Maybe time to point out that suicide is a REALLY REALLY stupid idea. Or as someone called it. »A permanent solution to a temporary problem.« Whatever the problem is, it usually can be dealt with, waited out, ignored, treated or what ever. There is also a wide amount of support available to deal with hardships. (Maybe someone has the better ones on file and can post.)
I find it both odd and understandable how someone could be both into longevity and also contemplate suicide. If this comes up more often we might need a special support group for LW cluster people.
Regarding the idea of the OP to freeze himself he should be made aware that even the strong supporters work from odds of 5%. There is no guarantee that it works yet. Under most factors it is better to sit around on this side of the action and see to it that the technology gets better right away.
As someone who’s struggled with depression and suicidal ideation since childhood (not going to do it, don’t worry) -- the cliche “a permanent solution to a temporary problem” is the opposite of helpful. For many people, it’s not a temporary problem, it’s a lifelong one that you just have to learn to live with (or not). Hearing something like that, for a suicidal person, just reinforces how isolated and misunderstood they feel.
I didn’t know Chris but I think I understand what he was thinking. He was in too much pain to bear, so he looked for ways that he could stop having to bear it. Even at a 5% chance for that at getting a non-depressed version of life afterwards, cryonics would have been a win, since a completed suicide has a 0% chance for that. “Sitting around on this side of the action” would require continuing to bear the weight of existence, which he felt he could not do. If he felt he could, then taking the time to find the right combination of therapy/lifestyle changes/medication to alleviate his depression would probably have the greatest rate of success, better than waiting for cryonics to improve.
The 101st patient of the Cryonics Institute (CI) is an 18-year-old boy who committed suicide by hydrogen sulfide poisoning. He was reportedly “super bright”, but suffered from depression.
Maybe time to point out that suicide is a REALLY REALLY stupid idea. Or as someone called it. »A permanent solution to a temporary problem.« Whatever the problem is, it usually can be dealt with, waited out, ignored, treated or what ever. There is also a wide amount of support available to deal with hardships. (Maybe someone has the better ones on file and can post.)
I find it both odd and understandable how someone could be both into longevity and also contemplate suicide. If this comes up more often we might need a special support group for LW cluster people.
Regarding the idea of the OP to freeze himself he should be made aware that even the strong supporters work from odds of 5%. There is no guarantee that it works yet. Under most factors it is better to sit around on this side of the action and see to it that the technology gets better right away.
As someone who’s struggled with depression and suicidal ideation since childhood (not going to do it, don’t worry) -- the cliche “a permanent solution to a temporary problem” is the opposite of helpful. For many people, it’s not a temporary problem, it’s a lifelong one that you just have to learn to live with (or not). Hearing something like that, for a suicidal person, just reinforces how isolated and misunderstood they feel.
I didn’t know Chris but I think I understand what he was thinking. He was in too much pain to bear, so he looked for ways that he could stop having to bear it. Even at a 5% chance for that at getting a non-depressed version of life afterwards, cryonics would have been a win, since a completed suicide has a 0% chance for that. “Sitting around on this side of the action” would require continuing to bear the weight of existence, which he felt he could not do. If he felt he could, then taking the time to find the right combination of therapy/lifestyle changes/medication to alleviate his depression would probably have the greatest rate of success, better than waiting for cryonics to improve.
The initial post reminded me of these two cryo cases.
(Trigger warning for everyone who prefers not to read about dead and/or frozen people with severe real life problems.)
http://cryonics.org/reports/CI101.html
http://cryonics.org/reports/CI93.html
The first case is quite striking.
Very bright, perhaps: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_sulfide#Induced_hypothermia.2Fsuspended_animation