These are the main factors that I can think of. There are probably much more. My point is that these things are probably determined on a personal and individual basis rather than on a general basis. Also there are probably many possible karmic consequences for any particular action, including suicide. The reason suicide is often regarded as having serious karmic consequences is probably because it has the ability to inflict tremendous suffering on surviving family and loved ones. On the other hand, suicide also has the possibility to create tremendous good and relief for people. A positive outcome can occur when someone, who is in tremendous pain and suffering due to a physical or mental problem, is also causing tremendous pain and suffering on their family and friends. 

Some people commit suicide out of hatred and anger in order to inflict pain and suffering on others. All too often, people kill themselves without thinking how it will affect others. For example, my sister's father-in-law was in a seriously ill mental condition when he killed himself with a gun blast to his chest. My sister was the one who found him. The bloody horror she discovered by surprise, inflicted so much psychological damage to her, it still affects her to this day twenty years later. 

From a documentary I once saw about crime scene clean-up, the aftermath of a suicide can be just as visually horrible as the murderous slaughter of a person or people. From my experience, the consequence of suicide that causes the most damage happens to the person who finds the body - especially if they are a loved one. These things need not happen if a person, who wants to end their life for justifiable reasons, thinks through and prepares for ending their life in order to create an outcome that does not traumatize people. The problem is that people who commit suicide sometimes do it on impulse or, because of a mental illness, are too impaired or too desperate to plan it. 

For those people who are suffering from a terminal illness or advanced old age, and who want to spare themselves and their family from tremendous pain and suffering, there is a right-to-die organization, the Hemlock Society, that helps such people plan and carry out their wishes. They promote a method of suicide (which they call "self-deliverance") that is painless and humane. Their method involves using over-the-counter sleeping pills and a plastic bag. Although it may sound bizarre, this method is not only painless and humane, it is 100% effective if performed correctly. It also does not create a horrible bloody mess for someone to be traumatized over. 

The Hemlock Society advocates that people not use this method if they do not have someone present to aid them without breaking the law. It is not a crime to witness and clean-up after a suicide, but it is a crime to help in the actual act. Having a friend or family member present can also discreetly ensure the process is carried out successfully. But my main point is that the Hemlock Society advocates voluntary suicide for people dying from an incurable terminal illness or advanced old age.

From some reports of near-death experiences I have read concerning the future, humanity will someday be able to live very long lives and die whenever they desire. This suggests to me that a cure for reversing the aging process will be available. It also means that death by natural causes, can be eradicated in the same way that polio has been. This means that some people will need some other method to achieve their goal to die. Of course, this is assuming that voluntary physical-assisted suicide will not be available in the future. 

It is the Hemlock Society's mission to have voluntary physician-assisted suicide legally be available to people facing a terminal situation. In such cases, a doctor can prescribe the necessary dose of a barbiturates that will cause such people to die in their sleep with the same dignity that suffering dogs have when their owners take them in for euthanization. Of course, dogs are not euthanized voluntarily, but many animals in the animal kingdom do voluntarily kill themselves. Self-destructive behavior is widely reported for some animals under conditions of acute stress-isolation, overcrowding, confinement, or alteration in habitat. It has been reported in zoo animals including a variety of primate species. You can read more about studies on animal suicide in an article entitled Animal Models of Self-Destructive Behavior and Suicide (Crawley JN, Sutton ME, Pickar D. Psychological Clinics of North America 8:299-310, 1985). This proves that suicide is not an unnatural act.

If you believe you qualify to die by having a terminal situation and you would like to die with dignity you can become a member of the Hemlock Society online from their website. After you have been a member for at least two months, they will allow you to have access to their published information including the suggested method to end your life. 

About a year ago I posted the Hemlock Society's suggested method on the NDE mailing list. My motive for doing this was to help anyone who was thinking about killing themselves get information on how best to do it. I have since learned that the Hemlock Society considers this unethical because it might provide someone who is thinking about killing themselves more incentive to do so immediately without thinking about other options such as seeking help from a doctor. However it is my opinion that this position by the Hemlock Society is mostly to protect themselves from legal and political concerns. But it is more logical to me that anyone who wants to kill themselves bad enough will do so anyway despite the legal or political implications the Hemlock Society may have. People don't need the Society's method. They can kill themselves by a wide variety of other methods. It may just not be as effective as the Hemlock method. 

