Why Suicide? Is it lack of self-love?

Many people consider suicide. I never have because I have hope and don't believe a rational person who loves the Lord would destroy the living temple. Yes, Christians are a temple of the Holy Spirit. This is one "sin" that I cannot speak of because obviously I've never killed myself nor even done so in my heart. What I say, since it's non-experiential, must be biblical based. "Why not psychological?" you ask. They don't know either and even if they claim too, they don't! We are complicated mechanisms and those who babble psychology have only created a profile. It's not that easy. Psychologists do not consider the soul, belief in a savior or an afterlife and death is intricately connected to all those!

Self reports of those who have attempted suicide are not evidence. They failed in their efforts! Many say that suicide is a last stream for attention. With that said the suicide attempt is not an actual desire to die, but to really live!  Live and be loved. Live and be pain-free. Remember, I am speaking of those with rational minds. Who knows the evil lurking within deluded minds or those who suffer genetic or mental disorders.

There are several "psychological reasons" for suicide: 1) Social forces to which the person is not integrated, 2) anomic suicide which are social changes which create confusion, 3) altruistic suicide where people sacrifice the self for society and 4) suicide as a selfish act to save oneself pain.

DSM-IV would list suicide as a disease. It's "mood disorder".  These are have some degree of depression and can be behavioral, cognitive, genetic, alcohol induced or drug induced. Bi-polar disorder is one of the major ones as is clinical depression. Both of those exist because the synapses of the brain are misfiring. Hence, the person is irrational and  their suicide is understandable and falls outside the scope of the "choice to choose death".

Regardless of the "reason", the person who chooses death, does so for "self". Suicide is a protection so that people can quit feeling pain. Some say it's done because of low self-esteem. This implies that people die because they don't feel like they are as "good" as others, not in the sense of religiosity, but that their need to be loved has not been met. Just as Christians get "saved" to protect themselves from eternal pain in the next life and fear in this life, suicide candidates attempt to die to protect themselves from the pain of this life! (I would say people's salvation is not because they love God, but they love God because he saves them!)

Why do people commit suicide? I think that most people would agree that it's such a tremendous dislike for this life that they can no longer stand it!  Some say that their esteem for self is so low that they want out of life. A lack of self-esteem implies self-hatred. I've always contended that a lack of self-esteem is when a person hurts inside so badly because they don't perceive that they measure up to others. Rather than being self-hatred, it's the epitome of self-love! Some love themselves so much, and don't want the "self" to hurt, that they want to escape this life! Scripture is where I turn to see if my contention is how our creator made us. I go to the manual the designer wrote so that we can live a life according to the "design intent" of the human race:

Ephesians 5:29 "For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church..."

Here we have it! People don't kill themselves because they loathe themselves, but because they cherish their self and have a irrational concept of how to "nourish" it. Rather than seeking change, people give up. They can no longer stand the hurt so they seek relief. The relief they seek is their form of nourishment. The easy way to nourish the body from pain is to submit the body to death. Some may commit their body to a cold grave in favor of an end to hurt, and others may be wrongly thinking that the comfort of heaven can be readily achieved by cutting the silver cord of life.

Rather than suicide being because of "self-hate",  it's those who love themselves attempting to nourish their existence by the easiest method. Yes, to them, death is easier than facing reality!  Sometimes when I'm down I seek the wisdom of Solomon. What I'm going through is no different than men before me:

Exodus 1:9 "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun."

I'm not sure it was meant that way, but to me this verse offers comfort! Rather than being deterministic, for me, it offers a reason to continue life! What I'm going through now, man has always gone through before me. Life is worth the living because I can make it! When I have a defeatist attitude I know that things will get better! They always have and always will!

Some kill themselves for lack of money or for the abuse of wealth. During the "Great Depression: while the once wealthy killed themselves because of pain, others turned to God to relieve the pain. What those who turned to God saw was hope. What those who sought death saw was despair. My hope lies in the Lord:

Psalm 31:24 "Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord."

I used an Old Testament passage on purpose. "Hope" was the key to courage then and it is now! Suicide is then a lack of courage to face what's real. Pain is real, fear is real and inner hurt is real. "Hope" is courageous and hope is obtained through faith in the Lord! If one can move mountains with just a little faith, the fear of living, and the pain of it, can be relieved by the same faith.

"But, you've never felt the pain that I have!" some may say. Don't deceive yourself. We all have faced what we once believed was unbearable pain. It may have been unrequited love, a broken marriage, infidelity on the part of the spouse, the death of a loved one or even financial woes. People who lost everything in the "Great Depression" weren't happy until they lost their very life!

I've always been immune from the pain of the death of my loved ones. It hurts when my parents died and my beloved brothers. There is a pain inside and I sometimes cry, not for them, but because I miss them. It's not for their well-being, but my own to resolve my own pain. It's self-nourishment because I love myselfso muh  that I hurt. If I lost one of my children the pain would be exponential. I don't know how I would bear it, but I would! It's because I have hope and look forward to reuniting in paradise!

During the Chapter 11 reorganization of General Motors Corporation, I lost in excess of $100,000. To me that was riches and was most of my 401k savings for retirement. I thought "Now I'll never be able to retire!" and "All my life's savings is gone with the wind!". I couldn't concentrate. My heart was heavy! My stomach churned and hurt. There was nothing which could help me!  Life was unbearable, but yet I bore it! Man has always been able to and they still can! I leaned on God and he let me lean on him!

He showed me the futility in depression of which Solomon wrote. Men before me have felt the pain of riches lost and I can too! God still met all my needs. What was I complaining about? I came into this world penniless and will leave it the same way. "The love of money" is truly the root of all evil and I was placing my hope in dollars! I gave up that false hope and turned to God and he restored me! My faith moved mountains because "Mount Money" is easy for God to move! I became financially solvent and did retire and live better than ever. What was once desperation has turned into inspiration. I owe my health and life to Jesus because he's who offers true hope!