It’s the middle of the night. I can’t sleep so I’m blogging.
Just before I went to bed last night, I read about Wendy O. Williams, the singer of the band The Plasmatics. She seemed like an interesting cat. She killed herself at age 48 and left a very chill suicide note for her partner. She was quite at peace with the act. That got me thinking that we have this idea that anyone who is depressed or contemplating suicide is mentally unwell and needs to be stopped and brought back to reality. I think that’s wack.
I mean, why would anyone assume that people shouldn’t be depressed? I think there are mountains of good reasons to be depressed. I think the human race is a scourge on countless levels, that despite incredible capabilities we are largely simple, stupid, ignorant, lazy, self-serving, wasteful, cruel, destructive, and short-sighted, to name but a few problems. I’ve spent years on this blog detailing why I hold these opinions so it’s not like I’m a raving lunatic, out of my mind and insensible. For anyone to disregard my feelings and say, “you’re mentally unwell. Everything is fine. You shouldn’t be depressed,” is completely absurd. Shit, man. I think it could be argued that if you’re not depressed by being inherently tied to this clusterfuck of a race, you’re the mentally unwell one.
And if someone is completely reasonable about why they are depressed and decide that they want to opt out of the clusterfuck, what’s wrong with that? What gives anyone else the right to tell them they can’t or shouldn’t do that?
Here’s a quote I like from Wendy’s suicide note:
I don’t believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time. I do believe strongly, however, that the right to do so is one of the most fundamental rights that anyone in a free society should have. For me, much of the world makes no sense, but my feelings about what I am doing ring loud and clear to an inner ear and a place where there is no self, only calm.
That doesn’t sound like a raving lunatic to me. It sounds like someone who knows themself and what they want. If you can’t relate, it doesn’t mean the other person is nuts. It just means you have different values, and I think we should recognize that and respect those differences and the choices that reasonable person makes.
In short, not everyone who wants to die is mentally unwell or in need of an intervention.
crimson highway 