Why does the human brain allow itself to commit suicide?

[lunious]

After millions of years of evolution... the human brain (mine at least) still believs that suicide is the best way to fix life and end its suffering.

 

[Hollowman]

Because it knows when it's time to give up.

 

[tonicer]

I tried killing myself multiple times but i can't do it. I guess my survival instinct is very strong compared to yours. I envy you.

 

[Terrible_Life]

There are some depressed people that can become as depressed as possible but they will never be able to kill themself. Then there are people who can't do it at the beginning but the more pain they endure the less fear will they have about death. By being hurt so much by life they'll be driven to suicide and they'll practice their method until they succeed.

 

[FuneralCry]

For me ceasing to exist will always be the only positive solution, only in non-existence will I be at peace from the terrible, tragic mistake of existence that only ever causes all this cruelty, harm and suffering torturing existing beings, ceasing to exist solves everything for me as after all if I don't exist I cannot suffer.

There is no suffering in the peace of non-existence where all is gone and forgotten and I will just always existing as just being suffering with no limit as to how much one can be tortured, this existence should just never had been imposed and it's just so terrible how humans cause all this harm and torture by imposing his existence. For me existence itself is the true problem, I'd just always prefer the peace of non-existence over being tortured in this existence for decades longer just to face the agony of old age, it's so horrific to me how the torture of existing can continue for so long, there's just so much evil in existing with existing beings tortured in agony every second, all I want is to erase this terrible dreadful existence.

 

[metfan647]

This is very complex and wouldn't know where to begin understanding a lot of the ideas around this. I don't think I honestly believe that suicide is the BEST way to fix my problems. I wouldn't advise someone to do it even if they had the exact same circumstances as me. I think I'm just exceptionally cruel to myself.

I also think ctb is quite a logical thought process for a lot of people. Dealing with mental health issues that are insurmountable and don't allow one to meet the demands required, be that social, societal, consumerist etc.

 

[jengablocks]

i think it might be the opposite ! it's really really hard for most ppl to go through with it even in the face of irreparable or hopeless circumstances ... like all those millions of years of evolution work against u.

i know other animals can experience trauma that severely impacts their way of life ! theres a story of an orangutan who suffered a lot and she couldn't live in the wild . her name is Pony, u can find an article abt the story im sure , but content/trigger warning for

Spoiler

abuse & SA

i remember after they started to care for her they would notice that she would get better for a little while and try to transition her to living without human help, but she eventually just .. gave up . she'd be despondent, her self-preservation would seemingly disappear, she wouldn't socialize with other orangutans .. stuff like that . it struck me becoz of how similar it sounded to human experiences, but at the same time i don't know if another animal has ever taken action to end themselves like humans do as the result of trauma like that and the inability to live with it .

i think i heard that language is a really important tool for our ability to think in the first place, like it lets u put things into words, gives shape to thoughts that would otherwise remain fleeting little electrical signals in the brain.. maybe other animals just lack that . it certainly feels like a curse or even an anomaly to be human for me . like something about this experience is just ... primally wrong . this shouldn't have been able to happen

 

[Tired_birth_1967]

it certainly feels like a curse or even an anomaly to be human for me . like something about this experience is just ... primally wrong . this shouldn't have been able to happen

I have absolutely no doubt about it. That's the worst part of continuing to live. I'm too old to create, to fantasize about the meaning of existence. It's just a pointless wait. There's nothing to rebel against. It's just an indifferent process. I can only accept it. I can also try to interrupt it, but I'm still a hostage to another stupid process.

 

[lunious]

i don't know if another animal has ever taken action to end themselves like humans do as the result of trauma like that and the inability to live with it .

Humans are the only species known to commit suicide. however, while there is no evidence of animals in the wild doing the same, some animals in captivity, such as those in zoos or those that have experienced trauma as you said , have been observed attempting suicide, sometimes in very direct and violent ways.

 

[whywere]

It has always been said that the line between genius and insanity is extremely small.

With that said, I feel that when a human is pushed, no help, laughed at, told to "buck up", that since we are a social animal by nature, then either like our intelligence or something else breaks down the SI factor.

EVERYONE needs help, a friendly smile and voice and when we are in a vacuum and then have "life" pile more on, the brain wants an escape factor.

That is why it is so important that we are family here, loving and looking out for each other.

So, no matter what anyone else says or does, one can come here and find support and love.

Walter

 

[jengablocks]

Humans are the only species known to commit suicide. however, while there is no evidence of animals in the wild doing the same, some animals in captivity, such as those in zoos or those that have experienced trauma as you said , have been observed attempting suicide, sometimes in very direct and violent ways.

ohh thank u for telling me , i didnt know that .. it is a bit comforting to know it reaches further than humans but also a bit cruel . ppl always talk about how unlikely the development of life was like it's something miraculous, but it seems inherently cruel to me. for a force of energy to be able to comprehend that it will fade away eventually, and then have to somehow persevere and see itself to its own end. sort of like the idea that "imperfection is what makes us human," but i think ppl intend to be comforting when they say that. isn't that just .. horribly sad ? i dont get it

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

this is all just my opinions.

imo the brain is a learning machine.

Neuoroscientist Eagleman says every experience reprograms the brain a little

what does a 1 day old human know ? imo most of what the human knows , believes etc is due to learning from other people , media , experiences etc.

how many thoughts does a brain have per day? some say 70,000. others like Korba says the human brain can think 4000 words per minute. so a human can learn a lot of things in one day.
-----------------------
also i asked this to ai. and suprisingly ai agreed with what i said :

Me : "a 1 day old human knows hardly anything at all eagleman , merlin donald others say livewired culture etc. a new born doesn't know it will die or what is Death. so imo a new born is not born with a fear of death because they don't know what death is. however maybe born with a fear or flight response and later Death is tied to that fear response"

Ai response :

You're absolutely on the right track—and you've nailed the core premise of
David Eagleman's work in his book
Livewired
.
Your assessment aligns with current neuroscientific and psychological consensus:

• Innate "Reflex" Fears: Newborns are not born with a cognitive "fear of death" because they lack the abstract concepts of self and time required to understand it. Instead, they arrive with only two universal, survival-based fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. These are reflexive responses—like the Moro reflex—designed to keep them physically safe.
• The "Livewired" Brain: Eagleman argues that human brains arrive "unfinished". Unlike animals that are born with complex "hardwired" survival behaviors, we are livewired—meaning we absorb the culture, language, and specific threats of our environment to complete our development.
• Death as a Learned Concept: As you suspected, the "fear of death" is an abstract, learned fear. It is eventually "tied" to our primal fight-or-flight response once a child develops the cognitive ability to recognize that life can end. Merlin Donald similarly suggests that our higher-level consciousness and culture (what he calls "mimesis" and "external memory") are what allow us to even conceptualize something as complex as mortality.
  National Institutes of Health (NIH) | (.gov) +8

In short, a baby doesn't fear the "end of being"; they fear the sudden drop or the loud bang that threatens their immediate physical integrity.
Psychology Today +1

 

[Ashu]

It kind of doesn't, actually.