it seems to me that a lot of my friends want to die young. could anyone give me a better idea of why this might be and if so, what i can say to mabe change their minds?
2007-09-25 19:17:28 · 15 answers · asked by yu-nanimus 2 in Family & Relationships ➔ Friends
I have never been to the edge of that cliff, but I've been close...
Sometimes things get so bad it seems there is no point in going on. I grew up in a time when smoochy love songs were all the rage, and it gave me a false view of relationships and love. When my new wife and I had our first huge argument, I was devastated. That's not supposed to happen! Clearly I should not have married her. Problem was, no-one had ever taught me that arguing is normal (my parents must have argued but they never did in front of us kids), and no-one ever taught me HOW to argue. I worry that young people are constantly exposed to so much hate, cynicism, bad news, wrong messages and twisted people, coming thru in the music many of them listen to, that they too get a false view of life. There's no balancing messages coming though. Part of the problem is that for young people a year is a lifetime. To be 40 years old is inconceivable. To be 50 means you must be falling to bits, and over 60... well...
Imagine if you watched History channel all the time on TV (do you have that where you are?) - which has a big focus on Wars like WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam. I like watching it because it both horrifies and fascinates and teaches. But sooner or later I have to watch Discovery or National Geographic - to capture the beauty of our planet and balance out the bad stuff.
So - to answer your question - if the problem is a constant stream of negative messages, then the answer is to balance the input with positive messages too. Somehow you have to get your friends to experience the beauty of life. They need to hear stories of success from other young people. They need to talk to old people too, who will tell them that while there are many problems in this world right now, there were problems just as bad when they grew up, and that will always be the case.
Some people choose religion (I mean the organised Churches) - but if you do believe in a God, you don't need a Church or to be with a bunch of other people in order to talk to your God. Organised religion tends to be a short-term solution ( a 'phase') for those facing crisis, and many young people are usually fairly cynical about religion, expecially when they see the conduct of some so-called Christians.
I call myself a Christian and I believe in a God yet I don't go to Church. Something or someone has been looking after me in the background for a long time!
The unfortunate fact is that the urge to suicide is (apart from Lemmings who for some reason pack-jump over cliffs) a peculiarly Human thing. Animals don't do it. But then, animals don;t have such high expectations. They expect to live until they die or become food for something else, and to breed, and to be part of a group (except crocodiles!).
Humans... well we have high expectations, and we constanlty are exposed to images of what life should be like. A good example is the catwalk, where painfully thin skeletal woman act as clothes-horses for designers. In doing so they cause young girls to believe that they should look like that. Anorexia, here we come.
So. Easy fixed - get rid of expectations! No, that won;t work. But what about educating young people about how to set their own expectations? and helping them decide which are realistic expectations, and what is unrealistic? So there's another potential answer.
And now I have waffled long enough and everyone is asleep including me.
Good luck with your friends. Oh... One more thing. Are their parents aware these young people feel like this? Or can;t they talk to their parents? I have 4 kids and I would want to know. Nothing would destroy me faster or more completely than knowing one of my kids needed help but wouldn;t tell me - or wouldn;t make me listen.
Punty
2007-09-25 19:51:41 · answer #1 · answered by Punty 2 · 7⤊ 3⤋
I Want To Die Young
2016-11-16 07:23:23 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
why do some people want to die young?
it seems to me that a lot of my friends want to die young. could anyone give me a better idea of why this might be and if so, what i can say to mabe change their minds?
2015-08-16 20:23:32 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are not even thinking of dieing young. They just don't want to live anymore. They are not thinking or they are thinking they have such a bad life. How is their home life--good, bad, or just ok. Could be depression. Could be so very many things. I really don't think there is a lot you can say or do to help them. I am so very sorry. I guess just be there for them if they wish to talk and just be their friend. Good luck
2007-09-25 19:28:19 · answer #4 · answered by old_woman_84 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋
They must feel hopeless about their futures and growing older. I know when I was young I just could not imagine the horror of being older, say above 30. It just seemed unimaginable.
Now I am 55 and it isn't so bad at all like I thought it would be to be old. Your feelings about things change as you mature.
2007-09-25 19:20:46 · answer #5 · answered by mugurelriscuta 2 · 10⤊ 0⤋
I think it can be convenient to say you want to die young when you still have time. It's really hard to say 'I want to die today' though. I think it's mostly laziness that puts that idea in someones head.... they don't have to worry about the future. As far as changing their minds, you can start with telling them to be realistic, because most people who thought they wanted to die young (including myself) when I was young are still around today.
2007-09-25 19:22:57 · answer #6 · answered by the Boss 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
This world is so cruel! Who wants to live in a world with suffering and hating other ppl because of something they can't help? So sucks
2014-10-27 10:50:09 · answer #7 · answered by 60sgal1 3 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Cuz life is so hard and they probably can't see their future as being old. Could be that they just want to party and live the day. Sometimes it is just easier that way. Expand their minds to see things that would be cool to try to give reason to live a longer life.
2007-09-25 19:23:39 · answer #8 · answered by Gohappy 3 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps your friends are depressed and don't know what will make them happy. I don't think there is much you can do to change their minds. If they are thinking of suicide then just let them know that they will pay the karma in their next life time if they do that.
2007-09-25 19:21:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
I used to think that.
Die young and leave a pretty corpse!
When you get to 30 you start changing your mind!
When you get to 40 you have definitely changed your mind!
2007-09-25 19:27:04 · answer #10 · answered by iamaustralian 4 · 12⤊ 1⤋