We've had the last 2 posts from you & Martin about how you are happy to be alone.
A lot of people are comfortable with their own company.
And that is fine, there is nothing wrong with being alone. Everyone is entitled to be alone if that is their preference. This messageboard is in fact a social group of sorts. It's a way to mix with other people without having to actually meet face to face. So I wouldn't say you reject all social interaction, just that you like to choose your own degree of it and that's perfectly reasonable.
No one is saying either that anyone has to marry, has to lead a conventional life in order to be happy.
I think, from memory, David, you mentioned once that you had been assessed as being on the autism spectrum. So socialising with strangers wouldn't be your thing and there's nothing wrong with that. You are entitled to live life the way you want to (within the law of course).
No one is obliged either, to work 5 days in paid employment if they don't want to. If they wish to lead a simpler life, that is their prerogative to do what will suit them best, what will make them happy.
But the discussion here-the opening link-was about depression, anxiety and suicide, most especially amongst young people.
So we're probably talking about people who are not happy. If they want to die, then it doesn't sound to me as if they are too happy with their life.
So, right back in my 1st post, I was trying to look at what reasons there might be for these people to be depressed, anxious, suicidal.
I still think it comes down to a few factors, not all are caused by the same things.
1. mental condition, part of the person's makeup if you like, where (depending on the condition) medication may or may not help.
2. Outside stressors, most particularly economic for older people and perhaps social for teens.
3. Feelings of being rejected, not accepted. Lonely. If you look at quite a few of the school shootings over in US, I think many of those were started by teen boys who wanted to die and who went in to 'get back at' other students & teachers they felt had rejected them.
We're all different but I think what can stress some people out is if they think the degree of difference is too big. For instance, I have a Scottish friend who says that, looking back, she was probably brought up in a poor family but they were all happy and they didn't know they were poor as such because everyone around them was living in exactly the same circumstances.
I also think for a lot of teens, feeling accepted, feeling worthy of respect, is a huge thing. That's why bullying can cause so much stress.
If you look at that article, it also mentions the effect of today's stresses, combined with the lack of community. I think it is that lack of community that has made a lot of stress harder for kids to cope with. Once, most people had their religious group, they usually lived in a smaller village and didn't move far from family, they had the support of others outside the imemdiate family.
I think one of the major causes of stress for people is the sense of isolation. Not just the stresses, but feeling that they have to tackle them alone or without much support.
