Suicidal feelings are not the same as giving up on life. Suicidal feelings often express a powerful and overwhelming need for a different life.
Suicidal feelings can mean, in a desperate and unyielding way, a demand for something new. Listen to someone who is suicidal and you often hear a need for change so important, so indispensable, that they would rather die than go on living without the change.
And when the person feels powerless to make that change happen, they become suicidal. Help comes when the person identifies the change they want and starts to believe it can actually happen. Whether it is overcoming an impossible family situation, making a career or study change, standing up to an oppressor, gaining relief from chronic physical pain, igniting creative inspiration, feeling less alone, or beginning to value their self worth,
at the root of suicidal feelings is often powerlessness to change your life — not giving up on life itself.
On the Hidden Cry for Change Beneath Suicidal Feelings
I recently held a conversation with someone that led to the topic of suicide. Something very prevelant in this generation. My views on suicide are vast, and mixed. There are tons of factors that go into play with someone comitting suicide
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid showing physiological needs at the bottom, followed by safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization at the top
I decided to do a arbitrary observer score, vs. personal score in the categories of suicide action, suicidal thoughts, deep contemplation.
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Citation
Cited as:
Yotam, Kris. (Apr 2025). On Suicide. krisyotam.com. https://krisyotam.com/notes/philosophy/on-suicide
Or
@article{yotam2025on-suicide,
title = "On Suicide",
author = "Yotam, Kris",
journal = "krisyotam.com",
year = "2025",
month = "Apr",
url = "https://krisyotam.com/notes/philosophy/on-suicide"
}