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Comment by roflchoppa | Hacker News Reader

Is it bad to think about suicide? It does not cross my mind as a "i want to harm myself" every-time, but on occasion does cross my mind as a hypothetical.

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Ideation (as I understand it) crosses the barrier from a hypothetical to the possibility being entertained.

I have also been told by people in the mental health sector that an awful lot of suicide is impulse. It's why they say the element of human connection which is behind the homily of asking "RU ok" is effective: it breaks the moment. It's hokey, and it's massively oversold but for people in isolation, simply being engaged with can be enough to prevent a tendency to act, which was on the brink.

Not at all, considering end of life and to choose euthanasia, or not, I think it's perfectly human. Controversially, I think it's a natural right to decide how you will exit this world. But having an objective system that you don't have to pay like a therapist to try to get some understanding is at least better than nothing.

I think VAD needs to be considered outside suicide. Not that the concepts don't overlap, but one is about a considered legal process, the other (as I have said in another comment) is often an impulsive act and usually wouldn't have been countenanced under VAD. Feeling suicidal isn't a thing which makes VAD more likely, because feeling suicidal doesn't mean the same thing as "want to consider euthanasia" much as manslaughter and murder don't mean the same thing, even though somebody winds up dead.

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