Some people who are suffering from a terminal illness, do not have two months to wait to receive the Society's method. The argument that by posting this method on the internet gives people more incentive to kill themselves, may be true; but, it is greatly overshadowed by these problems I have just mentioned by NOT posting the method. Nevertheless, because I am a member of the Hemlock Society, I am bound by their rules, so I will not post the method on my website. I may consider in the future to allow people to email me for the method. I could choose to either give it to them or not to give it to them, based on their situation they communicate to me in their email.

The following are some questions on this topic and my answers to them:

QUESTION:  Some time ago, I heard that you were very depressed and had suicidal thoughts. This long explanation on a method for committing suicide leads me to believe that you may belong to this organization for other reasons than helping the terminally ill achieve a peaceful death.

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  Yes, you are right. I have a mental illness (manic-depression) that runs in my family. Suicide also runs in my family as well. I have had severe episodes of depression that resulted in long stays in mental institutions. It not only caused me much suffering, it also caused my family a tremendous amount of pain as well. I want to be sure I have as many options to me as possible for the future. My psychiatrist informed me that my illness will probably get worse as I get older and only shock treatments will be effective. This was the same destiny my grandmother had: shock treatments on a regular basis and frequent stays in mental institutions. I am also taking care of my grandfather who is 94's. From my experience with them, I have concluded that I never want to live so long that my life becomes such a burden on myself and my family. Ironically, just knowing the Hemlock Society method gives me more confidence and control over my life and death. It even gives me more incentive to NOT kill myself.

Before my grandmother died two months ago at the age of 91, we sadly had to put her in a nursing home. We put her in there about a year and a half ago against her wishes. Visiting her several times every week for a year was a very difficult challenge for me. Anyone who has ever visited a nursing home can testify how it is can be nothing short of a warehouse for tormented old people. Many of these people suffer from the last stages of dementia and whom, in their proper state of mind, would probably rather be dead. Many of these people are reduced to only laying in bed and shouting incoherently. I was horrified when I saw for the first time what goes on in a nursing home. The thought of seeing my beloved grandmother in a similar situation was even more horrific. 

My grandmother stayed in the nursing home for a little over a year before she died. Her death was not a pleasant one either. The mental problems that tormented her all her life became worse the last two years of her life. Ironically, she was a devout Christian all her life and taught Sunday School for over 30 years. She also led Sunday services for seniors at nursing homes for many years. It seemed to me that her last years of torture was incredibly unjust. Even knowing what I know about karma and how we must pay for all karmic debts even from past lives, it seemed to me that nothing she could have done in a past life would justify the torture she was going through. The karmic debt may not even have anything to do with my grandmother. It may be an injustice created by the inhumane laws of society that prevents people to have the right to die with dignity. The karmic debt may have to be paid by society, rather than my grandmother. Even my grandfather, a devout Christian himself all his life, lost some of his faith in divine justice and the laws preventing the right for people to die when they want to. 

The last two years of my grandmother's life was a living hell for her and her family. It caused me have a major depression that resulted in losing my job and spending time in a mental institution. Her unimaginable suffering was absolutely unnecessary in my view. I believe she was a victim of unjust laws. During those last two years, she would sometimes beg me to end her life for her. I must admit, my grandfather and I thought about this for a long time. My grandmother's father, also a manic depressive, killed himself in front of her when she was a teenager. She was only too aware what suicide can do to families. 

It was obvious to me that ending it for her would be justifiably merciful. Throughout her time in the nursing home, we would pray that God take her. I even asked her doctor if he could prescribe something to end it for her. He replied to me in a holier than thou attitude, "We don't do that kind of thing in this country." To many doctors, death means defeat. To many of them, death is to be avoided no matter what the cost. In the days of old, death was something to be glorified (partly because of religious influences). Death was well understood by many people because most people died at home surrounded by family. Death was certainly not a taboo subject. Sex was mostly the only taboo subject. In modern society it completely reversed. The subject of death is taboo and sex is glorified. 

Because of my growing understanding of how death can be a better option than life, including my grandmother's pleas for me to help her end it, I became acquainted with the Hemlock Society. After reading their material, I became convinced that there are justifiable reasons for a person to end their life. But because my grandmother was already in a nursing home, it was too late for her. Helping her would likely land me in prison for the rest of my life. My grandmother permanently lost control of her life and her death and there was nothing she or anyone could do about it.

After spending a lot of time in a nursing home visiting my grandmother, it became apparent to me that people should have the right to die if they are suffering from an incurable terminal illness or advanced old age. My reason for joining the Hemlock Society was because of my experience with my grandmother and my own increasing difficulties with my mental illness. I never want to lose control of my life and death as my grandmother had. I also want to have this option should I ever get an incurable terminal illness or even live into advanced old age. 

