Atheism and depression

Neoncamouflage · January 13, 2010, 03:57:05 PM

Not sure if this is the right place for this but I used to love this site and figured it was worth a shot. I'm 17, been an atheist for several years and a doubter for many more. Recently though I've just been stuck on the thought that if there's no afterlife then nothing really matters. Everyone we know will one day die, everything we've done forgotten, and no real point to it. This has led to me being depressed, more so as things continue and I find myself just enjoying life less. Now I've always been of the mind that we have one life, so live it up. I don't know what happened.

Just wondering if anyone else has gone through this and how they got through it. Or even just your thoughts.

LARA · January 13, 2010, 05:49:20 PM

Well there is life after death, just not for the dead person.

Everyone else still has to keep going.

Life is apparently pointless, you have to give it a purpose. There has to be something harmless to yourself and others you can engage in to entertain yourself in between birth and death. Is there a cool place you want to visit? Some new food to try? A new book you want to read? A group of super religious morons who deserve to be berated? Can you learn something new? Practice a randomn act of kindness? Buy yourself a new pair of shoes? Go dumpster diving and build something artistic or mechanical from the parts you find? Take up origami? Start a blog or your own website?

Kylyssa · January 13, 2010, 06:04:31 PM

I think if you dig at it you'll discover that you have depression and probably would no matter if you were an atheist or a believer. I'm almost 40 years old and I've been an atheist all my life. I've suffered from depression which has made me feel life was pointless at times. But every one of them had its roots in something in my life, something far more tangible than whether or not there's an afterlife. It has always been, in every case, something like underlying dis-satisfaction with some aspect my life or after-effects from trauma.

Examine your life and see if there's anything about it that makes you feel dis-satisfied, powerless, anxious or afraid. The root cause is often slippery so take your time looking for it.

I'm seriously not trying to be ageist here but as I recall, existential angst is a normal part of life for teens and young adults. I think it's something to do with the physical and emotional adulthood coming too far ahead of societal adulthood and creating a persistent undercurrent of stress.

curiosityandthecat · January 13, 2010, 06:07:51 PM

Not to sound condescending, but part of that, I think, is being seventeen. I'm in your boat: atheist in my teens, doubter long before (never really was a believer at all, frankly). As LARA said, life is inherently meaningless, but it doesn't have to be lived that way. All we have is our experiences and the desire to be happy, so it's our responsibility as humans to make that happen. Do what you want, in as far as it doesn't prevent others from doing what they want, too.

Are you planning on going to college? That will do wonders for what you're feeling right now. You'll be around people who are intellectual and passionate about a vast myriad of things. It's quite inspiring. Drink, do drugs, have promiscuous sex and be all-around hedonistic until you have to start that 8-5 gig. Or, travel. There's lots of ways to travel the world for free: Peace Corps, the military, exchange programs, or just sign up to teach English in foreign countries, all expenses paid including travel and living arrangements.

Above all, be.

(ps, I was writing this as Kylyssa was writing her post, so her last paragraph and my first were coincidences. Great minds!

)

Neoncamouflage · January 13, 2010, 06:29:02 PM

My family does have a history of depression, though I don't know if that matters and since this is the first time I've been like this I figured that wasn't it. Also I don't have the history most sufferers do, no abuse, no trauma or anything like that in childhood and I've never heard of it just starting for no reason.

I was planning on college, yes. I've been homeschooled my whole life while moving yearly so that kind of screwed any real social opportunities. Was looking forward to college for that, as well as traveling as a DoD teacher. Not sure what to do really, suppose I'll just do as was suggested. Continue on finding things to distract me and hope things pick up.

kenh · January 13, 2010, 06:51:58 PM

QuoteDrink, do drugs, have promiscuous sex and be all-around hedonistic until you have to start that 8-5 gig

Which can lead to further depression or worse...

Will · January 13, 2010, 07:07:34 PM

You decide what matters, Neoncamouflage. If you adore music, then you can choose to live a life filled with music. Music can give your life meaning. If you like children, being a mom or dad can give your life meaning. If you like healing people, being a doctor can give your life meaning. Instead of getting cookie-cutter instructions from ancient myths that have little to no bearing on your life, you can decide what gives your life meaning and pursue it to your heart's content.

curiosityandthecat · January 13, 2010, 07:13:57 PM

Quote from: "kenh"
QuoteDrink, do drugs, have promiscuous sex and be all-around hedonistic until you have to start that 8-5 gig
Which can lead to further depression or worse...

Or lack of a sense of humor, apparently.

Tanker · January 13, 2010, 07:34:59 PM

I was in a similar boat when I was a teen. I was even suicidly depressed for a few years. Part of the problem is your youth. I'm going to guess that you like most teens are trying to identifiy who you are and what you believe with a fairly limited life experience to draw on. Please DON"T take that as condecention I know that is where I was was at your age and many others I've spoken with. It's a bane of youth (not that i'm that old at 26). I can guess that if like me you were in a situation like me where you absolutly knew you were going to die you would fight to keep living.

Try looking at it from this perspective. This is your one and only chance at life so you have more reason then theists, who believe in an after life, to live life to the fullest.

If you won an all expenses paid trip to a luxury resort (life) would you stay home and and say "what's the point in going I'd just have to return home at the end" (the 'pointlessness' of life") or would you go have fun and live it up for all it was worth?

Neoncamouflage · January 13, 2010, 07:51:10 PM

QuoteIf you won an all expenses paid trip to a luxury resort (life) would you stay home and and say "what's the point in going I'd just have to return home at the end" (the 'pointlessness' of life") or would you go have fun and live it up for all it was worth?

It sounds so stupid when you put it like that. I know it doesn't make sense and I've agreed with you on living life to it's fullest for my whole life. Just can't seem to shake this feeling right now. Seems from what you all have said though that it will pass. I'm not suicidal, hopefully won't get there either, just...I don't know, sad. Not sure how else to put it.

Thank you all for your help and input. Reminds me why I loved this site so much.

kenh · January 13, 2010, 07:55:38 PM

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"
Quote from: "kenh"
QuoteDrink, do drugs, have promiscuous sex and be all-around hedonistic until you have to start that 8-5 gig
Which can lead to further depression or worse...
Or lack of a sense of humor, apparently.

Kylyssa · January 13, 2010, 07:56:10 PM

Quote from: "Neoncamouflage"My family does have a history of depression, though I don't know if that matters and since this is the first time I've been like this I figured that wasn't it. Also I don't have the history most sufferers do, no abuse, no trauma or anything like that in childhood and I've never heard of it just starting for no reason.

Well, some people have a biological predisposition toward depression. Depression can be an illness like any other - it can just blind side you. The cause may be biochemical rather than emotional.

In example, my roommate, a bright happy young woman, started having bouts of depression in her early twenties. After a little detective work it got linked to the changing seasons. She has Seasonal Affective Disorder, also called SAD. It's a physical/neurological/emotional phenomenon caused by too little light entering the pupils of the eye during the shorter days of the year. Put a special "grow light" over her desk and "Hey, presto!" she's fine.

Fluctuations in hormones can cause emotional issues, too, and not just in PMS or menopause, either. Men and women experience other hormonal fluctuations as well. Your body could be simply adjusting to the lower hormonal output of a grown-up body.

Stress that causes depression need not be anything as dramatic as child abuse or getting gang raped by little green men, pressures from everyday life can do it, too. You could be worried about paying for college or stressing over schoolwork, lusting or loving after a schoolmate, insecure about your appearance, or simply not getting enough exercise.

Emotions are produced by our squishy organic brains which are delicate and sensitive. Lots of things can go wrong (or even just iffy) with our brains and it's pretty much guaranteed that something will at some time or another during our lives. It's a consequence of the hardware we are dealing with combined with the software we have available.

But anyway, I agree with Curiosity, get out and enjoy life. Hell, don't miss out on all the really awesome things you can do with a young body. If life has no other purpose it is really fucking enjoyable if you give it a chance. I've broken from my non-biological bouts of depression by re-learning how to live in and enjoy the now each time. If you forget about the past and future for a bit and concentrate on enjoy what is happening around and to you right now, you might feel a lot less depressed.

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Atheism and depression