The Value of Human Kind

I have patients who tell me that they feel that they have no value or worth as a human being, that they would be better off dead, and that the people in their world would be better off if they were dead.  They may or may not be suicidal, but may still have the passive suicidal thought that they would be better off dead.

I have a hard time convincing them that they have value because they are human beings, and that is their worth and value in life. Just because they are alive, they have value.

Many of them have difficulty with that concept.

I believe that one of the best arguements for their worth and value is a passage from John Donne:

No Man Is An Island

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

 

John Donne

This is a difficult concept to teach: that we are all affected by other human beings, and we are all affected if a human being dies.  That we lose a piece of ourselves, if someone else with whom we have a relationship, dies.  Especially for people who have never or rarely considered the feelings of other people.