why is depression always linked to suicide?

I have been thinking lately and it seems that everyone who is suicidal is deemed to be depressed (or maybe bipolar or schizophrenic). Is this accurate? Can someone not suffer from a mental illness and have no desire to live? Is it possible for someone to just feel life is not worth living and also not display mental illness symptoms? And does a person have a right to die? If a person feels they are making a rational and informed choice and they want to die, shouldn't they be allowed?

I'm confident that it is possible, but not until the person has actually come through a bout of depression and has had severe suicidal tendencies. When they get out the other side, the tendencies and futility of life might still be there, even thuogh the person has adapted to their 'pain' and is living a good life again.

Kevin

Chucky wrote:I'm confident that it is possible, but not until the person has actually come through a bout of depression and has had severe suicidal tendencies. When they get out the other side, the tendencies and futility of life might still be there, even thuogh the person has adapted to their 'pain' and is living a good life again.

Kevin

And if life is still futile, and an individual feels there is no purpose in life, why the driving need to convince everyone there is mental illness invovled? Maybe someone just feels life is not worth the effort, and that is theor choice, so why the need to label them as depressed? Is it to make society feel better and ease some sort of collective guilt? Or just a misunderstanding/miscommunication?

No, diagnoses are given so that the person can better understand why they are different from the norm and why they are having problems. Thus, they can get adequate help to bring them to see what 'normality' is like and to, ultimately, feel better.

Of course, it doesn't always work out.

Kevin

Exactly, the two are tied closely together. There have been forms of protest where people commit suicide that may not have been depressed per se, but really we have no way of knowing without being in their shoes. There are suicidal bombers that are killing themselves out of pride and not always out of depression... In most cases though (that you read about on this forum) yeah, most cases are linked to some sort of mental illness.

As far as feeling like "life is not worth living" and NOT displaying mental illness symptoms, I'm not sure. I think feeling suicidal and being depressed are deeply intertwined.

Whether you think a person has a right to die depends on your perspective. Most people can make the decision for themselves whether they think they or someone else has the right to die. I think that people should be allowed to die, but obviously I hope that they give it some conscious thought and don't just jump to suicide after something like a relationship breakup.

cien wrote:I have been thinking lately and it seems that everyone who is suicidal is deemed to be depressed (or maybe bipolar or schizophrenic). Is this accurate? Can someone not suffer from a mental illness and have no desire to live? Is it possible for someone to just feel life is not worth living and also not display mental illness symptoms? And does a person have a right to die? If a person feels they are making a rational and informed choice and they want to die, shouldn't they be allowed?

Suicidal desire and depression are intertwined. It is one of the criteria of depression to find no joy in life and to be apathetic about living.
Society tends to discourage and prevent suicide because often suicidal thoughts are fleeting and the desire for suicide can lift in time, with support, with medication, with a change in life circumstances or with therapy....which may give the person who therwise would have ended their life a lot of reasons to find joy and a point to living

Because when you are depressed you make others around you depressed. And one may become suicidal if they don't want to cause others to be depressed and they can't cure their depression.