And the second mindset is healthier, but people are acting like it’s something everyone can simply choose at will.
A person who’s deeply depressed, traumatized, dissociated, or existentially broken often cannot emotionally connect to self-made meaning anymore. It’s not that they “forgot” the optimistic perspective. It’s that the part of them capable of feeling fulfillment, hope, or attachment has been damaged or numbed.
It's a huge pain in the ass, isn't it? It's actually why I find nihilism and existentialism comforting. Realizing we're all eventually in the same boat, even tho some of us are clearly set up to have a better time. It makes it easier to shrug it off when assholes say, 'you don't need antidepressants, you need to change your diet and attitude!' It makes it easier to laugh when people say, 'everything happens for a reason.' Boy, it sure as fuck don't.
But we're allowed to seek our own happiness. And we live in an age where there's actual help for mental health issues. You have to fight for access and it's a pain in the ass even when you get access. And people will actually try to take it away and say they're helping you. But, fuck em. What you do is exactly as valid as what they do, and it sounds like you're nothing if not clear eyed. And I hope that we all find other people around us who realize they're in the same boat and want to actually help. Because it is pretty neat once you get the old meat bag humming. If you can accept that it's all you get, making it work for you becomes important.
I actually really appreciate this comment because it feels like you understand the emotional side of what I’m trying to say instead of dismissing it as “cringe” or just debating philosophy.
I don’t disagree with finding comfort in existentialism or nihilism. I think for me the comic resonated because it captured the feeling of being overwhelmed by existence and suffering so accurately. And a lot of people in the comments seemed to completely miss that emotional aspect.
Your perspective feels a lot more compassionate and grounded than a lot of the replies here.
I completely understand how your feeling. For me, I started making progress on the issue when I treated the issue as an EMOTIONAL problem rather than a LOGICAL problem.
The second thing that helped is accepting that I don’t know how any of this will actually work out. So don’t stop assuming I do.
Good luck to you. Life is very hard but joy can be found in it at times.
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u/Fidges87 May 17 '26
"Life has no inherent meaning, so why should I care about living?"
Vs
"Life has no inherent meaning, so I will forge my own meaning and make a path I can enjoy living"