Does Cultural self-hatred cause depression?

[loneyboy91 9]

I wish that I was not born in Ireland and days I get very depressed about  been Irish.

[Follena 1,127]

Oh dear, don't do that to yourself. I have never met an Irish person I did not like. I've had three good friends who were Irish. Is there such a thing as cultural self-hatred? I never saw the Irish as hating themselves. I have seen they suffered a lot in history and so have many countries like Poland. Maybe you could share a bit more about why being Irish is an issue? There are many Irish in america and they are beloved.

[lex333 1,191]

Gosh, so sorry you feel this way.... I am not so happy about being an American... but, like Follena have very fond thoughts about the Irish. Wishing you well!

[20YearsandCounting 6,767]

loneyboy91, I'm sorry you feel this way about yourself.  You are a valuable human being, and you have a lot to offer this world.  Don't give up on yourself. 

[loneyboy91 9]

1 hour ago, Follena said:

Oh dear, don't do that to yourself. I have never met an Irish person I did not like. I've had three good friends who were Irish. Is there such a thing as cultural self-hatred? I never saw the Irish as hating themselves. I have seen they suffered a lot in history and so have many countries like Poland. Maybe you could share a bit more about why being Irish is an issue? There are many Irish in america and they are beloved.

It hard to place this in words but Ireland  feels like it in black and white. People say it must be great been Irish but I don't see any thing great about it. To be honest I could make a list of reasons why I wish I was not Irish.

[loneyboy91 9]

1 hour ago, lex333 said:

Gosh, so sorry you feel this way.... I am not so happy about being an American... but, like Follena have very fond thoughts about the Irish. Wishing you well!

I would love to be a American.

[scienceguy 4,388]

I feel that way to sometimes so I can understand where your coming from, My grandparents came from Germany, russia and poland.My grandmother told me how her grandfather was a gestapo, she said he stole money from the jews and thats why he was so rich and she believes our family is cursed. She was abused by both her mother and father, she is a mess, she is dx with so many mental illness from her parents abuse, she married my grandfather that was a alcoholic who abused her and my father. I feel guilty all the time and feel like im tainted being related to my family, my aunt and uncle are also messed up like my father. I have 100's of memories of being verbal abused by my father, and having to confort my grandmother when she was suicidal, My bloodline feels tainted. What the nazi did to brain wash my grandparents led to all the abuse in my fathers side of the family.

Im sorry your not happy about your cultural heritage, I have always seen the irish as fun people, if you don't mind me asking what don't you like about being irish?

Edited November 5, 2016 by scienceguy

[loneyboy91 9]

8 hours ago, scienceguy said:

I feel that way to sometimes so I can understand where your coming from, My grandparents came from Germany, russia and poland.My grandmother told me how her grandfather was a gestapo, she said he stole money from the jews and thats why he was so rich and she believes our family is cursed. She was abused by both her mother and father, she is a mess, she is dx with so many mental illness from her parents abuse, she married my grandfather that was a alcoholic who abused her and my father. I feel guilty all the time and feel like im tainted being related to my family, my aunt and uncle are also messed up like my father. I have 100's of memories of being verbal abused by my father, and having to confort my grandmother when she was suicidal, My bloodline feels tainted. What the nazi did to brain wash my grandparents led to all the abuse in my fathers side of the family.

Im sorry your not happy about your cultural heritage, I have always seen the irish as fun people, if you don't mind me asking what don't you like about being irish?

@scienceguy I'm sorry to hear that. What I don't like about been Irish. It hard to say it rain a lot here and Irish people are jerks. I feel like it a cure to be Irish. It feel like i'm missing out so much in life. 

 

You should not feel bad for what your grandparents did, it was grandparents that did that not you.

 

Edited November 5, 2016 by loneyboy91

[loneyboy91 9]

In my view Ireland is a failed state. I find it a embarrassment to be Irish. 

Edited November 9, 2016 by loneyboy91

[20YearsandCounting 6,767]

I wonder if your negative view of yourself is coloring your view of nationality.

[scienceguy 4,388]

13 hours ago, 20YearsandCounting said:

I wonder if your negative view of yourself is coloring your view of nationality.

