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Is not acting out of self-interest a sign of mental illness?

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Is not acting out of self-interest a sign of mental illness? (i.e. the more you don't act out of self-interest the more mentally ill are you thinking)
More yes than no 28%  28%  [ 9 ]
More no than yes 72%  72%  [ 23 ]
Total votes : 32

kamiyu910
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07 Apr 2013, 1:27 am

I usually don't question my motives in doing things, so I'm not entirely sure how to respond. I still do things even if no one will ever notice, just because that's what should be done. There's not much emotion to it, more like an OCD thing? I volunteered for years at a library because they needed help and I was able bodied and capable. I did get thanked, but getting attention makes me feel bad. I prefer no attention. Just let me do my work and I'll be happy. I've given homeless people food because I had some and they didn't and people need to eat. I don't know if they were thankful because I walked away very quickly. I've almost killed myself trying to complete certain jobs because of the need to get them done. I don't do it for personal gain, I don't do it for other people to notice, I just... do it because... well, because someone needs to. Maybe a sense of responsibility? Sense of duty? I just don't think about it, I just do.


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qawer
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07 Apr 2013, 4:18 am

Fnord wrote:
Altruism just isn't likely.


But shouldn't there be a logical explanation to that? E.g. that it is not a "healthy" thing to do essentially.



Fnord
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07 Apr 2013, 10:03 am

qawer wrote:
Fnord wrote:
Altruism just isn't likely.
But shouldn't there be a logical explanation to that?

Certainly! The reason being that were all born thinking only of ourselves (i.e., "feed me" - "change me" - "hold me"), and that we have to learn to think of others as we would want them to think of us (i.e., "Share your toys" - "Stop hurting your sister" - "Be nice").



matt
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07 Apr 2013, 5:15 pm

It's impossible to act with complete lack of self-interest, unless you lack control of your bodily functions.



qawer
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07 Apr 2013, 5:21 pm

matt wrote:
It's impossible to act with complete lack of self-interest, unless you lack control of your bodily functions.


Does this mean that the more/often you act on self-interest the more mentally healthy are you in that regard?



matt
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07 Apr 2013, 5:25 pm

It means that if your body is functioning properly it is acting in the way you prefer it to act.



qawer
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07 Apr 2013, 5:32 pm

matt wrote:
It means that if your body is functioning properly it is acting in the way you prefer it to act.


I was thinking more in mental terms than in bodily.

For instance autistics caring too little about/forgetting themselves. Whether the basic problem is that they don't act enough on self-interest.



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07 Apr 2013, 5:36 pm

If you prefer for others to benefit and you act in a way to cause that to happen, are you not acting in self-interest?



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07 Apr 2013, 5:39 pm

matt wrote:
If you prefer for others to benefit and you act in a way to cause that to happen, are you not acting in self-interest?


Then you surely are acting in self-interest.

I'm more wondering whether autistics being "trapped in their own worlds" is because they to some degree lack the ability to act on self interest...that the reason why they cannot get out of their own worlds is because they have a reduced ability to act on self-interest as you are supposed to do.



Ettina
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07 Apr 2013, 10:48 pm

If you act only out of self-interest, that is a mental illness - psychopathy.

Anyway, it's entirely possible to take into account both your needs and another person's. Just think of yourself as someone deserving just as much consideration as anyone else.



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08 Apr 2013, 1:13 am

kamiyu910 wrote:
I usually don't question my motives in doing things, so I'm not entirely sure how to respond. I still do things even if no one will ever notice, just because that's what should be done. There's not much emotion to it, more like an OCD thing? I volunteered for years at a library because they needed help and I was able bodied and capable. I did get thanked, but getting attention makes me feel bad. I prefer no attention. Just let me do my work and I'll be happy. I've given homeless people food because I had some and they didn't and people need to eat. I don't know if they were thankful because I walked away very quickly. I've almost killed myself trying to complete certain jobs because of the need to get them done. I don't do it for personal gain, I don't do it for other people to notice, I just... do it because... well, because someone needs to. Maybe a sense of responsibility? Sense of duty? I just don't think about it, I just do.

I am the same way. If I do something for someone, it is simply because they need help and someone needs to help them. It has nothing to do with emotions or what I would gain. It's more like the boundaries between my experience and other people's experience are blurred and I do what needs to be done and that's all, I don't care to be acknowledged. I do recognize when someone tries to manipulate or take advantage of a situation and I avoid people like that.



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08 Apr 2013, 8:13 am

I don't understand this thread really. Are you trying to say that someone who intends to help another person is being selfish or ignorant?


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qawer
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08 Apr 2013, 8:59 am

Joe90 wrote:
I don't understand this thread really. Are you trying to say that someone who intends to help another person is being selfish or ignorant?


It was more a matter of whether there is something wrong with you if you tend to help others too much when that help doesn't benefit yourself in any way.

Helping someone lawning the grass is going to benefit yourself if you have a relationship to that person.

Doing "small helpful deeds" for others you don't know doesn't count either, because it is implied that you expect others would do the same for you if you were in a similar situation.

But if you spend much of your time trying to/wanting to help others without receiving any kind of "reward" (social, reciprocal expectation or other kind), I wondered if that is a sign that something is in fact wrong with you. If you basically feel more satisfaction for helping others than yourself.