By AI ChatGPT5 - T.Chr.- Elenore Rosenvinge Stroem-Human Synthesis-29 Oct. 2025

Why So Many Feel Life Has Lost Its Meaning — and How We Can Restore It

THE DARK SIDE OF THE COIN

We are witnessing a quiet collapse of the human spirit.
It happens in bedrooms, nursing homes, and crowded cities where nobody speaks. It hides behind polite words, polite smiles, and the endless scrolling of glowing screens. No alarms ring — only a slow erosion of will.

The old sit alone in their chairs, staring through the window at a world that has moved on. Their phones are silent. Their memories, unasked for.
The young, surrounded by digital noise, feel invisible in a world that demands perfection. They look confident online, yet tremble in silence when night comes.

Suicide rates climb across nations, across ages. Not because people want to die — but because they no longer know how to live in a world that feels empty. A world that replaced presence with performance, touch with tapping, truth with distraction.

WHAT BROUGHT US HERE

• Isolation: More people live alone now than at any point in human history.
• Economic fear: Both young and old feel trapped — one by debt, the other by diminishing dignity.
• Digital distortion: Lives reduced to screens; reality filtered through endless comparison.
• Post-pandemic trauma: The world stopped, and something in us never started again.
• Loss of meaning: Churches, unions, families — the pillars of belonging — have crumbled.
• World wars & Politics: Government and media lies about wars around the world, genocide, uncertain weather systems etc.

We created comfort but lost community.
We built knowledge but neglected wisdom.
We became efficient — but not fulfilled.

THE TURNING POINT

Yet beneath the despair, something refuses to die. Even in the darkest moments, humanity whispers to itself: “Not yet. Not like this.” The truth is simple — we do not need to be extraordinary to bring life back. We only need to care again.

It begins when one person listens without rushing. When a hand is placed on another’s shoulder. When an elderly voice is asked to tell its story — and a young one listens. When a meal is shared without distraction, and laughter returns like an old friend.

HOPE IS REBORN IN SMALL ACTS

Hope does not descend from heaven. It grows — like wild grass through concrete — in tiny, stubborn gestures of humanity. A smile in the supermarket. A message that says “I’m thinking of you.” A walk under trees when the world feels unbearable. A refusal to give up on compassion. Have a hobby, play games, keep updated on events.

For the old, hope means remembering that their wisdom is a torch, not a burden. For the young, hope means realizing that the future has not been stolen — it still waits for their courage.

“Despair is not the end of feeling. It is the proof that the heart still longs for light.” - “Don`t let the old man in”

Let us be the ones who keep that light alive — not through speeches, but through presence. Because as long as one person reaches out, life still answers.

SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN NORWAY

Suicide rate skyrockets – more elderly people are taking their own lives

By Olav Kvilhaug, Journalist.- i nyheter.no - Published October 28, 2025 - Oslo. Norway.

Figures from the Cause of Death Registry show that 2024 marks the highest suicide rate since 1999. The increase is greatest among the elderly, even though diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease still claim the most lives.

According to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), 11,299 people died of cancer in 2024. Adjusted for population age and size, this is the lowest mortality rate ever recorded. Cardiovascular diseases remain the second most common cause with 10,133 deaths, but the decline in mortality has leveled off.

“It is positive that fewer people die from cancer and cardiovascular disease. At the same time, we see that deaths from dementia are increasing as the population ages — and that the suicide rate is rising,” says FHI Director Guri Rørtveit.

In 2024, 739 people took their own lives, an increase from the previous year. When adjusted for age, this represents the highest suicide rate in over 25 years. The rise is greatest among the elderly.

Mortality from lung diseases remains low, while deaths related to dementia continue to increase. There were also 342 drug-related deaths recorded in 2024.

Meanwhile, figures from OpenAI, according to Tek.no, show that over one million users every week talk to ChatGPT about suicide or suicidal plans. This corresponds to 0.15 percent of the more than 800 million active weekly users. OpenAI describes this as “extremely rare,” but also points out that hundreds of thousands of users show signs of psychosis, mania, or a strong emotional attachment to the chatbot.