An Existential-Phenomenological Perspective on the Happiness-Suicide Paradox

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) suicide is globally the second leading cause of death for ages 15-29, nearly one person currently commits suicide every 40 seconds, and that number is predicted to double by the year 2020 (WHO, 2014, 3; Gvion & Apter, 2012, 3; Bertolote & Fleischmann, 2002, 6). If that prediction actualizes, that equates to an average of one death every 20 seconds and one suicide attempt every one to two seconds. Recent reports support this rising trend placing suicide as more lethal than terrorism, car accidents and homicide combined. After more than 70 years after the publication of The Myth of Sisyphus, one of the most significant philosophical texts grounded in suicide, the concept remains as both one of the most mysterious and neglected behavioral phenomena in the philosophical dimension. When did suicide stop becoming a truly serious philosophical problem? in recent developments, research encountered the happiness-suicide paradox. The paradox consists of how happiness or valuing happiness may produce higher suicide rates.The root cause for the existence of the happiness-suicide paradox is our lack of knowledge on suicide. The primary conflict exists not in the “happiness” but in the “suicide” aspect of the paradox. Happiness is generally conceived as a solution or end goal; suicide, on the other hand, poses conflict. The conflict that the happiness paradox faces extends from our lack of comprehension on the nature of suicide. Unfortunately, suicide is generally long forgotten in philosophical discussions though it has become a critically growing concern. Moreover, research concerning happiness goals has reached paradoxical conflict. A series of issues indicate that our attention requires a readjusted focus directed toward an in-depth analysis on the nature of suicide. In readjusting our focus toward a theoretical philosophical understanding of suicide not only may we uncover the causes of suicide and an explanation of the paradox, but also advance our knowledge of happiness itself.