I have a medical condition that makes the Bum Comparison Principle untenable (constant care required), but I have to say the Other People Matter Principle has worked pretty well for me so far. At this point, the idea of coming up with and implementing a foolproof minimal-impact suicide plan seems way more annoying and tiring than just going on with my life.
Though, while it worked pretty well in my case, I’m not sure I would recommend “if you kill yourself I’ll never forgive myself” as an actual generalized strategy.
Nobody has ever pulled the “I’ll never forgive myself” thing on me, but then I don’t often have this conversation explicitly with people.
It’s more a general sense that there are people who are engaged with my life, who value my presence, who consider what happens to me in some sense their (collective) responsibility, would be hurt by my absence, and doubly hurt if it were self-inflicted.
Admittedly, I had a stroke a few years ago that almost killed me, which made me very aware of how much people care that I’m still alive. I’m not sure if I’d be thinking about this the same way five years ago.
I have a medical condition that makes the Bum Comparison Principle untenable (constant care required), but I have to say the Other People Matter Principle has worked pretty well for me so far. At this point, the idea of coming up with and implementing a foolproof minimal-impact suicide plan seems way more annoying and tiring than just going on with my life.
Though, while it worked pretty well in my case, I’m not sure I would recommend “if you kill yourself I’ll never forgive myself” as an actual generalized strategy.
Nobody has ever pulled the “I’ll never forgive myself” thing on me, but then I don’t often have this conversation explicitly with people.
It’s more a general sense that there are people who are engaged with my life, who value my presence, who consider what happens to me in some sense their (collective) responsibility, would be hurt by my absence, and doubly hurt if it were self-inflicted.
Admittedly, I had a stroke a few years ago that almost killed me, which made me very aware of how much people care that I’m still alive. I’m not sure if I’d be thinking about this the same way five years ago.