Do you ever find yourself wondering why amazing people kill themselves?

[NotesFromTheShadow]

Do you ever find yourself browsing celebrity suicides and wondering: But why? Why would someone so amazing kill themselves when they seem to have everything in life? The success, the money, good people around them, the momentum to do amazing things, the support, the freedom to be wherever they want to be in the world, the chance to have an impact...

This makes me wonder - what is it about that shit then?
We tend to think: "Well if my life-situation was better, I wouldn't be suicidal." - Wouldn't you thought?

Interested in your thoughts on that.

 

[LifeQuitter]

They probably hated the world or life in general.

 

[CantDoIt]

I do wonder, but you never know what's going on in someone else's head. There's a lot of pressure for those types of people, for example.
I often wonder why people I admire do it - for example, Robin Williams. He was a great guy who was nothing but fun. However, he clearly had a lot of inner demons.

 

[Chrysalis]

Not really. Humans can be likened to incredibly complex machines that process things in wildly varying ways. I think people have a tendency to focus too much on the input, and assume that others process things the same way they do. Just because someone has circumstances that (you assume) would be conductive to your own happiness, doesn't mean that it makes them happy. Whether it's depression, other mental illness, a general distaste for the world, or something else entirely; in the end possessions and circumstances only have value if you have the ability and will to appreciate them.

 

[Tesha]

Not really. Happiness cannot be achieved by external things. If you're not happy internally, then you're walking the suicide tightrope. Money, fame, exposure are all external influences.

 

[divinemistress36]

Mental illness dgaf how successful, rich, or pretty you are. Chester Bennington seemed to have it all rich , famous, kids , a wife yet he was always always deeply depressed and ctb

I do wonder, but you never know what's going on in someone else's head. There's a lot of pressure for those types of people, for example.
I often wonder why people I admire do it - for example, Robin Williams. He was a great guy who was nothing but fun. However, he clearly had a lot of inner demons.

He had dementia which lead him to ctb

 

[FuneralCry]

No as in my case I find existing to be undesirable in general, under no circumstances would I wish to be trapped in this futile existence for decades just to be tormented by old age. For me personally I'd always prefer to not exist, I find it painful and burdensome to exist as a conscious being, existing to me is nothing but suffering.

 

[Forever Sleep]

People doing amazingly well or, who have done amazingly well have a huge amount to lose. I suspect a lot of people who go are at a tipping point, or maybe on their way down.

Plus, if they've reached the pinnacle of where they hoped to get to- and they still feel unsatisfied- where else is there to aim?

I think it can also be really lonely. There are probably an awful lot of insincere people around them for the money and fame. Money really changes how people respond to you.

It's got to be such a weird life to not be able to go places without being recognised. I don't think they have the same freedom 'normal' people do. They're always 'on show'. If they're having a bad day and snap at someone, they could get cancelled tomorrow.

If they've grown used to money and success, it may not be so gratifying too.

Plus, something like depression, bipolar, PTSD doesn't give a shit how famous or successful you are. It may even feel more important to disguise all that.

I do wonder, but you never know what's going on in someone else's head. There's a lot of pressure for those types of people, for example.
I often wonder why people I admire do it - for example, Robin Williams. He was a great guy who was nothing but fun. However, he clearly had a lot of inner demons.

It was discovered Robin Williams had Lewy Body Dementia after his suicide. It comes with some very distressing symtoms which must have been all the more distressing for not really knowing what was causing them and, how bad things would get. I imagine for such a brilliant mind to suddenly be struggling must be very distressing.

Some people in my family have suffered strokes which I imagine cause some similar symptoms- difficulties in remembering words and communicating. I think it's all the worse for someone who prior to it had a very sharp mind. They are all too aware of what they've lost and may never recover. It's so cruel the things that can happen to us.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I'd eventually kill myself even if I was successful and had everything in life as, in the end, old age is undesirable for me and I'd rather die young

 

[NotesFromTheShadow]

No as in my case I find existing to be undesirable in general, under no circumstances would I wish to be trapped in this futile existence for decades just to be tormented by old age. For me personally I'd always prefer to not exist, I find it painful and burdensome to exist as a conscious being, existing to me is nothing but suffering.

Ok yeah I see how that can make sense. Have you always felt like this or has this come about at some point? (Of course, don't answer if you find that question too personal.) I get this also occasionally, but only when I'm extremely depressed to the point where there's literally nothing that can even bring the slightest bit of enjoyment or even feeling of anything whatsoever.

 

[greebo6]

Depression etc.. doesn't discriminate.

 

[landslide2]

long ago i did when i was younger, but not anymore. u read how many of us do our best to put on a face when we interact with the world and its norms. you never really know what is going with somebody internally. and you can never really know someone completely.

the grass is greener approach towards life in general, also doesn't work for depression either. it's that battle we have to fight as individuals and within our own contexts ultimately.

