[infinitedata]

He basically announced his ‘permanent-rest’ via twitter. So sad but grounding for all of us to remember that there are things way more important past the marvelous inventions we can code or make.

For learning purposes, anyone knows what was his major cause of frustration?

[tuyiown]

Suicide is very personal, should be treated as an extremely complex issue that its uniqueness for each cannot be expressed in details correct enough to respect the regretted.

I know you just want to know if any major points could stand out to bring some understanding, and they are probably some, but it's important to treat it as a might be relavant, but always small, piece of a the vastness of one's mind can be.

[freedomben]

I would have agreed fully with you for most of my life, but having now lost half a dozen friends to suicide, I think we're making a big mistake by not talking about it honestly and openly. Not only is it much harder for the friends/loved ones who are left in the dark about what happened, but it misses opportunities for learning and understanding. Most people who have never been ready to kill themselves have no idea what it's like, the hopelessness, the weariness, and worst of all the lies your mind tells you.

I do insist on being classy and respectful, particularly for the family members, but I wish as a society we would talk openly and honestly about these issues instead of high opacity implications.

[tuyiown]

> I do insist on being classy and respectful, particularly for the family members, but I wish as a society we would talk openly and honestly about these issues instead of high opacity implications.

Yes, I did not want to mean that the right way was silent mourning. I merely wanted to express that full understanding is not achievable, and that the truth is lost with the life, and lost forever. To me, everything said with this idea kept in mind is respectful, and from there talking works.

[wnolens]

Shit, half a dozen? I'm so sorry. Were you able to learn anything about their internal state prior?

[theGnuMe]

>Suicide is very personal, should be treated as an extremely complex issue that its uniqueness for each cannot be expressed in details correct enough to respect the regretted.

Can you elaborate on what you mean here? Are you saying that every suicide is unique and out of respect for the dead we should not try to understand it?

[tuyiown]

It's mostly about the relationship about the understanding than the understanding itself. You can try to understand, but not believe you understand, the deceased will never be there to correct you if you're wrong.

[Mikeb85]

> For learning purposes, anyone knows what was his major cause of frustration?

Suicide isn't because of frustration. Everyone has frustrations, most don't kill themselves because of it.

[vintermann]

Frustration is just a word. It's maybe not the optimal word for it, but we understand what's meant: the situations on the inside and outside that made him consider such a choice.

Keep in mind many people on HN (incl. me) don't even speak English as a first language.

[OJFord]

I do think it's interesting that it's so widely stigmatised (illegal even) though: like we've collectively decided life is meaningful and must be lived to the best of your ability, deciding there's nothing in it for you and you don't want to take part is not (with very niche old-age && ill-health exception) allowed.

Weird, when you step back and think about it isn't it? If you're agnostic/atheist at least.

[Lio]

I would speculate that the societal stigmatisation of suicide is a form of social "guard-rails" that might keep someone from stepping to far in the wrong direction during a moment of weakness.

It might be the last thing that saves them when they are not in their right mind and have lost all hope and perspective. In that moment anything that can be done to protect them should be done because there is always hope, even if you can't see it right now.

Things do change.

[themaninthedark]

One of the things I often hear said about people who attempt suicide but fail by jumping is that they have a moment of clarity on the way down that their problems are not a big deal and are solvable except the current one of imminent death.

Not sure if this is true in all cases and what the outcome for these people is after time passes, do they still feel depressed or are things better for them.

But, if that is the general experience, then it makes sense for society to stigmatize the action.

[jvm___]

Bojack horseman has a poignant poem entitled The View from halfway down.

The View from Halfway Down

The weak breeze whispers nothing

The water screams sublime

His feet shift, teeter-totter

Deep breath, stand back, it’s time

Toes untouch the overpass

Soon he’s water bound

Eyes locked shut but peek to see

The view from halfway down

A little wind, a summer sun

A river rich and regal

A flood of fond endorphins

Brings a calm that knows no equal

You’re flying now

You see things much more clear than from the ground

It’s all okay, it would be

Were you not now halfway down

Thrash to break from gravity

What now could slow the drop

All I’d give for toes to touch

The safety back at top

But this is it, the deed is done

Silence drowns the sound

Before I leaped I should’ve seen

The view from halfway down

I really should’ve thought about

The view from halfway down

I wish I could’ve known about

The view from halfway down

[jacquesm]

Gooseflesh.

[rob74]

I guess it's the same as with the death penalty: it's a decision that's very permanent and irrevocable. Someone may be convinced that "there's nothing in it for them" now, but are you really sure they would feel the same in a few months or a few years?

[WhackyIdeas]

But if you have been feeling that way for many years, with non-stop feelings of dread, it’s hard to see things getting any better.

[starkd]

I suspect that is very seldom the case. Depression is cyclical. There are moments of joy and content. I think it speaks to a loss of hope in society at large.

[WhackyIdeas]

There are moments of joy and content, but for myself I always personally know that hell is just over the hill. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy things. But I suppose there comes a time when some people just get too tired of it all. I also personally believe the act of taking your own life is utterly courageous… every cell in our body’s are designed to want to live. Pushing fast fear of the ultimate unknown is something else. And anyone out there who says crap like “the cowards way out” is an absolute pea brain in my eyes.

[brigandish]

Lack of hope is the real killer, that's why it's so important to give a depressed person hope. Not optimism, hope.

[WhackyIdeas]

You can’t give a depressed person hope though. And even if you could box hope up, how would you make it last? At the end of the day, depression is a chemical imbalance and hope isn’t going realistically fix that - maybe that depression is a result of brain injury, like a nasty bump on the head that has permanently damaged the way the brain works… Depression is a long way off being solved.

[OJFord]

Even that suggests that living life is some kind of 'default' or 'obviously correct' state, that anything else has to supply sufficient reason to deviate from. Why should that be so, really? Just because we are born into it?

To be pithy: why must death justify itself, but not life?

[tasuki]

> Not optimism, hope.

What is the difference?

[starkd]

Murdering your self is still murder. There are other victims besides the person committing it. The reason why it is a taboo subject is because it is contagious in a way. When the idea is broadcast at large, there is an increasing likelihood that people on the edge will follow through. Suicide should not be romanticized or indulged.

[tasuki]

You do raise valid points.

On the other hand, Chris Seaton was apparently done with it. I think that's his prerogative, and he handled it gracefully.

[SoftTalker]

I wouldn't say I agree but can understand the point of view.

I think a lot of people would feel differently about someone who takes his own life because of a terminal illness such as cancer, where it's seen as a way to end up in the same place while avoiding a lot of pain and suffering. "Death with dignity." So why don't we feel the same way about someone with painful, debilitating depression? We don't really understand how to cure depression. We have some drugs that help some people, analagous to what narcotics do for people in physical pain. But we don't understand how to cure depression, as we don't understand how to cure cancer. Maybe someday we will, but what does that do for the people suffering today, who just want a way out?

[throw10920]

This comment exemplifies a pattern of rather useless comments that I've seen a lot of online recently, that are analogous to "contradiction - stating the opposing case with little or no evidence" on the argument pyramid: when a commentator X states a thing, commentator Y states that that thing isn't true, with no supporting evidence, but more importantly no additional value or elaboration added - just saying "that's wrong" without explaining why, or saying what is actually the case.

For instance, here, value would be added by stating what are the actual causes of suicide - or even adding research that supports your point even if you don't want to talk about what the actual causes are.

[Mikeb85]

Fair enough, but most people do know the actual cause... Namely mental illness or depression.

[dctoedt]

And sadly, we know so ... freaking ... little about how the brain works.