Per data collected by the American Association of Suc 2010 Final Data Report , there is an average of one person every 13.7 minutes that commits suicide and that suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States at the time of the reports compilation. With studies proving suicide to be such a viable option for some, there arise the questions of morality concerning suicide. Is it ever an acceptable course of action? If so, under what circumstances might suicide be considered reasonable? Are there circumstances where the act of killing oneself is justifiable? Does one’s position in society or religious background determine the validity in one’s belief’s on suicide?
Suicide is an uncomfortable topic to discuss. While other types of deaths elicit sympathy or even anger if there was foul play involved in the taking of a life, suicide is shrouded with feelings of shame and embarrassment for the family and loved ones left behind. Does a person have the right to subject his or family to that sort of hurt?
For example, if a loved one is suffering from an extended, painful, terminal illness? There are no further chances for survival and the individual is faced with nothing more than a slow immeasurable wait for the end, would committing suicide seem more reasonable in that situation? Would it make the suicide more palatable if the person was destined for death anyway? Another example could involve war, as in a hostage scenario. A military person captured by the enemy and taken as a captive to be tortured until death. Would an extreme situation such as this validate the taking of one’s life? Does great duress or physical hardship ...

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...empathized with, it is another issue all together as to whether one would be justified in carrying out the action behind those feelings.
The same can be said for suicide, feeling as though you’d like to end your life, depending on what your circumstances are, may be reasonable, but once you’ve killed yourself, will the legacy that you leave behind justify your actions?

Works Cited

1. American Association of Suicidology 2010 Final Data Report www.suicidology.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=262&name=... 2. A Journey That Ended in Anguish” written by T. Christian Miller of the Los Angeles Times articles.latimes.com › Investigations

3. Lindsey Beyerstein Journalist http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikkthise/2007/03militray ethici.html

4. www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/01/military-suicides-us-veterans_n...
Reporting by Phil Stewart

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