By the way, I see absolutely no advantage to living to such an advanced old age that life becomes a living hell for yourself and your family.

Although I don't believe that depression, in of itself, is a justifiable reason for ending one's life, I do believe that there are some people who are hopelessly mentally ill and who should be allowed to end their own life if they desire. I have been in mental institutions several times in my life and I have seen people with very severe mental problems who are trying to end their life. Because of this, they are kept in institutions for as long as they continue to want to take their life. Such institutions are filled with hopeless schizophrenics who are unable to receive relief from medicine. Many of them have already tried to kill themselves and are forced to live in mental institutions because of it. 

Should I experience a valid reason to take control of my life by ending it, I will do so. I have already informed my entire family of the possibility that some day I may decide to take my life. This is one of the steps involved in the Hemlock method because it prepares family and friends well before hand and that it would not come as a complete surprise if it happened. I also inform them of right-to-die issues when I can. Some people may say that I am throwing away an opportunity to pay a karmic debt by ending my life. I know that should I decide to reincarnate I can pay this karmic debt in some other way that does not hurt so many people.

QUESTION:  I wonder if there are not degrees to which suicide is justifiable in this world and in the afterlife. For example, if someone does it to avoid the pain of a terminal illness - or to end depression - or even to prevent themselves from having to spend a lengthy term in prison. Does the Hemlock Society look at these moral/ethical issues or does it focus more on technique?

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  The Hemlock Society does not advocate suicide en masse for any reason. The main mission of the Hemlock Society is to change current laws to allow only people who want to die as a result of a terminal illness or advanced old age, to be able to have a physician prescribe the proper medicine that will end their life. As the current law exists today the only method people have available to them to end the lives fall short to physician-assisted suicide. If such people want to kill themselves they will use whatever method they have to do so. Currently they have the option to use the technique advocated by the Hemlock Society. But it is the goal of this organization to not have to use this technique anymore and allow doctors help such people. The organization does not advocate involuntary euthanasia or involuntary mercy killing. 

I don't believe there are blanket consequences for every possible reason for someone to kill themselves. Every person's situation is unique. The idea that everyone who kills themselves goes to hell is about as absurd as believing that only those who believe in Jesus' name go to heaven. While the Hemlock Society does not officially sanction physician-assisted suicide for the mentally ill, there are a large number of members who believe it should. Again, I believe the organization has to take this position for political reasons. Right now, the organization is the only advocate for people who are facing a hopelessly terminal situation.

QUESTION:  Many people have lived lives of horrible suffering and a living hell. Why should people facing a terminal situation have special rights? Shouldn't this fact make all suicide unjustified and forbidden? I didn't realize that there are some suicides that might be justified and should be made legal.

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  Generally, anyone can legally kill themselves, although it is not sanctioned by society. Right-to-die organizations only seeks legalization for the most vulnerable people in society - people who have absolutely no hope. Other people have many other options to ease their suffering. The most vulnerable people do not have any choice but live out the rest of their life in extreme suffering. Today, many doctors discreetly help people with terminal illness end their life, but they face possible prison time for doing it. It is not uncommon for doctors to give dying patients a massive does of morphine to help end it quicker. This is what happened to my step-father when he was dying of lung cancer. Later, we wondered why they couldn't do this months ago when it was known he had absolutely no hope.

QUESTION:  Some accounts of NDEs describe people being told that it is not their right to decide when their life is to be over. This is a right that should only God's.

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  Yes, I have read some of these reports. In fact, a great number of experiencers are told, "It is not your time yet to die" or some variation of this. On the face of it, it does appear that our days are numbered by God and the time of our deaths are predestined by God. However, this is not how I interpret it. 

First of all, I believe there are very few things in life that are predetermined and the time of our death is not one of them. I believe people are told "It is not your time to die yet" because their mission in life is not complete. It would be safe to assume that people facing a hopeless terminal illness have probably finished their mission. Even if you assume otherwise, should they kill themselves, they would probably be told in the afterlife that their mission is not finished and they must return. But because so many suicides by terminal people are successful, it can be safely assumed that indeed their missions were finished.

QUESTION:  Has there ever been a NDE where they were told suicide was ok?

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  There are many NDEs involving suicide that are heavenly and where no condemnation is given. But many suicides result in horror, grief, confusion, and shame by family and friends. This can happen if the suicide act was not planned and carried out correctly in a humane manner or if it was committed for less than justifiable reasons. Suicides that result in NDEs obviously were rejected because they were told to return. This also does not necessarily mean all such NDEs are hellish as Angie Fenimore's NDE was. 

