So for Plath, suicide became, it seems, the Stoic way out. At a breaking point, anticipating a confinement that would destroy the very conditions of her creativity, she decided that ending her own life seemed not merely a viable option, but a reasonable one—a conclusion very much at odds with a psychiatric consensus that sees all suicidal ideation... See more

There is a dangerous fallacy — a biological falsehood, a feebleness of empathy, an ethical failing — in the view that people who die by suicide after living with mental illness have somehow failed at life. It is one thing to feel deeply the tragedy of that loss, to rue the help not available to them in their time of struggle; it is quite another to... See more

Decent people can also help by not making things worse, and by avoiding cruel and thoughtless stereotypes. When you announce that people who have died by suicide are cowardly, you’re sending a message to depressed people fighting suicidal thoughts. The message isn’t one of perseverance. It’s one of worthlessness. When you say that the victims of

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