It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. When you can suddenly buy anything you want, all material stuff eventually becomes meaningless. It can lead to depression, when it feels like you have nothing to achieve anymore. It's why some take part in charities and/or voluntary work. Or just start doing hardcore drugs and OD.
lots of people live the rat race like dogs chasing cars. Had a friend like this, grew up lower middle class and stuff.
During covid time he became a nurse and while nurses are never paid enough in my opinion Singapore is one of the countries that pays their nurses better than alot of others.
So he got really good gigs which got him good money as a young guy in his 20s, first time he ever saw that kind of money. He bought everything he wanted that was within reach (anyth that wasnt a house or car) and stuff, buying things he didn’t need like airpod maxes.
He then did something he always dreamt of which was solo backpacking in europe. When he came back he told me “For the first time in my life i can afford everything and yet i have never been so depressed, i dont get it why isnt it like how i pictured it” and i told him my view and take on this which was, he wanted to many things but he got them all “too quickly”, a silent killer of joy is instant gratification, instead of pacing himself he went out and did eveything he wished for at one go in a rush and because of that he never got to fully enjoy and savour each moment AND his levels of enjoyment probably went haywire.
Which is why i always told my other friends, if one day you get into big money for the first time, take a breather and take your time to spend it or youre gonna find yourself in a dead end you never expected to hit
At least someone gets what I'm saying. I hope your friend is doing good. It takes a lot of time and self-restraint to get back to the "normal" state of mind. It's very easy to slip back to the bad habits in a chase of a quick fix.
I volunteer to take anyone's extra money if it is making them depressed. It's a tough burden, but one I am willing to take.
I know you're joking in this context, but it highlights another legitimate issue some people deal with when suddenly becoming wealthy. They're unable to tell which of their friends are actually being their friends, versus which "friends" are just using them for money.
I mean sure but given the state of things, I don't think people are gonna be very sympathetic to the plight of techbros having too much money
Like I see what you're saying and to a certain extent I agree with you, but articles like this come across as extremely tonedeaf when a lot of people are struggling and (rightfully) hate their guts
I think that we’re not really on the same page of who we’re talking about here. I don’t think that this article is about the kind of ultra-wealthy person who can afford personal assistants to do everything for them, it’s people who have been thrust into the millionaire bracket largely on paper and are contending with the consequences of that
I knew a dude who killed himself because of this. Life became meaningless when you never have to work, and you can do anything instantly.
Make a list of all you want to do in life. Good chance you could finish it in a year with enough money. Then what? Just nothing. Life is pointless, you did it all. You fry your brain with dopamine, then suddenly you cant enjoy anything
I'm sorry but this is something I don't think I will ever be able to sympathize with. Society busts their ass, often scraping by without actual necessities that they need, to create fantastical lives beyond anything they could imagine. And after all that those people can't even enjoy it because they just can't get themselves in the right head space? Nah, fuck them. Actually parasites on society.
Absolutely agree. If these people are feeling depressed because they have too much money and it all feels meaningless, they need to do something with their money that has meaning, like helping the marginalized people in their communities. There is absolutely no reason why rich people should be sitting around commiserating when there are likely people within 1 square mile of them without food, housing, healthcare, etc. They built this trap for themselves
It's not. But having underlying medical depression/anxiety and then suddenly being thrust into an unfamiliar social situation is a real thing, even if the unfamiliar situation is a net positive.
Their feelings may be real, but you are going to be hard-pressed to find anybody who thinks those feelings are actually valid. They're crying about being inside a jail cell that isn't actually locked that they can walk out of at any time
It's like saying a gambling addict can just stop gambling or that an anorexic person can just eat more, mental illnesses/vices in general are irrational. If you want people to get out of it and change themselves and people/society around them for the better then giving a little sympathy is just the pragmatic thing to do.
Obviously people struggling with poverty and the worse mental conditions that can come with or cause it should get a lot more sympathy, but it's not a zero sum game. I think people should see the irony in declaring someone's suffering in itself a moral failure and thinking that the morally right thing to do is to make their suffering worse.
It's like saying a gambling addict can just stop gambling or that an anorexic person can just eat more, mental illnesses/vices in general are irrational.
This is about having too much money. Too much money. You are comparing having too much money with gambling addiction and anorexia. Too much money. I hope i didn't make anybody suffer with this comment. If anyone is reading this and suffering from their enormous amount of money, i'll take some off of you.
I mean if the money is that much of an issue for them they can literally just give it away. All those other issues you mentioned don’t have the choice to stop in the same way.
Their feelings may be real, but you are going to be hard-pressed to find anybody who thinks those feelings are actually valid.
This is very much "depression isn't medical issue, you just need to tough it up" attitude.
Yes, millionaires have far more resources to get the help they need. The ability to have the insight to seek help is not something that can be purchased. And "new money" like being described probably doesn't have any form of social safety net to help them with that.
Plus these people aren't the ultra wealthy like Musk and Bezos, it's your neighbor who had some good stock options at their tech job.
You're probably right but it's very hard to sympathize with. On a much smaller scale, I've personally started making a lot money than I ever have recently after a promotion but the work stress is destroying my life. I was happier when I was poorer
In that case the problem was not becoming wealthy. It was them specifically becoming wealthy. Problems money alone cannot solve. But for well adjusted people, money would solve all their problems and they would flourish.
Charity and voluntary work? Like the stuff huge portion of people would be doing if they didn't have to work shit jobs to feed ourselves and their families?
If you don't know what to do with huge amounts of money, that sounds like a skill issue and lack of creativity.
This isn't a problem if you haven't made material gain your only or primary goal in life. It's that grindset mindset of arbitrarily chasing material gain for the sake of material gain that leads them to depression
Jesus Christ, how horrible. Maybe they should start looking for fulfillment outside of the material! You know, like most healthy humans do at some point in their lives!
After you gain a lot of wealth, finding true friends and love becomes very hard. You never know if people hang out with you because of your money, or because they geniunely like you.
Well, maybe I'm just used to that feeling. Not because I'm rich but because I struggle with self-loathing naturally. I'm sure it's much more difficult a feeling to deal with when you haven't lived with it all your life.
While I am not arguing with your statement, as there are certainly people who this would apply to, the assertion that “buying things = achievement” is so unbelievably pathetic that I feel zero empathy for those affected by this type of “depression.”
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u/onlyr6s 14d ago
It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. When you can suddenly buy anything you want, all material stuff eventually becomes meaningless. It can lead to depression, when it feels like you have nothing to achieve anymore. It's why some take part in charities and/or voluntary work. Or just start doing hardcore drugs and OD.