Dear Murtaza:

When I said that I quit earlier, I meant that I quit discussing what does not interest me and/ or when I don’t see the use for the discussion. But I do want to read from you and reply to you any time you post- I will simply skip a topic that I don’t want to reply to. It is possible that I skip a topic that you bring up not because I don’t want to address it, but because I didn’t notice it, or got caught up in another topic- in which case, repeat the topic in a future post.

As to the mercy killing topic that you brought up: if a person’s life is 80% bad and 20% good, “wouldn’t it be a mercy, a morally good thing to actually kill the person?”- the practice of voluntary euthanasia/ physician assisted suicide is legal in many places in the world, and it is about a certified medical doctor prescribing a lethal dose of drugs to a person who is suffering, and the purpose is mercy. One of the taproom regulars received such a prescription for his wife when she suffered from cancer, but she died before he filled that prescription. Assisted suicide is legal in parts of Europe, the U.S., Australia, and in Canada. People who want a physician-assisted suicide must meet certain criteria, including: having a terminal illness, proving they are of sound mind, voluntarily and repeatedly expressing their wish to die, and taking the specified, lethal dose of drugs by their own hand. I know this does not answer your specific question, but that’s as close as I get to answering it.

“I have a really low emotional intelligence.. I laugh when I want to cry, I laugh when I feel bothered, I don’t even know how to deal with anxiety, I ignore it, try to reassure myself- doesn’t work, the only thing that works is sleep.. I have a really low self esteem, and I really don’t know how to make it higher, emotion is like a mystery to me, I need steps, order, to know what to do, when I read online about regulating emotion, I just say ‘what on earth do I do?’ I actually would appreciate any kind of advice regarding this subject”-

– You asked for advice, so here it is: first thing for you to do is to stop trying to find a solution to suffering, stop looking for a way out- for the rest of 2021. For the rest of this year, give zero thought to ending your suffering, completely remove your attention from this topic. Do this today,  let me know how it feels for you, and we’ll take it from there (one step at a time).

anita