From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha living deatha living deatha life that is so unpleasant that it seems better to be dead → living
Examples from the Corpus
a living death• But the hard labour for criminals which replaced judicial execution was so appalling that it was in effect a living death.• If you have opted for non-action, then you have opted for a living death.• Life without hope is a living death.• In anorexia nervosa, which becomes a living death, the same connections are prevalent, together with the same confusing implications. 