Discussion Nature or nurture

[Khyber]

Just been reading a thread where someone was asking if their circumstances are legitimate reasons for ending their life. Someone else made a good point about how subjective it can be as different people may react differently if faced with the same circumstances. It got me thinking about my own situation and how my default position is now to kill myself, which can be comforting and it gives me a sense of control that I don't have in other areas of my life. However, would someone else in the exact same position have a different emotion because of a different mindset?

Brief overview - I'm 38 and suffered childhood trauma which I believe was the start of my negative coping strategies, hindered my emotional development and has been a huge factor in my long term poor mental health etc. Obviously I've had other issues since then but I just believe that my life was set since childhood.

I personally think me wanting to end my life is a combination of nature and nurture. Nature being born who I am (All my physical flaws) and nurture being the experiences I've been through and coping strategies I've developed. At the same time I don't really see how my life could have turned out any differently even if I had made different choices as I'm still the same person.

I guess my question is do you think that you were destined to feel like this? Or was there a point in your life when you could have changed your destiny? I'm just talking about in relation to suicidal thoughts although obviously it's impossible to completely separate them from your situation. Hope that makes sense!

 

[Painpleasure]

It's a question of threshold. Pain threshold. This threshold is different for every human being, but it certainly exists for every human being.

There are no "suicidal" and "non suicidal" people. It's merely a question of whether they have crossed that threshold of pain.

 

[Khyber]

So do we all have a predetermined pain threshold? If someone has a low pain threshold then would that not make it nature as they're more than likely going to be suicidal as everyone has some level of pain? Do you think that anyone could theoretically be suicidal depending on their circumstances?

 

[daveyc123]

Great question. I have many genetic defects and life would probably always have been quite difficult regardless of my environment. Nonetheless, I think I could have had a perfectly manageable life if I'd had a decent upbringing.

Not that it really matters anyway. At the end of the day, I find myself in this situation, where I am a shit, unemployable and dysfunctional human being. Most of this was preventable, but all that matters is that I show myself some dignity going forward and do everything I can to alleviate my suffering.

 

[Kumachan]

Its a question of "free will" vs. "determinism/fate". Could i have done otherwise? I guess not, cos at that moment it seemed like the best thing to do.

 

[alizee]

OP, you should go research "determinism" and the answer is both nature & nurture play a part like what is known as cause & effect. Everything factors into what happens and we don't have any real control over what occurs. Similar to our thoughts & actions we take. Free will is an illusion.

 

[Khyber]

OP, you should go research "determinism" and the answer is both nature & nurture play a part like what is known as cause & effect. Everything factors into what happens and we don't have any real control over what occurs. Similar to our thoughts & actions we take. Free will is an illusion.

I do understand that both nature and nurture have played a part in my being here anyway. It was probably more a question of do we have control over turning to suicide? I could have worded it differently. If you believe in determinism then we don't have any free will as you say.

 

[littlemisssunshine]

I think like physical health some people have a natural pre disposition to mental health problems but then nurture can turn them either way.

A nurturing life will generally lead to more positive outcomes and a traumatic life will lead generally to more negative outcomes. So a lot of people who could be at danger of severe mental health problems / suicide avoid it because although they are pre dispositioned naturally they are protected by a nurturing environment.

But for some no matter how much nurture or how positive their life may be - how big their support networks are, the overbearing weight of mental health problems can't be cancelled out by a nurturing environment and they will still go on to suffer severe mh problems. Sometimes genetics and chemicals will outweigh support networks.

 

[bpdteacher]

I can link this well to my experience of bpd with the added bonus of being a science teacher. I believe, as there is documented research on it, that people are born on a spectrum of emotional sensitivity. Some people are just really sensitive. I am one. So that's nature. Bpd tends to occur when a highly sensitive person is exposed to abuse, ie nurture. I don't know about other mental health issues, but I suppose there's always going to be an element of both.

 

[bpdandme]

I think I am destined to kill myself from birth. I think nurture has played a massive role in triggering something in my brain but I think I was innately sensitive anyway, this was bound to happen.