Life is but a dream

I can't remember where I heard it (though I wish I had written it down), but the concept "life is but a dream" is quite interesting.  In this light, death is akin to waking up in the morning.  Death means the end of an altered state and a return to the normal state.  If this were the case, then dying would be nothing to fear.  In fact, it would probably be something welcomed by the other-side self.  But just think of the implications if this was true.  Suicide would be rampant (unless of course there were some abject consequences associated with such action).  On a whim, people might simply jump off a building.  In fact, I could envision people going to great lengths to make their exit as fantastical as possible.  People would undeniably get creative in the act and it would become somewhat of a sport.  It's a gruesome idea, but if life was but a dream, then we'd all become nihilists.