I can think of two reasons.

First reason: because things can and probably will get much better. Joy in life comes from the little things. That sounds cliche but it’s true. If I could talk to my 14 year old self, who was severely depressed to the point of trying (and thankfully failing) to take his own life, I would tell him about the next 20-ish years. Even though much of it will be hard, it will still be good. And he will grow in ways and get to experience things that he can’t even begin to imagine. That’s one thing I’m glad he failed at.

Second reason: because believe it or not, you will leave a giant crater in the life of someone (or multiple someones) where you once existed My great grandpa hung himself in 1929. That’s all I know about him aside from his name. I never met my grandpa (died of cancer) but I remember my dad telling me a little about the impact it has on his dad, who was about 15 at the time of his father suicide. Long story short, my grandpa basically stopped growing emotionally at 15. He was a teenager who was very suddenly thrust into the role of an adult.

I don’t know what was going on with my great grandpa that led him to take his own life. I do know that what he left behind was a disaster. Including three generations of trauma, manifesting itself as a cycle of physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. He effectively destroyed his children who proceeded to pass that destruction all the way down to me.

If you’ve never watched Ted Lasso which I highly recommend, one of overarching themes is Ted’s difficulty dealing with his father’s suicide, which occured when Ted was 15. It’s a light hearted show overall but there are a few scenes that really hit right in the feels.

Even if you don’t have kids, there are people who’s lives will be permanently altered for the worse by your untimely death. Some will blame themselves, wondering what they could have done to prevent it.

No one knows what happens when you die, things could get worse after death and in that case suicide is not a solution but rather a next step towards something even worse.

Given that it is currently impossible (as far as I know) to know what happens at death, the decision to suicide is an uninformed decision of tremendous magnitude.

If by killing yourself things get worse, what would be the next step?

Would you be in a better position to turn things around in the afterlife (assuming that there is one) or now in this life?

In summary, the reason why you should not kill yourself is because you do not know what will be the result of that action your death: your death is not a guaranteed solution to anything.

I think my baseline for existence would be continuous pain and immobility so as long as I’m doing better than that I’m in the + column for remaining alive and embodied. I can walk, read, eat and drink, fuck, work, hear, see (kind of), touch things, listen to music, dance… Not gonna be able to do any of that without a body. So in the selfish way, I want to be alive to enjoy all that, it’s well worth the pain of existence to me.

In the unselfish way, I know the difference between losing an old relative to old age, and a younger relative to suicide. The former doesn’t hurt, you know they got a good run, can celebrate their life. The latter can really shatter the lives of everyone close to you, in a way that causes grief so lasting and physically and emotionally damaging. I wouldn’t do that to anyone.

My mother would be truly devestated, and I don’t trust people to take care of my cat the way I want.

Because bad times dont last for ever!

My best friend ended his life nearly tw o years ago. I am still mournig and feel like I will never get over it. I cry at least once a week.

Life ist the only dramedy about you you’ll ever have, so might as well experience that and with a little bit of Yolo attitude!

Taking action takes effort.

Life is the only thing a human is guaranteed to have - and, as far as I’m concerned, we only get it once. To finish it early seems a terrible waste. It’s the only thing we’ll ever get to do. Might as well give it a bit of a go… it’s not like it goes on for ever, anyway.

Because I want to outlive my enemies.

That next great show is only like 5 years away

Good things can’t happen anymore. You might also say that bad things can’t happen either, but if it’s over then there’s no opportunity at all. Life can change as long as it’s there.

You can always end it later, so stick around a little longer and see how things play out.

Because things will get better.

A lot of life is about perspective. I have a checklist, of things that make life worth it for me. They’re gonna vary from person to person, obviously, but when I get super depressed, I go through my checklist in my head. I have cats that depend on me and I value their wellbeing. I have relationships with people I care about and want to see. (and kids I want to see grow up) There’s still things I want to learn, places I want to see, and things I want to do. Small things, too, like wanting to see the end of a show or enjoy a favorite food. Life has it’s hardships, but it also has a lot of things we get to enjoy - and I want to be strong enough to live through the hardships to enjoy the good things. Idk man it all probably sounds kind of cheesy, but watching the sunset brings me a lot of joy. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be worth living.