I would also like to add that at the end of the day a nation is a set of customs, a goverment and just a piece of land. It is good your not nationalistic, I don't take any pride in any nation because I think its silly thing to believe. I live in america and really don't care about being patriotism, if I lived in Candian, Britain, Germany, russia, china, mexico, etc I still would not consider myself as superior or different than anyone from any other country, it is all just a social construct, a country is just a set of lines on a piece of paper with different groups that overpower others with different degrees of violence and oppression. I know some people might consider me unpatriotic but I would take it as a compliment. At the end of the day we are all just human beings a irish, american, British Canadian  human being are all equal, there is nothing on the basis of nationally that makes one superior to one another. You are just a person trying to make a living in ireland what your government does, does not make you good or bad.

Edited December 12, 2016 by scienceguy

[feeling_lost 883]

On 11/5/2016 at 11:57 PM, loneyboy91 said:

What I don't like about been Irish. It hard to say it rain a lot here and Irish people are jerks. I feel like it a cure to be Irish. It feel like i'm missing out so much in life. 

There's plenty of jerks all around the world. Every country has it's good and bad, both people and things. And being a certain nationality doesn't mean you're all the same. We are all individuals, after all.

[feeling_lost 883]

I also wanted to move away from where I live when I was younger. I thought it was just dead boring here and it would so much better living elsewhere. But later on I started to see good things where I live and I am not so eager on the thought of living abroad anymore. I am not opposed to it but just not feeling as strongly about it as I did at some point. I still love to travel and see the world though.

[ex nihilo 34]

On 11/4/2016 at 10:01 PM, loneyboy91 said:

I would love to be a American.

When I was younger I had some strong cultural hatred toward being American, which no doubt did figure into my depression... I mean we would rather have people die than raise taxes on our richest. We seem to worship money here, because what else do we have? Our cultural history is literally built on taking: from the native americans, the slaves, and now that we live in a global economy, our own middle class/poor. We don't have the rich cultural history that you do, going back thousands of years. 

In any case I don't think it's healthy to be a reflection of one's own national biases; we don't get to decide where we're born, and while it does certainly shape us, we are not "products" of our country.

 

[scienceguy 4,388]

2 minutes ago, ex nihilo said:

When I was younger I had some strong cultural hatred toward being American, which no doubt did figure into my depression... I mean we would rather have people die than raise taxes on our richest. We seem to worship money here, because what else do we have? Our cultural history is literally built on taking: from the native americans, the slaves, and now that we live in a global economy, our own middle class/poor. We don't have the rich cultural history that you do, going back thousands of years. 

In any case I don't think it's healthy to be a reflection of one's own national biases; we don't get to decide where we're born, and while it does certainly shape us, we are not "products" of our country.

 

Amen to that I have no idea why we celebrate chirstopher columbus day when he really didn't discover america, and began the Indian genocide. Almost all countries have a dark history so I try to remember that when I tell myself if I move everything would be different in another country.

 

[standup 1,272]

I think it's natural to wonder why you are depressed. But to answer the question in the thread title, no, I don't think cultural self-hatred causes depression. Sometimes when we seek to figure out what's causing depression, we may attribute it to things that just don't matter much. They may be convenient answers, but that doesn't make them true.

In your case, I don't see how being Irish is something to be ashamed about, as others have said here. Depression has a way of distorting your thinking. Sometimes depression simply causes depression and for whatever reason, that may be difficult to accept. If you can find a way to treat your depression through treatment or otherwise, I don't think you'll be thinking about your nationality so much.

[loneyboy91 9]

3 hours ago, feeling_lost said:

I also wanted to move away from where I live when I was younger. I thought it was just dead boring here and it would so much better living elsewhere. But later on I started to see good things where I live and I am not so eager on the thought of living abroad anymore. I am not opposed to it but just not feeling as strongly about it as I did at some point. I still love to travel and see the world though.

@feeling_lostthat same way I feel. I feel that the place I live is just dead boring and I would much better living some were else.

[loneyboy91 9]

Thank you for all your replies.

[feeling_lost 883]

8 minutes ago, loneyboy91 said:

@feeling_lostthat same way I feel. I feel that the place I live is just dead boring and I would much better living some were else.

Have you traveled in other countries? Traveling will definitely be eye-opening, and that was something that made me appreciate a lot certain things in my own country. And also, realize that every country - same as people - have its good and bad things. 

[loneyboy91 9]

2 hours ago, feeling_lost said:

Have you traveled in other countries? Traveling will definitely be eye-opening, and that was something that made me appreciate a lot certain things in my own country. And also, realize that every country - same as people - have its good and bad things. 

I have not travelled to other countries but I would like too.