Discussion Is there a difference between wanting to kill yourself and wishing you were never born?

[babydoctor]

Is there a difference between wanting to kill yourself and wishing you were never born? Either personally or philosophically?

 

[BrainSplatter]

Yes I believe so if I was never born that would mean I wouldn't have experienced all this pain trauma suffering because I would simply cease to exist. That's the thing about birth it's non consensual, even without my personal trauma this world is horrible.

 

[Unlucky777]

Absolutely. I wish I was never born so I would never have to have the displeasure of even thinking of killing ms. Not ever existing would be 100000000x better than ever having existed, for me anyway

 

[twistedtransistor69]

I'd say so. You can wish you were never born but still not want to kill yourself, kind of like being passively vs actively suicidal I guess?

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think so. There are certainly suicidal people here who's circumstances only became bad recently- so, they were and still are to some extent- grateful they were born and had the chance to experience life. Even though it's ended up like this. Plus, many who still see possibilities and value in life itself. If not so much- theirs now.

I suppose more philosophically, the one I find more interesting is- can you truly be pro- choice and not be an anti- natalist? Because- being pro- natilism births beings here who didn't/ couldn't consent and who still (arguably) don't really have free choice to be able to leave. Everything- biology, family, society tries to keep us here. Whether we want to be or not. Can a person whole heartedly support choice when they have effectively denied/ ignored or hugely restricted another being's capacity to choose?

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

I wish I were never born

my problems began only after I was born

I didn't have any problems no pain no ability to suffer unbearable pain for all of the 13.8 billion years before I was born

i don't see any reason why i have to live a second more, even if there were no pain or suffering or problems but life is full of those horrible things with always the possibility of extreme pain or suffering so bad the pain is a trillion times worse than the worst one can imagine.

i don't see any reason to risk such unbearable pain and extreme torture possible or probable in life.

the pleasure addictions are so fleeting, meaningless, and imo destructive , very fleeting : how fast did this 2025 year fly by? in a blink it will be 2026. the horrible thing is that a second of the worst pain can seem to go on forever and last a thousand years .

a lot of people tell me i have to live . i ask why to risk extreme torture, to work so hard for the "privilege" of falling into a trap of unbearable agony?

 

[itsgone2]

Never born would have been great. I've had a bad life and i turned the luck I did have into nothing

 

[Blueberry Panic]

Wanting to kill yourself is about ending pain that's happening now. It's active, urgent, often about escape.

Wishing you were never born is about rejecting your existence entirely. No action, no blood, just "this shouldn't have started." It's quieter, more numb, more about feeling like a mistake than wanting to die.

Philosophically: suicide says I exist and choose to stop. Never wanting to be born says this whole setup was wrong from the beginning.

Honestly its just different flavors of the same suffering.