Discussion How risk- averse are you? Poll

[Forever Sleep]

I'm pretty square and timid in lots of areas of life. I've taken fairly big career risks but in terms of other lifestyle choices, I'm pretty risk-averse. I suppose I was always worried I may make things worse for myself.

You'd imagine that suicidal people might not be risk-averse. If we care so little about life, you'd think we might take bigger risks than those trying to protect their lives/ futures etc. I suppose we can be overly conscious of pain/ suffering though so- do all we can to minimize the risk of that.

Where do you sit in terms of risk-aversity? Do you think it helps or hinders in life to be more or less risk-averse? Maybe it helps- when it comes to suicide at least- to be less risk-averse.

It's certainly part of my plan while persuading myself to make an attempt. (I only need 'persuading' because I'm unsure about the physical attempt- not death itself) to reaasure myself that I'm capable of taking big risks to fulfil life changing or in this case- life ending decisions. Plus, that in a roundabout way, most of the time, my risks paid off at least somewhat. They got me out of a worse situation anyway. 'Fortune favours the brave' and all that.

 

[Pluto]

 

[Praestat_Mori]

Currently, I don't take any risks anymore - another failure would kill me.

When I was younger, I took risks - we have to take risks to make gains and to move forward.

Well, ultimately, I failed big in life - that's the risk of taking risks.

 

[SchizoGymnast]

I slept on the streets of NY in 2017. Don't mess with me.

 

[cemeteryismyhome]

The older I get the less I care. As the saying goes, nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose.

 

[Namelesa]

It depends a lot on how i feel and how much i am suffering with what is currently happening in my life. If i am currently taking things safely and I go into intense pain then i am more likely to do something impulsive and risky as i am desperate to get out of that pain quickly. However if i am doing something more risky and i get great anxiety from failure then i be safe and quit what i am doing. I feel like this probably just more negative impacts me cus of how i go from one extreme to another but i don't know how else to handle things.

 

[bankai]

I slept on the streets of NY in 2017. Don't mess with me.

But you still turned your life around,for what it's worth,that's amazing . I feel like you're an inspiration

 

[Rynalia]

With my health? I gamble on low probability stuff to try and die, and do things that could objectively make my health even worse. As long as I'm actively deteriorating, it's a step in the right direction.

With non-health stuff? Risk averse. Full stop. I don't need the outside to give me more problems in my life. I don't need my life situation to get any worse. I'm barely holding on as is and it's quite frankly the only reason I haven't gone far more nuclear is because my life is tolerable, albeit just barely.

 

[Forveleth]

I am not risk averse but I have plenty of people in my life that loooooove to say "I told you so". I do not take risks but only because I do not want to hear shit from people if/when I fail. If I could cut the toxic people out of my life I would be yoloing everything.

 

[Redacted24]

I tend to manage risk carefully - do the mental exercise of risk / reward.
Have done this all my life, it's how I became homeless as a teen in a big US city while still in school because living in a house with domestic violence was more risky.

I still manage in this way. I don't accept any more risk than is necessary, and am slowly degrading my health to facilitate an exit, be it natural or expedited.

 

[Dejected 55]

I very rarely take risks... unless the "prize" is worth a lot more than the damage from the risk. If it is anywhere near equal, I tend to not take it. There are probably exceptions when my calibration is off and I don't anticipate all aspects of the risk before taking it... but I generally tend to take very little in the way of risks.

 

[SchizoGymnast]

But you still turned your life around,for what it's worth,that's amazing . I feel like you're an inspiration

More like stupid. I was backpacking and experiencing manic symptoms and wanted to mingle with the street people instead of getting a hotel. I ended up bonding with a drunk guy and his trans girlfriend from prison.