pathologizing suicidality, questions on life and death

[offbalance]

I'm not going to go off on some spiel about how there's nothing good in existing. I think there is good things. Pleasure to be experienced and a wide world to explore. (not everyone can even experience that)

But even with those things present, the darkness is always blaring in the background like abrasive TV static. It's always there, sitting in a matter-of-fact manner.

In evolutionary terms, suicidality indicates something is wrong, because we're meant to want to be alive biologically and reproduce.

But we've also developed complex thinking that can perceive reality in a more thorough way than other animals.

So is the mental health industry just people pathologizing a normal reaction to this shitty world? Or are we still the "ill" ones because we don't want to/can't cope, and don't have motivation/hope? A lot of people see how bad the world is but still have those things. Are we ill because we do not? I'm not saying that word to be stigmatizing so hopefully nobody gets offended…

 

[Sweet Tart]

You zeroed in on a really interesting & important question. I think it's not an either/or but that the experience of being suicidal can vary so much from person to person (i.e. trauma, resilience, genetics, neurochemistry, etc). Imo, the medical model is just not well-equipped to address problems that are multifactorial and include social factors.

I don't know if we are more ill or less ill than people who can be happy living in this shitty world, but the happy people seem pathological to me in their disconnect from the dystopian horrors.

 

[WhyWasIBorn]

I too always have that dark cloud that can't be pushed away easily. It's been said that people who are depressed see the world more realistically. Even though it may be an imbalance that can be managed somewhat with medications, distractions, diet, exercise, therapy or whatever else it's almost like these are things we have to do to achieve that blissful ignorance, to put on blinders to keep going another day despite the terrible things that happen in our lives or in the world that lead us to feeling suicidal and not having the accessable option for a 'Quit' button.

I think as humans we separate ourselves from other beings as a greater being but in reality we are animals that think too much, 700,000 suicides per year globally yet we are a species with the most advanced comforts, distractions, medical tools, literature, and instant global social communication of any other animal or creature. It's like these things we've created are working against us in many ways. I think we simply think too much in addition to our human emotions, past trauma, genetic and environmental imbalances that lead us to not living out a "normal" successful positive and happy life where the negative things don't affect us as much as they would someone else. Our human emotions lead to greed and wars causing devastation around the earth far worse than any other creature has caused.

I hate being alive but as you said it's not all shit all the time. I'm still trying to see if I can strike a balance with life myself to have an at least liveable life but most of the time I don't have the motivation or hope to continue on, it sucks not having a guaranteed way to leave when we simply want to cease to exist when we didn't ask to be born, and if there was a button to press 'Quit' and it was fast and pain free I 100% would have years ago.

 

[FuneralCry]

I believe that the insulting view that wanting to die is always an "illness" is just a lie designed to brainwash people so that suicide isn't seen as a valid option so that the society doesn't lose it's slaves and that the mental health industry can continue to profit from people's suffering.

Wanting to die is always a logical response to having awareness about the reality of existing here, it's literally absurd how people say it's an "illness" being aware of how existing truly is futile and harmful, wishing for relief from this existence we were unnecessarily burdened with could never be an "illness" especially as to die solves all problems and means freedom from suffering, one cannot be harmed by not existing.

I see nothing desirable about having the ability to suffer endlessly, I just see existence as something that just causes harm rather than being something so positive and valuable to the point that preferring to escape from all suffering is an "illness". I see existence itself as just being a horrific, tragic mistake in the first place, it's just unnecessary suffering and senseless cruelty that repeats in a cycle as new life is so cruelly forced here.