as small as a world and as large as alone

12:51pm August 15, 2014

tobiahawk24:

I’ve seen some people claim that Robin William’s reported diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease changes their view of his suicide, that it makes it more acceptable or more understandable. Divorcing this from the issue of assisted suicide—which Williams’ wasn’t—the idea that disability automatically makes suicide less of tragedy and more of a valid choice is kind of disturbing to me. The underlying message of that sentiment seems to be, “Suicide is not an option—unless you have a disability.” It sets up a sort of implicit permission for people with disabilities to kill themselves—instead of saying, “Your life is worth living; keep living, and I’ll help you through this. Don’t give up.” we start saying “Yeah, if I had to be like you, I’d kill myself, too. So, if you kill yourself, it’s really okay, maybe even heroic,”  And I imagine that if you’re suicidal and have a disability—or even if you’re disabled and not suicidal—this isn’t that helpful to hear.

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