fleshpuppet
Member
- Jan 18, 2026
- 8
I am of the belief that life is worth living only if the individual experiences, on the whole, more pleasure than suffering. For the last 5 years of my life I cannot honestly say that I've been in a state of happiness or contentedness for longer than a day at a time. By most metrics, I live a good life -- I have no trauma, my family is well off, I have a good education, supportive parents. And yet I cannot even imagine a scenario in which I would be happy. It's as though nothing I could have been given, or have yet to receive would change the outcome I find myself in. I'm 18 years old, in my final year of highschool, and nearly at the crossroads of deciding what to study at university. What am I supposed to do? Killing myself would be irresponsible of me to do -- those around me would be blindsided, causing emotional distress, not to mention my family's expectations that I secure their retirement -- and infeasible for any methods I'd be willing to do are unavailable in my situation.
I know there are things I could to improve my life, like exercising, reading, going outside more, but it's so hard to commit to these things when I feel like there's no future for me. There's also an existential aspect to it, but I won't get into it here.
I wonder if relationships (i.e. platonic and/or romantic) would make me happy. I've yet to rule them out as I don't believe I've ever had any strong relationships. I have friends (whom I dislike) and family but I keep them at a distance. Whatever 'emotional bond' we're supposed to develop to our parents as ingrained in our biology I must not have received, for I see them how I imagine a stranger would. In general, I find it very difficult to trust anyone. I'm not great at making new friends due to my antisocial behaviour and social ineptitude I've developed from self isolation, and I'm not tall enough to be automatically attractive to women. The fact I'm even on this forum probably means I'm cooked.
These are my circumstances. Far from a tragedy, and yet I fell hopeless. Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
I know there are things I could to improve my life, like exercising, reading, going outside more, but it's so hard to commit to these things when I feel like there's no future for me. There's also an existential aspect to it, but I won't get into it here.
I wonder if relationships (i.e. platonic and/or romantic) would make me happy. I've yet to rule them out as I don't believe I've ever had any strong relationships. I have friends (whom I dislike) and family but I keep them at a distance. Whatever 'emotional bond' we're supposed to develop to our parents as ingrained in our biology I must not have received, for I see them how I imagine a stranger would. In general, I find it very difficult to trust anyone. I'm not great at making new friends due to my antisocial behaviour and social ineptitude I've developed from self isolation, and I'm not tall enough to be automatically attractive to women. The fact I'm even on this forum probably means I'm cooked.
These are my circumstances. Far from a tragedy, and yet I fell hopeless. Anyway, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.