 

[pilotviolin]

im rarely surprised; suicide isnt for everybody but it is for anybody.

 

[birthdayboy]

No amount of fame or wealth can absolutely prevent someone from choosing suicide, but I do think people who have enough money to access resources like healthcare are probably less likely to do so. That's why it makes the news when someone like a celebrity does it -- because it's not as common as it is with us. Almost everyone I've personally known who's ctb has been an amazing person too -- they just didn't have enough fortune and fame for the world to care all that much.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

Imo this shows how bad life really is.

Many of these people had beauty , youth , health , and money but they still committed suicide

 

[Z-A]

Because nothing can stop suffering no matter what. No money, love, freedom can stop the unbearable, irreversible, irrecoverable mental/physical pain an individual suffers from.

 

[nihilistic_dragon]

Honestly, no. "Amazing" is a subjective term, and I personally don't find 99% of people amazing, especially the celebrities. "Happiness" is also subjective. The things you mentioned (success, money, etc) may be your definition of happiness but it may not be theirs. So they have their reasons to ctb. Nobody can fully understand anybody else's reasons and pain.

It reminds me of the arguments I used to have with my mother. I am childfree and antinatalist. My mother used to always pester me with questions about when I will have children. When I asked her why she so desperately wanted me to have children, she would say "It's because I want you to be happy". The woman never understood that what made her happy would never make me happy.

 

[gayayi4811]

I guess the capacity for a mind or brain to feel happy is greatly related to something inside of us. (even though it's related to external stuff too)

 

[banger12]

Weirdly enough I actually find it less surprising for a variety of reasons.

Partly it's personal bias, I'm a mentally ill person that relates better to other mentally ill people, plus some of the coolest people I've known have struggled so personal experience convinces me that good people suffer more,sadly.

From there I also think that the natural default of human beings is to be shitty so for someone to be empathetic may often require a tragic level of pain input maybe, so that the kindest people learned to show kindness because they know what it's like to be hurt.

Also maybe being awesome and amazing like that is just THAT exhausting maybe.

If we were to tweak the definition of "amazing" a bit to closer approximate "talent" or "achievement" or "success" I still wouldn't be shocked or surprised. If only because im a sucker for the idea of tge "tortured artist". Maybe that makes me irredeemable scum.

 

[ImTelling]

Erm... this screams incel??? Maybe tone it down a little??? Like-

 

[tiredandafraid]

I do wonder, but you never know what's going on in someone else's head. There's a lot of pressure for those types of people, for example.
I often wonder why people I admire do it - for example, Robin Williams. He was a great guy who was nothing but fun. However, he clearly had a lot of inner demons.

He had physical issues. Open heart surgery years prior and a bad case of Lewy body dementia.

 

[Plentiful_Despair]

Nothing would change for me if I would have Chaster Benningtons life for example. Sure, I could buy shit, my messages would reach more people, but just cause I'm rich and famous doesn't change the fact that I hate existence. I hate so, so many things about life, I could write 100 pages here, but for what? Those who get it will understand what I mean. Money doesnt change shit.

 

[FuneralCry]

Ok yeah I see how that can make sense. Have you always felt like this or has this come about at some point? (Of course, don't answer if you find that question too personal.) I get this also occasionally, but only when I'm extremely depressed to the point where there's literally nothing that can even bring the slightest bit of enjoyment or even feeling of anything whatsoever.

Always, I'd never wish to exist, I'm not meant for existence, existing causes me nothing but suffering.

 

[BecomingTired]

Do you ever find yourself browsing celebrity suicides and wondering: But why? Why would someone so amazing kill themselves when they seem to have everything in life? The success, the money, good people around them, the momentum to do amazing things, the support, the freedom to be wherever they want to be in the world, the chance to have an impact...

This makes me wonder - what is it about that shit then?
We tend to think: "Well if my life-situation was better, I wouldn't be suicidal." - Wouldn't you thought?

Interested in your thoughts on that.

Just because someone has what you think you lack doesn't mean their life would be any less tragic, you don't know what kind of life they have behind the persona they are forced to display to the public and you don't understand how they perceived everything at all.

Your wants and aspirations is not the absolute criteria of happiness, it just what you perceive would make people happy because of your bias view formed from your own experiences; maybe it would genuinely give you happiness but it won't at all give even close to everyone happiness, and it's still not certain either whether you will still be happy.

In general life sucks so bad, it's fully unpredictable where it'll take you, fulfilling some arbitrary pursuit to the general belief in what makes one happy is worth nothing if it isn't what is the root of what makes you depressed in the first place. It just makes it easier to cope.

 

[DefinitelyReady]

Honestly no, not really. I can imagine if I had more of "everything", my everything now might only be magnified. The pressure I feel now might just very well end up feeling multiplied.
Makes sense.