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Q: Its great that in the face of epic injustice and daily misery which you outlined in your postings, you find that life is worth living, or, that it is your duty to live (??). Its great that you have that perspective and choose life.
Its likely a good thing that you encourage you readers to 'live' at any cost, after all you wouldn't want to seriously engage with the subject at a deep level, or feel liable for someone's passing, very wise.
However, i think you strip others of the depth and width of their character, life experience, intellectual capacity, spiritual or cultural references, personhood (just for starters) when you suggest they should live, as you choose to do, in abjectness, if you're to be believed. It may be hard to believe but some folk have had an even more eventful and destructive life experiences than yourself, others feel simply that they have lived and learnt enough etc etc... or that they are not quite where they should be.
In addition if one is to be a Material-rationalist (i roughly mean 'this is it, so make the most of it'), but also insist on the duty to live (an expensive and often zero sum game for oneself and wider society), I see this position as incongruent and complex to maintain (but very interesting and engaging, hence me tapping out a few words).
Anyhow, don't blow a gasket, its just a few words which you're welcome to ignore.
Harper
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There's one big thing that you miss when it comes to our advice; we don't have a full picture of a person's life, experiences, culture or character. We have only what they tell us, and that is all we can work with.
People who come to us with questions about suicide are very, very rarely thinking rationally. They are often quite young. Sometimes it's because of a difficult life situation. Other times it's because of mental illness (those are the questions I tend to answer most because of my particular life experience). Our goal is to lift the fog that conceals the light after the darkness using our own life experiences as an example.
Many years ago, I posted an anonymous question to this website. It was a simple question on how to commit suicide painlessly, the same sort of question we get here on a regular basis. I gave no background, and I got several generic answers. Do you know what's funny about those generic answers? They were enough to tell me that someone, somewhere cares enough about me to take time to try to save me at a time when I felt the opposite was true.
By assuming that everyone has the same needs that you do and discounting our advice, you are depriving them of their individuality. What works for you will not necessarily work for them. You may need indepth discourse, but maybe they just need someone to tell them it gets better, or someone to tell them that it's possible to live a happy life with mental illness.
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You make a great deal of sense, and, frankly, raise points from certain angles that, perhaps, I failed to consider. Thank you.
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bio
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My Personal Forum
My name is Amanda and I'm 26 years old. I'm currently studying electrical engineering. Armed with a fairly odd sense of humour and a sunny outlook on life, I'll take on just about anything. I'm also cussedly stubborn, which has its ups and downs. Things get tough sometimes, and I've never been one to run from it.
In my last 8 years with Advicenators, I've gone from honours student to failing out of university (and getting back on top again!), from single to married, from tenant to homeowner.
Until lately, I have been struggling with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and OCD, which had basically ruined my life and taken just about everything from me. I'm thankful every day for every experience I've had because of this ordeal, because it's helped to make me who I am today. Things like that really make you appreciate what you do have. Now that I'm back in work and school and starting to become myself again, I couldn't be happier. I credit Advicenators with saving my life back when I was a teenager, which is a big part of why I'm still here.
I won't necessarily give you the answers you want to hear, but I'll always be honest and do my best to help.
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Info
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Gender: Female Location: Ontario, Canada Occupation: Student Age: 26 Member Since: February 14, 2006 Answers: 2207 Last Update: September 26, 2016 Visitors: 92407
Main Categories:
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