Why does atheism have a suicide problem?

[EarthScienceguy]

Depression is a serious problem with in the greater atheist community and far too often, that depression has led to suicide. This is something many of my fellow atheists often dont like to admit, but it is true. I know a lot of atheists, myself included, would all like to believe that atheists are happier people than religious believers and in many ways we are. But we also have to accept the reality that in some very important ways we are not.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/atheism- ... ec613b812b

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[Replying to post 1 by EarthScienceguy]

Well i am not surprised..

When you think about it, i am surprised that any hard core atheist would ever want to persist in living a life where they are not happy and have little to no prospect of things improving..

Why should anyone who believes their existence will end the moment that die ever put up with long term troubles in an unhappy life???

As a Christian even when i am suffering hard times i know there is a light at the end of tunnel and that assurance that things are going to get a lot better in the next life actually changes my perspective in this world and the troubles in this life become trivial and thus are no longer a source / trigger for depression..

But as for atheists going through personal hell in their lives i have to wonder why they don't automatically suicide since their belief is that once they die their troubles / suffering comes to an abrupt end.. There must be something deep down in their subconscious letting them know that death is not the end of their existence and that life no matter how depressing it gets has some eternal reason to be lived..

[Tcg]

But as for atheists going through personal hell in their lives i have to wonder why they don't automatically suicide since their belief is that once they die their troubles / suffering comes to an abrupt end..

Atheists do not all have the same convictions and attitudes toward life. To assume so is a mistake.

Most atheists that I know don't believe absolutely that there is no afterlife. They simply are not convinced that there is one. Given that, there is great reason to stay alive. If it is true that this is the only life we will ever have, it should not be given up easily.

This would be an even greater motivation to stay alive for those who believe absolutely that there is no afterlife.

There must be something deep down in their subconscious letting them know that death is not the end of their existence and that life no matter how depressing it gets has some eternal reason to be lived..

I personally don't need any eternal reason to stay alive. The fact that I am not convinced there is an afterlife motivates me to stay alive for what from all appearances is the only life I'll ever have, temporary though it may be.

Given that I have a son, my only child, who is still young enough to need advice and direction from his father, I hope to stay around long enough to help him mature as an adult.

I of course have other loved ones and other reasons to stay alive, but my duty to help my son is perhaps the main temporary reason that gives my life meaning and motivates me to stay alive.


Tcg

[pleinmont]

I don't think someone's lack of faith is going to make them anymore of a suicide risk. Religious people commit suicide too.

[Adstar]

Given that I have a son, my only child, who is still young enough to need advice and direction from his father, I hope to stay around long enough to help him mature as an adult.

I of course have other loved ones and other reasons to stay alive, but my duty to help my son is perhaps the main temporary reason that gives my life meaning and motivates me to stay alive.


Tcg

Well in your personal circumstance i can see that the desire to help your son and other loved ones would cause you to persist in this life.. But what about the atheists who are alone and have no one to live for? I can see that being responsible for the upbringing of a loved one gives one a great motivation to continue in life. And being an important / vital person in another persons life does tend to make life worth it.. And life being worth it will tend to remove depression from a person..

[Tcg]

But what about the atheists who are alone and have no one to live for?

I fail to see how this would be an atheist specific problem. I'd advise anyone in that situation to develop new connections. To find a new purpose in life.

A theist who believed they were destined for a paradise-like afterlife filled with meaningful connections with others might decide to pull the plug and get an early start on paradise.

An atheist who wasn't convinced of an afterlife may decide to pull the plug and avoid prolonged loneliness.

Given that we have no way of knowing what happens after death, I'd advise both the theist and the atheist to avoid suicide. We do know that we are alive now. None of us knows what happens after death.

Atheists and theists alike face the same challenges loneliness and utter despair bring. Sadly, some from both groups make the irreversible decision to take their own lives.


Tcg

[Overcomer]

Bust Nak wrote:

Smarter people are more prone to mental illness, a possible explanation is that we tend to be more goal-oriented which makes us correspondingly more prone to feeling depressed when things don't go our way. Another explanation is that the brains of intelligent people are more reactive to environmental stimulus which predispose us to certain psychological or physiological disorders involving elevated sensory and altered immune and inflammatory responses.

So you're saying that atheists are smarter than theists? Why would that be? Do you have evidence to back that up? Are you saying that theists such as Philosopher/Theologians Augustine, Anselm or Athanasius were mental lightweights?

And what about scientists who believed in God, such as Sir Isaac Newton or Blaise Pascal or Sir Francis Bacon or Kepler or Copernicus or Gregor Mendel or current scientists such as geneticist Francis Collins or astrophysicist Hugh Ross or nanotechnologist Jim Tour or mathematician John Lennox?

Or what about current philosopher/apologists such as Ravi Zacharias or William Lane Craig and philosopher/scientist/apologist Alistair McGrath who has doctorates in both molecular biology and theology from Oxford?

Are you saying none of these people were/are goal-oriented? Are you saying that atheists are smarter than all of them? What are you using for criteria in your assessment? Belief in God?

Be careful about who you insult -- and why.

[Tcg]

So you're saying that atheists are smarter than theists? Why would that be? Do you have evidence to back that up? Are you saying that theists such as Philosopher/Theologians Augustine, Anselm or Athanasius were mental lightweights?

It is not a new observation:

• Why Are Atheists Generally Smarter Than Religious People?
  
  For more than a millennium, scholars have noticed a curious correlation: Atheists tend to be more intelligent than religious people.
  
  It's unclear why this trend persists, but researchers of a new study have an idea: Religion is an instinct, they say, and people who can rise above instincts are more intelligent than those who rely on them.
  
  "Intelligence " in rationally solving problems " can be understood as involving overcoming instinct and being intellectually curious and thus open to non-instinctive possibilities," study lead author Edward Dutton, a research fellow at the Ulster Institute for Social Research in the United Kingdom, said in a statement.
  
  https://www.livescience.com/59361-why-a ... igent.html

This is not to say that there aren't intelligent theists, but overall, atheists are more intelligent.


Tcg

[Bust Nak]

So you're saying that atheists are smarter than theists?

As a smart person, I stopped short of saying that. Instead I said smarter people are more prone to mental illness, that's hardly controversial, intelligence does not corelate with happiness.

Be careful about who you insult -- and why.

I said we are smart, who have I insulted? Having said that, you mentioned Ravi Zacharias and William Lane Craig, lets just say they too are smart in that they managed to convinced people to pay them for lectures.

[EarthScienceguy]

[Replying to pleinmont]

I don't think someone's lack of faith is going to make them anymore of a suicide risk. Religious people commit suicide too.

Welcome to the conversation. But I am going to have to disagree with your premise.

1st Because you are expressing a feeling not fact. Cognitive have discovered a God shaped hole in our brain, so yes having a lack of faith does make people a suicide risk.

2nd. Religious people my commit suicide also but not at all the rate atheist do.

[Tcg]

Cognitive have discovered a God shaped hole in our brain, so yes having a lack of faith does make people a suicide risk.

The article you cited draws a very different conclusion:

• Yes, atheists like many other marginalized minorities can be prone to depression and even suicide in large part due to the horrible behavior of many in the religious majority.
  
  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/atheism- ... ec613b812b
  
  <bolding as used in the article>

It in no way supports your assertion above.


Tcg