Why is having a life not worth living treated like a mental illness.

[Sleepdrifter]

My life isn't worth living. Middle age, no money. No degree, no partner, no real job, no family. I hang my head every day.

But you're not allowed to talk about it. Because that would make you a crazy person. Quick call the police! Get an ambulance! Call the fire brigade, someone's saying crazy things!

Life is supposed to be about being free to express yourself and make your own choices. And I can't think of one time when I've once had the opportunity to do that. Or much opportunity for anything else.

I can either hang around in this choiceless hallucination where people laugh and shit on me every day or choose to not do it anymore. And the only consequence is that. That's my choice. It's ridiculous and I am not even allowed to say it.

 

[Dear Agony]

Because people like to generalize everything, including mental illnesses, and create harmful stereotypes. Not every serial killer is a psychopath, for example. And not every psychopath is a serial killer. But people think that. It's obvious not everyone that commits suicide has a mental illness.

 

[nfives]

Because it's still a taboo. People are always like "but what if it gets better?" and "you're just not trying hard enough! Everyone suffers!" and it sucks. You feel misunderstood and invalidated and I totally get you.
From the day we're born it's basically burned into our minds that life is a gift, it's beautiful, that there is always a way out (other than ctb'ing) and people just don't see what is inside you. The pain, the suffering, most of them don't even care. It makes them uncomfortable, it makes them question their morals. And they hate that. They hate having to think outside of their usually almost perfect bubble, or at least a bubble where not everything hurts all the time.
It's totally your choice, no one can take that away from you. I'm sorry you're having a hard time.

 

[A_miStake_of_NATURE]

I've been asking myself the very same question for the past couple of years now……
Maybe because, whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not, we're still animals. We're supposed to be more intelligent. Seemingly, intellectually we're above the rest of the natural world's creatures. And yet we're all ruled by the most primitive instincts. It's a shame, really, but staying alive and procreation are our still main DNA components.
Our minds are just hopelessly corrupted.

 

[Deleted member 8579]

This type of reasoning can readily be dismissed as being circular, and therefore invalid:
"If you reject life, you must be mentally ill, because only the mentally ill reject life."

 

[Sleepdrifter]

It's totally your choice, no one can take that away from you. I'm sorry you're having a hard time.

Thanks. You don't have to be sorry. Things are always hard when you're poor and alone. People treat you like an animal. I don't know how I could feel more exploited.

 

[Off The Air]

I can relate to you. Being poor and alone with no prospects. Only able to speculate on what could have been had things played out differently etc etc. People don't like hearing about how your life is meaningless and depressing and they don't know how to respond other than saying things like "oh no it'll get better" and "life finds a way" yadda yadda. Especially family members who's lives are significantly better. Some people are dealt bad hands in life. Why should someone dealt a bad hand be forced to play with it? Its frustrating for me, and I'm figuring it is for you as well. I'm sorry you are feeling this way. So many people are and it's a shame

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

This type of reasoning can readily be dismissed as being circular, and therefore invalid:
"If you reject life, you must be mentally ill, because only the mentally ill reject life."

"If you have cancer, you must be physically ill, because only the physically ill have cancer."

What am I missing here? The difference is obviously that you can reject life without being mentally ill, but I am just wondering about the "incorrect by circularity" thing.

 

[Mr2005]

Well I'd have to be mentally ill to not feel like this and the last therapist I saw agreed. Unfortunately there's nothing they can do about that only how I feel about it

 

[Efilismislife]

BECAUSE MANY/MOST PEOPLE ARE SELFISH INCONSIDERATE JERK, OTHERWISE THIS WORLD WOULD BE A NICER WORLD AND NOT MANY PEOPLE WANT TO SUICIDE.

THATS THE RESULT OF EVIL WORLD WHERE MANY/MOST PEOPLE BRING OTHERS DOWN JUST TO GO UP

 

[Deleted member 8579]

"If you have cancer, you must be physically ill, because only the physically ill have cancer."

What am I missing here? The difference is obviously that you can reject life without being mentally ill, but I am just wondering about the "incorrect by circularity" thing.

I phrased everything very badly. Circular reasoning is technically not invalid, because its conclusion does follow from its premise. The problem is that it doesn't prove anything, because the conclusion is already a part of the premise. Therefore, it completely undermines the point of an argument and is practically useless. You need to prove that your premise is true before you draw any conclusions, unless it is axiomatically accepted.

Example: "God created the earth and the earth exists. Therefore, God must exist as well." The reasoning is sound, because the conclusion is derived from the premise, but the premise remains to be proven, so the conclusion is worthless. Note how the premise already contains the conclusion.

Here is a different phrasing of my initial statement:
"Suicidal people are mentally ill. They are mentally ill because they are suicidal."
This is clearly circular and you need additional arguments to prove that the suicidal are mentally ill.

(Thank you for your objection. I have a hard time figuring out if half of the things I write make any sense at all.)

 

[FuneralCry]

I think it is because many other people do not want to accept the fact that life can get that bad and that the problem is existence itself. Instead they dismiss people as mentally ill for wanting to leave this earth. They cannot comprehend what it is like as they are not going through it themselves. In the case of my life wanting suicide is perfectly rational. It is not something wrong with me but just a reaction to my circumstances. We all deserve a right to die, it isn't as if we asked to be alive in the first place. Only we are experiencing what we are going through, so our choices should be respected.

 

[Alwaysbadtime]

Yep...years ago I made the mistake to agree there's something wrong with me. It started years ago the shittiness and lack of prospects. I'm labeled by family and not talked to...not responded to when I try and say: no it's situational anxiety which is fucking normal considering my reality.

FUCK people who judge...who automatically think anyone who is suicidal or suicidal and actually does it is/was mentally ill/unstable. It's not the case for many.

I fucking hate the sign at the bridge: 'where there is help there is hope'...No help is coming.

I also hate the people who say: immediately after I jumped I felt regret, that I could fix anything that was fucked'....this negates so much shit. There's a guy Hines who has made a career from his Golden Gate suicide attempt. It makes me sick. Anyway. I really relate to your situation. I'm in a similar reality.