What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

[Jess]

It's such a funny idiom because it's so not true. You end up with different mental health issues, relieving the moment with intrusive thoughts, your health deteriorates. It's funny cus people always try to find something positive but maybe there are no positives in traumatic experiences. I asked someone why this happened to me and said to be more empathetic. How does that help me? It only helps others

 

[OrcWitch]

Emotional trauma is like physical injuries, you might have a bad back the rest of your life. I think traumatic emotional injuries make us emotionally walk with a limp the rest of our lives. We shouldn't ever tell that to someone venting out their experiences, the real answer is life is unfair and bad things just happen to people. People don't really know how to talk about these topics, and that's okay.

I personally identify with the idiom. Or on a personal level, my strength matters to me quite a bit. But I'd never prescribe that to another person.

 

[Sprite_Geist]

Try quoting this phrase to someone who has been mangled in a horrific vehicle accident, and is now permanently disabled. There is a more accurate phrase when it comes to this subject...

"Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger." - The Dark Knight (2008).

 

[Mr2005]

It's a load of bollocks. As I've got older some sayings have come to mean a lot more to me and were obviously written by someone who knew what they were talking about and others like this seem like they were written for christmas crackers

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

Actually true in my case, but the strength comes after a long time of extreme weakness. And the strength isn't what you thought strength was before the process started. We might be permanently weakened in relation to others or in relation to our goals.

It does make sense that we'll adapt to circumstances, so if the environment is hostile we might develop a tolerance of harsh conditions (psychological, material, whatever). That's definitely a valid definition of the word, imo.

 

[irememberinnocence]

I'll just share my own experience, which happens to be similar to your perspective. What hasn't killed me has truly made me weaker. I am an emotional and physical wreck and a shell of a human. I dissociate a lot of the time and feel foreign in my own body, or weightless like air. Its almost like I'm so weak I don't exist. I hate people saying I'm strong, because I'm in a seriously weakened state compared to the life that once burned so brightly.

Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger." - The Dark Knight (2008).

I don't know the context of that quote but I love it. The quote rings totally true in my case. Impossible to even act normal by this point.

 

[Sprite_Geist]

I don't know the context of that quote but I love it. The quote rings totally true in my case. Impossible to even act normal by this point.

According to search results it is a twist on the quote in this threads title; the original quote was said by Friedrich Nietzsche. It is not explained directly in the movie what the quote means, but I think that it refers to the fact that a dangerous situation can change an individuals personality. Yes you may have survived it, and only by a thin margin, but the experience will leave long-lasting psychological scars.

 

[FuneralCry]

I think that saying is toxic positivity. At least in my case, the more negative things I have been through, it has made me weaker and more tired of living. I may not be physically dead, but I have died inside. I believe as humans there is only so much we can take. It is just a coping mechanism for many people to try and find something positive in negative situations. In many cases, things are hopeless and there is simply nothing to be gained. People often do not want to face those facts.

 

[deflationary]

The original quote from Nietzsche is apparently "whatever doesn't kill *me*, makes me stronger" I think in his context it was meant to be more aspirational than literal. Or maybe his definition of death was more expansive than mere physical death. Otherwise the end of his life really proved him wrong.

 

[Feeding Pigeons]

The idiom should be revised.
"What doesn't kill you might leave you a vegetable."
That'd be more accurate.