An amazing thread... I tend to read suddenly refreshed threads as if I had never seen them, and generally do not skip to the end, as I want to get a feeling for the entire flow of the discussion.

There are obviously relevant links between meditating on suicide itself ....and its causes & effects on others.... and ideas about death itself and what might come 'after'.
    Since I participated in this thread 9 years ago, I have personally known 2 people who have chosen their own time to die.... both had incurable medical problems, and I was relieved that they were able to choose. The elderly woman Mrrzy knew evidently still had her senses and options working, and though the death of any good person is a sadness, I have felt for many years that their opinion should be the deciding one about when.
   I do, of course, hope that some intervention can be found for those who are merely depressed in some way. All too many could be helped if they would only ask......