I read this Guardian article in a German newspaper. Sometimes German newspapers are so lazy and simply translate articles from UK or the US.
And put it behind a paywall.
www.theguardian.com
passages:
This unofficial diagnosis describes the anxiety-driven, compulsive obsession with living as long as possible. While it might seem healthy to monitor your diet, exercise and biomarkers, it can come at a huge emotional cost
"There was just this fixation with living for as long as I possibly could," he says. "This talk around longevity plays right into insecurities and fears, and makes us want to hand over our money."
Wood now believes he was suffering from longevity fixation syndrome, an unofficial diagnosis for an anxiety-driven, compulsive obsession among those who are consumed by the idea of living for as long as possible. The term was recently coined by Jan Gerber, CEO and founder of the Swiss mental health rehab clinic Paracelsus Recovery, who revealed he was seeing a "significant" increase in patients presenting with habits such as those outlined by Wood. Gerber notes that such behaviour is also closely aligned with the eating disorder orthorexia, a fixation with "clean" eating and exercise.
My comment: Always when my friends tell they are scared of dying permaturely I have to giggle. I cannot imagine thinking like that. Even when I am feeling somewhat good my idea is: If I died exactly in this moment very fast and without being aware prior to it this would be the best outcome. I mean afterwards no one and nothing could hurt me anymore. I am immune to all the ills. And so many horrible things happened to me in my life.
Honestly, all of this sounds ridiculous to me. Not the fact happy people don't want to die. But that there is a syndrome that makes people invest myriads of dollas into living forever. It seems like these people don't get the human nature. It feels very immature to me. But they would probably say the same about my mindset. And actually I am in the minority. It is childish wanting to live forever. Have you known accidentally the microphone was on in a conversation between Putin and Xi and they talked about how to reach the age of 150. Such thoughts even seem to be a little bit narcisisstic to me. Especially, when it comes from two dictators that sacrifice the lives of their citizens. (more true for Putin) It seems like the ultimate capitalistic dream. There is also the trend that people at old age are put on machines in hospitals that extend their life time even though their life quality is horrendous. (for profits of course)
I am not in the camp live fast, die young. Not really. I try to be rational about my choices. And there is no need to speed run life. I am very high on the trait risk aversion. It seems though that the wish of wanting to live forever comes with a high cost. Because eventually you will have to face the brutal truth that death is inevtiable. (even if you could live forever, this would probably one of most cruel torture there is, but the definition matters a lot)
Today I read a lot of newspaper articles. One was about looksmaxxing and Clarvicular. Someone who took meth in order to stay skinny. For me that's a similar logic. Meth ruins your body (and life) in the longrun. And only thinking about living forever will have similar consequences.
I have the feeling the internet culture boosts extreme niches. I am not sure whether you can apply this to this forum. Due to the fact there were suicide forums from the start of the internet.
And put it behind a paywall.
The troubling rise of longevity fixation syndrome: ‘I was crushed by the pressure I put on myself’
This unofficial diagnosis describes the anxiety-driven, compulsive obsession with living as long as possible. While it might seem healthy to monitor your diet, exercise and biomarkers, it can come at a huge emotional cost
passages:
This unofficial diagnosis describes the anxiety-driven, compulsive obsession with living as long as possible. While it might seem healthy to monitor your diet, exercise and biomarkers, it can come at a huge emotional cost
"There was just this fixation with living for as long as I possibly could," he says. "This talk around longevity plays right into insecurities and fears, and makes us want to hand over our money."
Wood now believes he was suffering from longevity fixation syndrome, an unofficial diagnosis for an anxiety-driven, compulsive obsession among those who are consumed by the idea of living for as long as possible. The term was recently coined by Jan Gerber, CEO and founder of the Swiss mental health rehab clinic Paracelsus Recovery, who revealed he was seeing a "significant" increase in patients presenting with habits such as those outlined by Wood. Gerber notes that such behaviour is also closely aligned with the eating disorder orthorexia, a fixation with "clean" eating and exercise.
My comment: Always when my friends tell they are scared of dying permaturely I have to giggle. I cannot imagine thinking like that. Even when I am feeling somewhat good my idea is: If I died exactly in this moment very fast and without being aware prior to it this would be the best outcome. I mean afterwards no one and nothing could hurt me anymore. I am immune to all the ills. And so many horrible things happened to me in my life.
Honestly, all of this sounds ridiculous to me. Not the fact happy people don't want to die. But that there is a syndrome that makes people invest myriads of dollas into living forever. It seems like these people don't get the human nature. It feels very immature to me. But they would probably say the same about my mindset. And actually I am in the minority. It is childish wanting to live forever. Have you known accidentally the microphone was on in a conversation between Putin and Xi and they talked about how to reach the age of 150. Such thoughts even seem to be a little bit narcisisstic to me. Especially, when it comes from two dictators that sacrifice the lives of their citizens. (more true for Putin) It seems like the ultimate capitalistic dream. There is also the trend that people at old age are put on machines in hospitals that extend their life time even though their life quality is horrendous. (for profits of course)
I am not in the camp live fast, die young. Not really. I try to be rational about my choices. And there is no need to speed run life. I am very high on the trait risk aversion. It seems though that the wish of wanting to live forever comes with a high cost. Because eventually you will have to face the brutal truth that death is inevtiable. (even if you could live forever, this would probably one of most cruel torture there is, but the definition matters a lot)
Today I read a lot of newspaper articles. One was about looksmaxxing and Clarvicular. Someone who took meth in order to stay skinny. For me that's a similar logic. Meth ruins your body (and life) in the longrun. And only thinking about living forever will have similar consequences.
I have the feeling the internet culture boosts extreme niches. I am not sure whether you can apply this to this forum. Due to the fact there were suicide forums from the start of the internet.
Last edited:
