A few days ago, I asked the question of what informs our choices.
For a moment, let's expand that to focus on what informs a person's deliberate — even if subconscious — choice to suffer?
I'd like to think that most sane and psychologically balanced people are going to choose as painless as possible a life. But we live in a world that's not sane or balanced, and I fear we are increasingly creating a sort of "cult of suffering."
If you look at the field of psychology over time, it seems to me that there's a gradual process of what we might call "diagnostic spread" in the works.
A lot of the mental illnesses we are diagnosing and treating these days have been around for decades, but what's happening is that the criteria for inclusion in those conditions is casting a broader and broader net.
I won't get into a philosophical discussion as to whether this is due to the "evil pharmaceutical industry" or pressure on mental health professionals to find conditions where none are present... or something altogether different; I'm just looking at how suffering from something is becoming increasingly normalized.
On a more individual level it feels like it has become almost trendy to sit around and "compare" trauma, like it's some kind of contest. Hardly an enviable model for good mental health!
I suppose the Internet has contributed to the problem, in the sense that now anyone with a browser and a search engine can become an armchair expert on all manners of conditions, and declare themselves part of a specific group of sufferers... after all, misery loves company!
But is the best we can really do to connect with others using suffering as the common thread?
Not sure, of course... could be that my own cognitive biases are leading me in a false direction.
Then again, maybe the world just has more challenges than it used to.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your week!
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2026.09.01 01:39 PDT
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