I wasn't this privileged, but I can so relate, for many reasons.
I wasn't this privileged, but I can so relate, for many reasons.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140/
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140/
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140
I haven't finished reading this yet, but it resonates. I've been contemplating writing a thing myself about suicide among successful adults - there's been a bit of that here in town lately, plus things like Robin Williams not long ago.
ReplyDeleteOh, and: "The kids were also asked how much they identified with sentences such as “The fewer mistakes I make, the more people will like me” and “If someone does a task at work/school better than I, then I feel like I failed the whole task.”"
...uh, yeah.
This also resonates a great deal with some of the stuff about eating disorders, which surprised the hell out of me the first time anyone mentioned it. Because, hey! Life is awesome and perfect, and achievement is awesome and perfect, and, yeah, whatever.
ReplyDeleteI was reminded of this, so went and dug it up from the depths of the Internets: http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/being-suicidal-what-it-feels-like-to-want-to-kill-yourself/
ReplyDelete...the first time I read that I was horrified. I have alternated back and forth between Steps 4 and 5 for MY ENTIRE LIFE.
That's a heck of an article.
ReplyDeleteSalaryman syndrome?
ReplyDeleteAmy Young That blog entry
ReplyDeleteSo yeah.
(I've never been suicidal. Never had the ideation, never had the inclination, never perceived it as a solution. There are, um, reasons why it should be a little bit surprising that this is the case, and honestly, most of them are in items 1 through 5 there. It would have been, probably, mild? But still could be expectable? When I talked to certain professionals, at some point they felt they had cause to ask the question?
And then the reason–probably not the whole, but definitely a part of the reason–why it is the case is at the end of the entry. That was a thunderclap to read.)
(And tangentially, I just realized —again — how bloody privileged I am to have all y'all as friends. I didn't even hesitate to write the previous comment, beyond what it took to find the right words.)
ReplyDeleteZeynep Dilli I have had the ideation, but I always bounce hard from how RUDE it would be to leave all of my problems for someone else, not to mention the added inconvenience of having to cope with, y'know, a dead person.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess it's good that even at my lowest, at least some of my manners stick around?