Live and Its Absence Generally,

¶ … Live and Its Absence

Generally, human life is precious. Like all other living creatures, human beings have a natural survival instinct that is the source of many of their automatic responses and reflexes. However, man differs greatly from other animal life forms in the sense that no other living creature has the intellectual awareness to be conscious of what it means to live or die, much less to envision, consider, and contemplate their own demise. All animals flee from danger and some of the most intelligent animals such as elephants and some simians clearly undergo some sort of mourning or recognition ritual when encountering deceased members of their own species or their community. Nevertheless, it is likely that only human beings ever think about their lives in the sense that they have the option to cut them shorter than they might otherwise be.

There are several specific reasons that human beings sometimes make the decision not to continue their lives and to end them artificially. Unfortunately, it is probably the case that the most common reason that people commit suicide is in response to acute depression or in response to their despair over short-term situations that they could have eventually overcome. Clinical depression is known to be a cause of suicide, but clinical depression can be treated effectively so that individuals affected by it can get past their temporary loss of will to live. Likewise, many of the types of circumstances that sometimes cause people to believe they have no other option besides ending their lives are not long-term situations that could not have been overcome successfully. Typical examples of those types of acute situation leading to suicidal despair would include the loss of loved ones, divorce, loss of employment, and loss of a person's established status in life and reputation in the community.

On the other hand, there are also situations that make suicide a more reasonable option rather than a reflection of chronic or acute depression or loss of focus on perspective. Chronic intractable pain would be one situation that could conceivably rob a person, understandably, of the will to live. While pain, pain tolerance, and coping skills vary significantly from person to person, chronic severe pain would be an understandable reason for many people to make a rationale decision to end their lives instead of living with severe pain.

In certain situations, loss of companionship could also reasonably lead a person to lose the will to live. Consider the case of an elderly couple who have been married for more than sixty years and whose entire lives are about one another. If one person in a couple in their 80s dies, the other partner could conceivably decide that the amount of time necessary to mourn and then recover emotionally from the loss of the other partner might not necessarily be worth the trouble, especially in considering how much time might actually be left to live afterwards. At the age of 30 or 40, it is conceivable that the person could eventually recover and go on to another fulfilling relationship and life even after the loss of one's life partner. However, when one likely has only a few years left to live, the loss of a lifelong partner could conflict with the will to continue living and that decision might indeed be more reasonable than taking advice to find a new hobby or meet new people.