Suicides that result in irreversible death probably mean the suicide's mission was completed. It may also mean their suicide was planned even before they were born. In other words, part of their mission may have included death by suicide. After all, it is said that Jesus himself was born to die. He also voluntarily submitted to death, even though he could have prevented it. It is also true that suicide experiencers are sometimes told that suicide is not the answer. However, I don't interpret this as being a blanket edict that applies to everyone. Even the Bible states:

This certainly is true according to a large percentage of NDEs where they are told "it is not your time to die yet" or "your mission is not complete" etc. So, I believe the time for us to die is not entirely in our hands. And this suggests to me that if a person successfully commits suicide, then it was indeed their time to die. Otherwise, it will only end up as a NDE.

Many NDEs from suicide have been documented which are very positive. Here are some links:

  Eileen's positive suicide NDE

  Chris Carson's positive suicide NDE

  Helen's positive suicide NDE

  Dr. Ken Ring's and Peter Fenwick's research on suicide

  According to Dr. PMH Atwater: 

  From the International Association for Near-Death Studies website:

Although it may be tempting to conclude that people who attempt suicide are being punished for trying to induce their own deaths, we must avoid this temptation, as the following paragraph will explain.

People who are in a distressed frame of mind at the time of their near-death episode and those who were raised to expect distress during death may be more prone to distressing NDEs.  People who attempt suicide are almost always in a distressed frame of mind.  Usually they are attempting suicide because they feel themselves to be in unendurable and unending emotional or physical pain.  In addition, they are almost certainly aware of the widely held belief that suicide is cowardly and/or the wrong way to escape the pain of life.  Although they hope for relief from their pain, they may also consciously or unconsciously fear punishment.  In a heightened state of pain, as well as of fear and/or guilt, they are highly distressed and, consequently, may be somewhat more prone to having a NDE.

However, the facts remain that the overall majority of distressing NDEs did not occur in the context of attempted suicide, Many pleasurable NDEs were the result of attempted suicide, and many people who were in a distressed frame of mind and/or who expected judgement and punishment during death had a pleasurable NDE.

  From:  "Recollections of Death" by Dr. Michael Sabom, p. 51, the following NDE resulted from a suicide attempt:

The above NDE describes a relative who committed suicide and who was not in a hellish state.

  From Ken Ring's "Heading Toward Omega" (page 44-45):

In "Life At Death" I compared the NDEs of three categories of people who differed chiefly
in the circumstances that had brought them close to death: illness victims, accident victims, and suicide attempters. On the basis of my own findings, I then proposed what I called the invariance hypothesis to indicate how situations such as how one nearly dies affect the NDE. What the invariance hypothesis states is that there are no relationship: However one nearly dies, the NDE, if it occurs, is much the same.

Research published since "Life At Death" has tended to lend strong support to the invariance hypothesis. We now have cases on file of almost every mode of near-death circumstance that you can imagine: combat situations, attempted rape and murder, electrocution, near-drownings, hangings, etc., as well as a great range of strictly medical conditions - and none of these seems to influence the form and content of the NDE itself. Rather it appears that whatever the condition that brings a person close to death may be, once the NDE begins to unfold it is essentially invariant and has the form I have earlier indicated.

Subsequent research on suicide-related NDEs by Stephen Franklin and myself and by Bruce Greyson has also confirmed my earlier tentative findings that NDEs following suicide attempts, however induced, conform to the classic prototype.

In summary, so far at least, situations covering a wide range of near-death conditions appear to have a negligible effect on the experience.

QUESTION:  Were the people who jumped out of the New York City Twin Towers when the terrorists attacked it, justified for doing it?

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  I believe they were justified. They were doomed and faced a horrible death if they decided to remain in the Towers. It reminds me of the Jews at Masada who heroically took their own lives instead of being captured by the Romans.

The lesson to be learned here is probably this: Don't commit suicide unless there is absolutely no hope at all and your mission is not complete. If you don't meet this criteria, your suicide may only results in a NDE which means your mission is not completed. If we are in the process of dying because of a terminal illness, it can be safely assumed that our mission is complete. If we find ourselves in combat and fall on a grenade to save the lives of others, we can probably assume our mission is complete. If you are a 91 years old invalid facing senility or a terminal illness, you can probably safely assume our mission is complete. 

As a side note, the rebuttal that nursing home caregivers are receiving good karma from people who may owe them a karmic debt, doesn't hold water to me. There will always be a great number of needy people who can make possible karmic good to be received to caregivers.

