Probably shouldn't post this but...

Is suicide murder?
Carrie

<font color=green>Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.--Emily Dickenson

that's a really interesting question. every dictionary i looked the word "murder" up in says something to the effect of "the unlawful premeditated killing of a human being" so i guess suicide would fit that bill.

It is considered to be a criminal act anyway - otherwise I don't think they could lock us up for being "a danger to self."

<font color=green>Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that, you, too, can become great. -Mark Twain</font color=green>

Suppose you attempted to murder someone else and you failed. In court you were aquited by reason of insanity so they sent you to the hospital because you are obviously a danger to society. Who would pay for that hospitalization?

Now suppose you attempted to murder yourself. They send you to the hospital because you are obviously a danger to yourself. Who pays for that hospitalization?

Just curious.
Carrie

<font color=green>Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.--Emily Dickenson

In either case, if you have the ability to pay, you do. That's what my husband says. Although I didn't get a bill for the psych eval from last February, but I'm pretty sure I would have been billed if I had wound up in a hospital. (For any who don't know, I hurt myself and was put in jail for evaluation on the basis of "danger to self".)

It doesn't seem right that people in jail get free room and board though, does it? I think they should pay for it themselves too.

<font color=green>Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that, you, too, can become great. -Mark Twain</font color=green>

Carrie,

What's up? Either PM or email me and tell me what's going on, OK? I'm worried about you dear.

Love and Hugs,
bp

"A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart."

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

It is a mostly acedemic question. Am doing fine.
Carrie

<font color=green>Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.--Emily Dickenson