Should you give up if no one cares about you?

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If you no longer enjoy life, and no one would miss you, then what is the point of continuing?

1) The possibility of enjoying it again.

2) To see what happens.

3) A statement of solidarity with the rest of the folks stuck in the human condition.

Well, there are a few reasons I like. I bet you're mistaken about nobody missing you.

I'd miss you-even if we just met

the point of living is to prove to yourself that you can enjoy life and would be missed by people. We get up everyday but instead of appreciatiing the possitive we feed all the neggative parts of our minds'. Our minds grow fat on this neggativity until theres no room for the possitive. We have to give ourselfs permission to greive but we also have to acknowledge that we are living in the present and our futures could be bright so we have to move on. Take one step at a time ok

The possibility of happiness does nothing for suffering now. It is also possible that things may just get worse, even to the point where it is no longer possible to rid yourself of the anguish (such as becoming paralyzed). So why not simply quit while one is ahead?

You can keep going on the off chance that things might get sufficiently better.

I was ridding my bicycle through intersections hoping something would hit me. Then I went with a psychiatrist and she game me an antidepressant. It took a while for it too work (a week or so) but now I can focus on getting my life on tract.

lightning strikes in the darkest places

Sorry for the negativity, everyone. I just feel trapped in my problems. I have problems A,B, and C, yet A cannot be solved unless B and C are solved, and B cannot be solved unless the other two are, and the same for C. So that is the situation and the cause of my venting my despair here. Thank you to everyone who replied.

Immured, I echo your sentiment vigorously. You're right, you were brought into this hell and sham of a world without your permission, and you are punished for something you had no choice in. I personally have asked the same questions many times, and I typically am entirely unsatisfied with the general, uninspired reactions I get out of the average person.

I stay alive out of habit, for the most part. I'm a habitual person. Albert Camus said the one true philosophical problem is that of suicide. He himself eventually denounced suicide with his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus." It describes Sisyphus, condemned by the gods to forever roll a stone up a hill and watch it roll back down once he has reached the top, and to continue the process for eternity. The essay concludes, "The struggle itself is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."

Or, perhaps Camus was in denial.

Suicide is the exclamation point at the end of giving up all hope. It's saddening to see so many people who apparently don't care whether you live or die, looking at it as mere percentiles and statistics, worrying only about their net income. Everytime I see an ad for a depression medication I very sincerely say to myself, "Well, at least someone is trying to make a hefty profit off of my emotional agony." There are many people stuck in the cycle of materialism and net gain.

But I can speak for myself in this regard:

Empathizing with other people has always been a strong point of my existence. I do sincerely empathize with people, and I do see it from their viewpoint. This is in itself a hell, as I am constantly conflicted with myself and the views of others. It happens out of habit.

I do agree with you, a lot of the people who are telling you that you should not die are doing it largely out of self-interest, and what they are taught is "right" and "good" and "morally sound." But this is not the case with me. I live in a world of grayness and anomalies, but there is a great deal of hope somewhere in there. It may seem trivial and pointless, but I don't think it is.

I have never met you nor have I ever seen you, but I will tell you that I deeply care. The average person never has qualms with his or her existence. It is always the great which see the pointlessness and the emptiness. The great. We are lacking great people. Those who are truly great, who truly break the barriers, usher in a new time, - a new paradigm.

We are hopelessly STUCK in this paradigm of anti-emotion, materialism, relativism, and an overt concern for monetary gain and practicality. I want to see this system crumble and die because I want meaning and happiness to reign throughout the planet and human existence. Change always occurs from those who have been rejected by society and thus have the burning vision of a truly different era.

You have the choice of life or death. No one can stop you either way. But you must also realize that when you are under severe mental strain, it is nigh on impossible to think clearly and make an informed choice.

-Colin

you don't need to answer if it's too personal, but maybe if you told us or someone else close to you, you could bounce ideas off that person. Sometimes things seem impossible, when in fact they are really really hard, or... hopefully not as important as they seem. In any case, theres always a way out, you just might not know it yet. I know i get into moments where I'm metaphorically grinding my head against a brick surface, until i take a step back, take a moment, do some stretches or push ups, and then brainstorm.

boy that is a difficult one. I have thought quite a lot about it in my life.

I just have a job I am not interested in much. I struggle to take care of my body; housing it, cleaning it, clothing it, feeding it, transporting it, keeping a place for it to sleep, keeping it groomed and presentable, finding ways to dispose of it's waste and all on a regular basis. No days I can say, 'ok, not today, body, I am taking a vacation!" My body isn't so good at responding when I need it, either, I can't dance and walking takes a lot of concentration, so it does sorta suck and all. Now that I am in my late 50's I am starting to understand what a physical chore it is going to be as I age even more.

Why do I keep on keeping on? because I feel this body isn't "mine." It belongs to the dimension that it lives in. The earthly plane. It will eventually expire of its own accord, anyway. I am inhabiting it until it doesn't work any more. Then I will drop it like an old garment and I will go on to the next reality.

Might not be much of a reason, but it keeps someone from having to deal with my remains I might be so careless to leave around, and no one has to feel they have 'failed' me, somehow.

it's called being responsible.

your milage may vary,

Merle

Should you give up if no one cares about you?
No. Why should people caring about you matter?

If you no longer enjoy life, and no one would miss you, then what is the point of continuing?
Your feelings can change if you want them to and let them. Whether you enjoy a thing or not is up to you. There are millions of points for continuing, choose one.

The possibility of happiness does nothing for suffering now. It is also possible that things may just get worse, even to the point where it is no longer possible to rid yourself of the anguish (such as becoming paralyzed). So why not simply quit while one is ahead?
Neither does sulking about it. There is a balance, dwell on the negative side and you see the negative, dwell on the positive side and you see the positive. There are many possibilities, many if's, many could be's. You may not always choose the path, but you always choose the side you are on, negative or positive.

If you're unhappy now you are not ahead. Quiting now isn't going to change that. As long as there are possibilities, there is hope.

I for one would be sad. I'm looking forward to the day that you might post a scan of your artwork. If John William Waterhouse is your favourite painter, I for one would love to see some.

As for questions of life or death... only you can answer that question. I chose death once. And woke up in hospital. And now i am happy that I did not succeed. While I discovered that only two people cared for me, I also found out that I cared for me too... but didn't even know it. It is the hardest to remember that in the doldrums of depression.

Sounds condescending.



You sound like a humanities major: out of touch with reality and yet so sure that you have a firm grip on it.

As for the antidepressants, I probably owe my life and my continued progress to Welbutrin.

You owe it to yourself to really learn some real science.

Of course, those who speak their mind will have their critics.


See above.

The person who posted this thread is in great distress. Your version of reality is different from mine. We also have preconceptions and biases as well. We all have different versions of reality. Realists like to think they have the firm monopoly on what reality really is. I was giving my views on things and it seemed to make sense to her, and for your information she did pm me with positive feedback.

It is certainly not my fault there are so many people who are content being non-influential and pawns to this system. They certainly have the ability to do otherwise.

http://www.anus.com/zine/articles/prozak/depression/

Surely you've judged other people before?

I guarantee you if the author of this thread was capable of having conversations regularly with the greatest minds in history she would be in a far, far better way. I am certainly not a racist or a bigot, but I do have a problem when people who have abilities to exert change simply do nothing. The 20th century modernist ideals of equality have been taken too far, I think. Racial and cultural equality is one thing (and I'm quite a relativist when it comes to foreign cultures), but equality of character? Of wisdom? Of knowledge?

Last edited by CWhite978 on 17 Dec 2007, 1:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.