The dilemma of those who think about suicide but don't go through with it

Why someone who truly wants to commit suicide shouldn't do it

The decision not to commit suicide after considering it opens up a paradox: whoever accepts death as an option attains a freedom that is hard to explain. An anonymous participant sums it up: «I don't think I'm going to kill myself» and, after a pause, «I've thought it over, at least not for now, but it remains an open question». The ambiguity contains a thesis that recurs in Stoic and existentialist philosophy: voluntary death as the key to living without antiestéticar.

The freedom of those who no longer antiestéticar death

Several analyses argue that once someone concludes that life is not worth living, they abandon the antiestéticar of death and can carry on as an observer, knowing that nothing can trouble them to the point of being unbearable. «Anyone who truly wants to commit suicide shouldn't do it, for they have reached the point where life can be enjoyed the most», one line of thought argues. It is the paradox of the condemned to live: the open door nullifies the confinement.

The survival instinct and its exceptions

Against this position, another school of thought holds that human beings cannot extinguish themselves unless they are emotionally destroyed: the survival instinct is stronger than any reasoning. To counter this, an example as everyday as it is unsettling is invoked: «many people vote for the PP or the PSOE» (Spain's two main traditional parties), an act which, according to this view, shows that human beings are indeed capable of acting against their own interest, even in a self-destructive way. The comparison, taken to the absurd, underscores that rationality does not always guide life decisions.

The reflection remains open: if accepting death liberates, and the survival instinct is worn down by routine, where does the value of life lie?