(Don't) be Hamlet.

            "To be, or not to be- that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them." Hamlet is struggling with the knowledge that his father was murdered by his uncle, and a quest for revenge that he'd rather not deal with has been thrust upon him. Not only this, but he's also left to suffer alone. He can't go to anyone for any kind of consolation, and this silence is driving him to the point where he's contemplating suicide. Does he live long enough to kill his uncle and hope the pain will go away, or does he throw in the towel and end his own suffering by killing himself?
            "To die, to sleep- no more.......'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished." He's admitting that he would rather be dead, and that this would be easier, and more preferable, than to live and suffer. "But that the death of something after death......and makes us rather bear those ills we have, than fly to others that we know not of......thus conscience does make cowards of us all." The fear of the unknown is what keeps us alive, according to Hamlet. He has no idea if what comes after death will be better than what he's going through in the present. Especially if he commits suicide, he may end up spending all of eternity enduring a HELL much worse than what he's going through, (maybe pushing a boulder up a hill every single day, only to have it roll back down to the bottom, or maybe having his pancreas eaten by a bird, only to have it grow back and be eaten the next day). It's a real Catch-22. He's damned if he kills his uncle, (murder is a big NO-NO) he's damned if he commits suicide, (another NO-NO) and he's damned to suffer in silence if he decides to do nothing.
         What Hamlet needs to do is talk to someone. Horatio seems to be on his side, so, why not? I mean, Ophelia's already caught him talking to himself once. If more people catch him talking to himself, they'll think he's insane, and they'll have him committed. Still, we know that's not how it goes down. He's already thought about murder and suicide, and he believes that he's already sinned in doing so. So, he has nothing to lose by doing either, in that sense anyway. What makes this so illogical to me, though, is that he has more to lose than he does to gain by killing his uncle. I'm sure he'd feel satisfied with himself, if he lived long enough for that after the death of his uncle, but even so, how long would that last? And, the murder of his uncle won't bring his deceased father back. On the flip side, we see him lose his mother, Ophelia, and his own life. It's just common sense that if the cons outweigh the pros of an action, it just shouldn't be done. What Hamlet really needed all along was a friend, and if they'd existed during his time, a psychiatrist. Not a psychologist. No, he would have needed some drugs for that depression and schizophrenia.