Is nihilism the logical extreme of atheism?

[Tonus]

Suffering mentally and physically are a direct result of living in conflict with nature. Don't take your meds: expect the illness to continue.

For the rest, like I've said, in a faithless reality life is unfair.

I think there is some understanding of how the brain works that shows that our subconscious mind operates on something akin to faith. The subconscious mind does not sort out the information it receives, so much as it seems to just accept it all and force us to work with whatever we throw in there. A person who is constantly down on himself and always sees the downside of things is likely to fall short of his potential. The person who expects his life to be successful will achieve far more than others would think he was capable of.

The thing about it is that their initial propositions (if we may call them that) are not true. If pressed, the pessimist would admit that things aren't nearly as bad as he claims, and that the solution to his problems is well within reach. The optimist would likely admit that he is setting goals that seem far out of his reach and depend on factors out of his control. Yet they're both likely to reach the end that they have subconsciously told themselves that they deserve.

In short, we lie to ourselves all the time, and work to make that lie a reality. Not impossible if you are working within reality. But until we can conjure up gods and heavens, the primary benefit of religious belief is comfort and a possible lessening of anxiety. The primary danger is of a life wasted --a life lived waiting for a better future that cannot be dreamed into existence.