But if we are killed while defending our children from being raped and murdered, we can probably assume that laying down our lives for our children is good karma and our mission is probably complete. If we are terminal and ending our lives will spare our family and friends a tremendous amount of needless suffering, we can probably assume our mission is complete. Animals such as beached whales, lemmings, ants, bees and a number of other critters and insects chose to end their lives. This suggests to me that suicide can be simply a part of the natural order. However, if you commit suicide before your mission is completed, it may only result in a NDE. 

People get killed while doing risky things that often appear to fly in the face of God. Risky things such as mountain climbing, sky diving, hang gliding, etc. These people put their lives in their own hands when they do such things. Isn't this a form of suicide? I believe so. Where is the line drawn? It would be hard to believe that people who die while sky diving have not fulfilled their mission. Reports of NDEs reveal that there are no accidents and there is a reason for everything. This is not to say that everything is predestined. Life is filled with risks that have the ability to end our lives. Just breathing the air in some cities is enough to cause our deaths. Isn't this a kind of suicide? I believe it is. Isn't even the act of being born, knowing it will result in death, itself a form of suicide? I think so. What about my fast food habit? Even this would have to be considered suicide. Where is the line drawn?

QUESTION:   I just can't assume there is any reason for someone to kill themselves.

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  You are certainly welcome to have this opinion. The problem lies is when other people, usually a few faceless bureaucrats, want to deny other people the right to control their life and death. There are many well-intentioned people who would like to deprive others from having a good death. These right-to-life folks mostly base their intentions on religious grounds. They constantly fight right-to-die organizations and support overturning laws passed by a majority of people who want right-to-die laws in place. I am referring to the state of Oregon, where a majority of the people in that state (with major help from the Hemlock Society) passed a right-to-die law. The majority of the people in that state spoke in favor of right-to-die laws. But it took one man,  Attorney General Ashcroft, to go against the decision of the people of Oregon and overturn their will. This kind of travesty of justice conjures up images of dictators and despots who have absolute power over the electorate. Fortunately, it appears that Ashcroft's edict will be overturned by the Supreme Court. 

The Hemlock Society is only trying to change the laws that prevents heroic doctors such as Jack Kevorkian from going to prison for helping the terminally ill. They are also trying to inform the general public about right-to-die issues.

QUESTION:  So, when life gets difficult for some, they should be legally allowed to end it?

KEVIN WILLIAMS:  Everyone's life is difficult. I don't know anyone that is not facing difficulty in one form or another. It is just that some people face much more difficulties than others. Many experiencers become so disappointed they had to come back, it often results in depression. 4% of all experiencers commit suicide because of it. The only difficulty of life that I condone suicide for are the terminally ill and the very elderly.

I have never had a NDE, but after reading thousands of beautiful accounts, I have concluded that if I was to die, I would not want to be resuscitated. Some of you have probably heard of the case of Nancy Cruzan several decades ago. She was a women in her 20's who was thrown from her car during an automobile accident. It was about 13 minutes before the EMTs came and resuscitated her. Unfortunately, she never regained consciousness and was in a permanent vegetative state. Her family knew Nancy's wish would not to be hooked up to a machine and be artificially kept alive. It was only after a painful seven-year court fight that her parents were allowed to legally remove the feeding tubes, allowing her to die. 

For people who do not want to be hooked up to a machine and those who want to refuse resuscitation, there are ways to prevent it from happening. Most states allow people to have a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order. That means that if you are in a supermarket, for example, and your heart stops beating, you will not be resuscitated. But this will only happen if you have a DNR that is easily identified by medics. The problem with DNRs is that medics do not look for them whether you keep your DNR in your wallet or on your fridge. Fortunately, eleven states (including Colorado and California) permit DNR identification on jewelry obtained through the non-profit 45-year-old MedicAlert Foundation in California. Once a person has a DNR, they can join MedicAlert for a small fee. Then you send them the last sheet of your DNR. They will inform you about the choice of necklace or bracelet that clearly states your wishes to "Do Not Resuscitate". In some states, this jewelry and/or official papers (which you might not have on your person) are the ONLY methods honored by emergency medics. If such a notification is not present, you WILL be resuscitated. DNRs can be obtained by any doctor. Usually, only the very old and the very ill think about obtaining DNRs, but they are available on demand. 

A tremendous number of NDEs I read about involve an experiencer being extremely upset that they were resuscitated. This is another instance of others deciding how you should live or die.

There are no easy answers to these questions. Each person should follow their own heart. What I have explained here is my own personal opinion. You can take it or leave it.