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Saying that "mental illness" is maladjustment to reality
Thought is an experience like any other, and experience can only be made in the present. Which means that when I think, I live in the present, thus living in the present cannot possibly mean "don't think" as you say.
You have misunderstood what living in the present really means. It means being aware at every moment, experiencing everything that can be experienced moment after moment, it means to understand that each new moment is a unique moment, each experience is a unique experience, each thought a new and unique thought. Living in the present means not living in the past, thus leaving all prejudices and ruminations behind. Living in the present means not living in the future, thus not clinging to any particular expectation or anxiety. In my book, this is the definition of a sane mind.
Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Happiness, if such a thing exists, can only be found in the present
If being well-adjusted is to worry, then we should just all kill ourselves.
originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: gosseyn
Thought is an experience like any other, and experience can only be made in the present. Which means that when I think, I live in the present, thus living in the present cannot possibly mean "don't think" as you say.
Thinking is always about the past or the future.
originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: pl3bscheese
Well done. I mean that most sincerely. However, you weren't living in the present when you embarked upon that course of action: you were working towards a future goal.
On the contrary, it is my experience that one is only ever of one's happiness in retrospect.
The future is a development of the present, you cannot plan for the future if you're not paying attention to the present.
originally posted by: Astyanax
a reply to: gosseyn
The future is a development of the present, you cannot plan for the future if you're not paying attention to the present.
Sorry. As you said earlier, you can only experience one thing at a time. If youi're living in the now, you aren't planning for the future. Put up a better argument, or concede.
originally posted by: Hephster
We have the capacity to use all three types of awareness, so why would we shut any of them off?
originally posted by: VoidHawk
a reply to: gosseyn
Saying that "mental illness" is maladjustment to reality
I think much of the mental illness we see these days is not an illness as such, its a symptom! A symptom of living in a screwed up world!
If the world wasn't such a nasty place many of these mentally ill people would not have the SYMPTOMS.
originally posted by: Revolution9
a reply to: gosseyn
Had to come on board this ship of fools.
OP, your thread is so naïve it borders on ridiculous. You are not dealing with mental illness as an issue at all. You are only describing one SYMPTOM of certain mental illness, that is paranoia. OP, I am bi polar and I never suffer paranoia. I am more aware of reality than you for sure if we take your thread as evidence of who is relating better with reality. Paranoia can be a symptom of mental illness, so can drugs or any kind of emotion of fear.
I have no issue with paranoia. If anything I am too aware of reality. How dare you throw your amateur bs and purport to diagnose mental illness in one foul swoop. I'm disgusted at you. I think you have delusions of grandeur and think you are some kind of gifted genius psychologist when in fact you have been an ignorant man, labelling all people with mental illness as paranoiacs and out of touch with reality. Screw you for that. What a lot of drivel you have written. Very very pissed off at you.