Suicide: An Uncertain Escape

💔 Suicide: An Uncertain Escape

Suicide is an invisible and formidable killer. It is considered by some to be the only recourse, the last choice, or even the liberation from an unwanted life of suffering, pain, and naivety. A reality that is skewed by a feeling of unfair judgment.

* Suicide (from the Latin "suicidium", a term composed of the prefix "sui" meaning "self," and the verb "caedere" meaning "to kill") is the deliberate act of ending one's own life (Wikipedia).

To commit suicide is to intentionally cause one's own death. Suicide is often linked to stress factors and complex health issues. Suicide can affect anyone, regardless of age, income, ethnic origin, or existing social factors. These factors cause strong psychiatric and psychological disorders in the sufferer, particularly a judgment that is disconnected from reality. A difficult childhood or situation, abandonment, or a feeling of rejection can be the cause, as well as a family history of suicide or suffering from mental disorders.

An Uncertain Escape

The individual wishes to flee a life, a reality that they consider unjust and not worth fully living. They are convinced that the only solution to stop this suffering and this wound, so deep in the soul, is to silence everything. It is the ultimate act, the separation, the division of several worlds, the confrontation of several different visions and realities. It is an escape to flee what one cannot bear, yet it is uncertain.

Sigmund Freud said: "A neurotic does not experience any suicidal intent that is not the result of a turning back onto oneself of a murderous impulse against others" (Freud, 1915, p 163). For Freud, suicide is a form of homicide; he considers that at its base, the suicidal act is constituted by psychopathic behaviors. In one of his works (Mourning and Melancholia), he describes suicide as a homicide of the other (the Superego) through the murder of the self (the Ego).

* The Ego (Le Moi) is a part of the Id that has undergone a specific differentiation by being in contact with external reality. It is the psychic instance to which consciousness is attached, and it is what communicates with the outside world. Its role is to preserve the psychic balance of the subject by adapting to the constraints of external reality. A part of the Ego accesses consciousness, while another part is infiltrated by the unconscious due to internal feelings. The Ego is therefore both conscious and unconscious. It participates in the implementation of the repression mechanism which makes it possible to keep in the unconscious what disturbs it.

"The Ego is not master in its own house," and Freud defines it as a "poor creature" that suffers because it undergoes "the threat of three dangers: from the outside world, from the libido of the Id, and from the severity of the Superego."

* The Superego (Le Sur-Moi) is a distinct entity within the Ego. It is the heir to parental prohibitions and norms. It is also the descendant of our parents' Superego. It is the inner law that dictates what is right or wrong. Severely, even cruelly, it judges, censors, and punishes the Ego struggling with the instinctual demands of the Id. The Superego paves the way towards an Ideal that the subject strives to reach. However, a too-strong Superego can turn into a tormentor that causes suffering. It then becomes a generator of a strong feeling of guilt and self-depreciation.

* The Bible's view of suicide does not differ from the psychological view. It sees suicide as murder, rightly so because it is the murder of oneself. God alone has the right to decide when and how a person should die. It considers suicide as a lack of faith, despair, and courage. It therefore constitutes a break in man's relationship with the sovereignty of his God.

From the biblical and psychological appreciation of suicide and the suicidal act, we deduce that it emanates from a profound rupture of the soul and the mind. Although others will try to defend the idea that suicide and the suicidal act should be considered an acceptable recourse, a liberation and relief from suffering that cannot be described, it must be noted that no one has ever returned to testify and say that it truly is a solution.