Carrie, biblically, suicide and murder are considered equally sinful. In the Christian faith, suicide is actually worse, because if you kill yourself, you have no option for repentance and forgiveness. I do not have a deep enough knowledge of other faiths to really know, but most faiths have a belief that life is a gift, and to take your own life is to reject that gift, therefore rejecting the faith. This is dealing strictly with suicide, not with the sacrificing of one's life for the faith, which many belief systems hold as an honorable action.

I know you didn't ask about faith and religion, but that's always where I start with things like this. You did ask about legal issues, and I don't know much, but this is what I think is the case. If you commit murder, and are aquitted by reason of insanity, the state does not pay for you to be treated in a mental health facility. The state does pay if a person is incarcerated in a facility for the criminally insane, but that is really little more than being in jail. If a person attempts suicide, they are often told that they must receive treatment (which the state does not pay for) or they will be incarcerated. So, the long and the short of it is, at least as far as I know, the state may order treatment for someone, but they do not pay for it unless it is in one of their own facilities, that are often little more than prisons.

Finally, I share bptoo's concern...I hope this is simply an academic question. If there is more to it, please let us know, because we all care about you here, and would like to help if you are having self-destructive thoughts.

*hugs*
mj