"The Bible says suicide is wrong."
<Well, no, actually, it doesn't. There are seven suicides and one attempted suicide reported in the Bible, and they are presented either neutrally or as appropriate, under the circumstances
While early Christianity accepted suicide, it condemned killing of others, including warfare, self-defense, and capital punishment. After all, Jesus had taught non-violence: "Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also....I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
This was taken seriously by the early Church Fathers, for example, Tertullian, who asked, "Can it be lawful to handle the sword, when the Lord himself has declared that he who uses the sword shall perish by it?"
However, as Christianity became the dominant religion in the Roman empire, its views on suicide gradually changed, until suicide became a religious sin and a secular crime in the sixth century. In 533, Christian burial (a requirement for getting into heaven) was forbidden to suicides who killed themselves while accused of a crime.
In 562 this was extended to all suicides, regardless of the reason or circumstances. In 693 even attempting suicide became an ecclesiastical crime punishable by excommunication, with civil consequences to follow.
OLD TESTAMENT SUICIDES:
Abimelech (Judges 9:54), dying of a skull fracture during a siege, ordered his armor-bearer to slay him, to avoid the ignominy of having been seen to have been killed by a woman (she threw a millstone at him).
Samson (Judges 16:26-31) killed himself to avoid being "made sport of" by the Philistines, after his capture and infamous haircut, taking his tormentors with him. Samson's act of Faith earned him a place among the saints of Christianity (Hebrews, 11:32).
Saul (1 Samuel 31: 3-6), wounded and defeated in battle with the Philistines, asked his armor-bearer to kill him. When the aide was afraid to do it, Saul fell on his own sword. The armor-bearer then did likewise.
Achitopel (or Ahitophel, var. spellings) (2 Samuel 17:1, 23), plotted to overthrow David. When his plan failed, he put his household in order and hanged himself. It is interesting to note that the account specifies that he was buried in his father's sepulchre, in contrast to the Christian Church's long history of refusing burial in hallowed ground to suicides.
Zimri (1 Kings 16:18) usurped the throne of Israel; when he failed, he burned down the palace around himself.
NEW TESTAMENT SUICIDES:
The Jailer at Philippi (Acts 16:26-29), under the mistaken impression that all his prisoners had escaped during an earthquake, thought that his career and life were in jeopardy and prepared to fall on his sword. Paul stopped him, not arguing that suicide was wrong, but merely that the jailer was acting under a misapprehension.
St. Augustine of Hippo, in the early fifth century, wrote his arguments opposing suicide.(1) Augustine does make a weak attempt at finding a Biblical injunction against suicide, claiming that it violates the Sixth Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (though a more accurate translation from the original Hebrew is "You Shall Not Commit Murder") (5). Augustine is forced to admit that there are exceptions (http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/suicide.htm) making it all right to kill another person, but dismisses reasons for wanting to end one's own life.
Augustine's arguments did not immediately take hold in Western culture. The first comprehensive Christian-era legal code was the Code of Justinian. This codex, drafted about a century after St. Augustine, did not punish suicide, if the person had a good reason for killing himself; good reasons cited include, "impatience of pain or sickness, or by another cause, weariness of life... lunacy or fear of dishonor." In short, every reason except no reason at all, and that was punished only on the grounds that it was irrational: "whoever does not spare himself will not spare another."(8) Suicide did not become a crime under English Common Law until the 10th Century
In a letter to selected friends, Ethan Levine explained multiple reasons for the couple's decision. He mentioned the 1978 suicide of his brother, Steve, who had left no note but a lot of unanswered questions.>>>
Something Ive long noticed is suicides tending to run in families.
Is there some study on a genetic basis for this ?