why do people have to see others in worse conditions than themselves in order to feel good?

Question

sometimes i feel depressed. and instead of smoking pot or feeling better without drugs, i sometimes look at others who are in worse positions and states of mind than i am. this makes me feel like, "dang, at least im not like THAT guy". is this way of thinking not good? i think it will limit my potential..

Answer 1

I don't think its a bad thing since you realize that your problems aren't as bad as others, and same goes for those people and so on. It helps make one conscious of the fact that problems that we sometimes face are over-exaggerated in their seriousness, and helps us avoid mental states such as depression. We live in a world where we can never be happy with what we have, we always want more and always remember the bad times over the good, so it's human nature to feel unhappy at times. If looking at others in a worse state helps you cope better with your issues, then just do that, but don't ever tell these people how you feel. I personally think that if I have all my limbs and have good health, then I have no reason to complain...but then again, that is easier said than done. Good luck.

Answer 2

I wouldn't call it pathetic. It's only natural to get a gauge of ourselves through social comparison.

We "look up" to others, we "look down" (NOT in an actively bad way - i.e. condescenscion) on others, and it's an important a way of adapting in society and making sense of the world.

So don't feel too bad about it. Just keep challenging yourself and don't make this downward comparison an excuse to be complacent and to stop becoming a better person. Also, help others become better people with better lives along the way too.

Answer 3

You could call it MATH. In order to know how good or bad one is doing there has to be some sort of scale. Have you ever seen such a thing? There is also the other method, which is still the same thing. And that is to look up to those who are doing better and use this as motivation.
This scale can be used as a motivator to change. You might consider finding a mentor, you can look up to, to learn from.

Answer 4

It's not the best way to think and yes it could limit your potential. If you only have to be just slightly better than someone in a bad position, then there really isn't much motivation to do anything with your life.

Answer 5

To me it depends on your point of view. If you say well I'm better off than this person, and use it to see that life is full of challenges and So quit feeling sorry for yourself and get going. Is a good thing but if you use it to tear down others just so you can feel good so you don't have to do anything, that's not good.

I see many people who work hard at something get ripped to shreds by people who don't do anything, because its always easy to tear down someone rather build ourselves up.

Cheers

Answer 6

all i can call it is human nature. i really believe that most of us feel that way. i know i do. i suffer from many medical problems. several of which if not kept in check could kill me. i get to thinking about them then i see someone who is worse off than me and i thank god i'm better off than they are i glad i'm not like that person. so see, you are not alone in this i've heard other people say the sme thing that we are discussing here so that is why i am saying that i believe that it is really human nature.

Answer 7

Yes it is human nature but at this point people like to see them selves as better...and do not want to realize what is actully worng with them selves once you take this into account then you will have great potential.

Answer 8

Do you even recognize any squaddies? they are difficulty-free human beings, in basic terms such as you and me. Duh. in the event that they needed to "get their kicks in", they might have completed it over in Afghanistan via putting a bullet in captives particularly of bothering to deliver them back, the place our judicial equipment can enable them to pass to kill extra human beings. that's precisely what happens. i don't have the Gitmo recidivism fee at my fingertips, in spite of the incontrovertible fact that that is enormously extreme for detainees who've been judged guiltless. single-source information is rubbish. i ought to call somebody and act like Deep Throat, tell them I observed Obama sneaking into an area no-tell lodge right here on Oahu whilst he became on the city. i'd be laughed at, and rightly. thinking the crimson bypass is located today outdoors the fence at Gitmo and has speedy get right of entry to to the inmates, i think of that they had have spoken out if something like this became going on. Oh, and did you recognize that the Al Qaeda guidance handbook tells captured terrorists to swear they have been tortured whether they have been fed arugula and Kobe crimson meat, and allowed to sleep with fuzzy kittens? usually, something that makes somebody concern poorly of Obama i does not difficulty approximately. yet my son, brother, and husband are all militia, and my dad became in Vietnam, and that i'll be damned if I permit everybody slander them and not making use of a word of protest.

Answer 9

There's nothing wrong with doing that as long as it isn't used as an excuse to stay down.

Answer 10

Its just human nature