ATS - A forum with a Mental Condition?

I would rather be considered mental and having a good time on ATS then to be considered perfectly sane while sitting in front of the television and having my mind numbed.

Originally posted by mrwupy
I would rather be considered mental and having a good time on ATS then to be considered perfectly sane while sitting in front of the television and having my mind numbed.

Not sure what your implying, but I really need to get back to my episode of "Lost"

....Realtruth takes his Zoloft, drinks diet Pepsi with Aspartame, gets his bag of Hydrogenated corn chips made from soybeans, sits on his new sofa that payments start in 2009, watches a Tai Chi DVD to relax, then presses the button on Tivo for "Lost".

Sanity kicks in.....ahhhhhhhh

faux hydrogenated soy chips.... yumm

Something sad about humanity is its ability to celebrat Ignorance... I just dont understand it... for the life of me I cannot understand it. Why would someone openly choose to be foolish?

And look down... more of it... look up... Im surrounded by it lol

[edit on 26-3-2008 by rjmelter]

I am mental.
No I'm not.
Yes, I am!
No. I'm. not!
YES I AM!
Sigh, whatever.
heh heh heh. I win.
Yeah, you do.
Thanks.
Don't mention it.

I am merely comforted in the fact that I am not alone.
You may read what ever you want to in that statement.

I think that I am a better person knowing what I know on alt topics.
(I said knowing...not necessarily believing! BIG difference)

reply to post by rjmelter


You have to read the HITCH HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, to get the humor. Or I just did a poor approximation of it.

Originally posted by Duality

Originally posted by Amaterasu
I think we here at ATS tend to be brighter than the average bear. Some may have mental issues, but by and large, we are merely more insightful.

Isn't this a little arrogant or overconfident though? I'm not saying you specifically, I mean if ATS members as a whole take this view on.

I see your point. I was merely giving my observations. Don't anyone think that, as a whole, we are any better than any other group. For We are all of us, whether we are ATS or involved some other way. [smile]

Who are we to say we're smarter than everyone just because we are interested in conspiracy theories and such? I guess I just don't like this line of thought because it leads to the sort of idea that "Anything said by us is true, because we are enlightened".

No one. As I said, I was merely offering my observations, relative to my own experiences on boards in general. I do not claim there are no other boards out there that have the caliber of people I meet here - or I should say, percentage of caliber people. It may be a reflection of the boards I've been on. [shrug]

That is, people stop asking for evidence or whatnot, people stop being logical about new ideas simply because they assume they are already within an untouchable domain of high-intelligence and alternative (and indeed accurate) thought, even if this may not be the case at all.

Oh, heaven forbid! Evidence is required. Logic is mandatory. Assumptions... Well, you know what assumptions do. Avoid them where you might! This "area of interest" is fraught with pranksters and shills. The pranksters are likely a much smaller number than the shills. And so, we must demand at all times these higher standards.

What I'm getting at is, what we may call being highly intelligent or being 'awakened', others may call being paranoid and irrational. I don't feel that we are any better or should be any less susceptible to criticism and calls for evidence than anyone else just because we're already communicating over an alternative medium.

Did that make sense? @_@

Oh, I know full well that some would call us these things. [smile] Though many of them are shills, still, your point is valid. "Better" we are not. More intelligent is what I personally assess my experiences here as being. But intelligence merely means we have a heavier burden to carry, not that we are better than any other spirit(s) in this Universe.

And, yes. You made excellent sense. [smile]

I don't thnik that necessarily believing in weird things makes you crazy. As ahs been said before, if it's culturally acceptable to believe in something, how would you know any different? Everyone alsow ants to be accepted, and being a part of the "conspiracy" crowd is better than no crowd at all.

However, strange beliefs are one thing. Paranoia, suspicion, inability to tell fantasy from reality and hallucinations are all hallmarks of mental disorders. Lots of people (hell, most people) believe in God and talk to him. That's not crazy. However, when God starts to talk back...

I think that there are quite a few members that could be certifiable. I also think the subject matter of ATS natually attracts the mentally ill. I also think that the subject matter of ATS does attract those with superiority complexes. "Look, I'm smarter than the sheeple" and such. I mean, there are posts in this thread where someone just assumes they're smarter because they read ATS instead of watching the news. Have they read some of the absolutely ridiculous stuff posted on ATS?

Originally posted by Esoterica
I mean, there are posts in this thread where someone just assumes they're smarter because they read ATS instead of watching the news. Have they read some of the absolutely ridiculous stuff posted on ATS?

Difference between watching the news and ATS?

On ATS we at least get to respond to the insanity.

[edit on 27-3-2008 by Realtruth]

Originally posted by atlasastro
ex] However, it has been noted [33] that people who are likely to be psychotic may use the
internet to form online communities based around their delusional beliefs, and archive a
large corpus of online information to support their conjectures. Research on the social
psychology of the internet has suggested that people who strongly identify with a group
identity or cause are more likely to have their attitudes influenced to polar extremes if
they are not in the same physical location [34]. Combined with the increasing
availability of domestic internet access and the fact that “on the internet, people who
share your interest and lean in the same direction as you are just a few keystrokes away,
regardless of the issue’s obscurity, social desirability, or bizarreness” [35], people
undergoing the initial stages of psychosis may have delusional beliefs primed,
strengthened or deepened by using the internet, where previously they might have
encountered very few people (if any) who would agree with their interpretations.

I post this because I feel I must make a distinction between what this describes, and my personal experience.

First, and foremost, I spent many a year thinking that what evidence showed..was not REALLY what it showed. And then I thought I was the only one who quit denying the evidence as it lay before me. Coming here, I did not find others that would fawn over one another. I found people who valued the willingness to face the evidence. And it is evidence that is key, and many keep a hope alive that they are really delusional.

There are evaluations, fair examinations, on equal footing as long as the poster behaves civilly. This is no "delusional" group. We are a forum of those who, to one extent or another, have let go of our delusions. Not the other way around.

im an open minded person. i look at both sides and explore the possiblities. it did seem like alot of people on the other thread where like "this is exactly what i been through" and some even could have problems with relationships. but what if you cant talk to people your age because they just dont seem to understand you? i am above average and i do have fun like once in a while but for the most part i cant watch tv (too much crap) or i dont want to go somewhere cuz its just boring (going with friends) because i cant just talk about how things are not what they seem. i didnt post just because of the "I AM DIFFERENT" claim. I have been told i am different by MANY people that i am different even if they do not know me. at my job now they tell me i am not an average teen.
i think i am more mature because i can have a conversation with a coworker (i believe he is a fellow conspiracist) about this same stuff on here and he is roughly double my age. i have never been abducted but i believe there are aliens. i have had spiritual expiences though if that counts for any thin

But i think that alot of people are trying to relate and i do hope that nobody is makeing up parts to there story because it makes everyone with serious expierences look bad.
What I dont undertand is why you didnt just post this in the thread it was on instead of trying to gain points. thats the only explaination i have. it also looks as if people from the other thread have posted here. i dont think this is about A mental condition but it could be possible that some people expierance some sort of mental condition (minimal i hope, if any).

EDIT: as for the dreams that everyone has i could only say that Sigmund Froid would be astonished at everyones dreams they are haveing. i dont think to much of them though

[edit on 26-3-2008 by drflux]

Or maybe it is much more simple than that. Maybe everyone is 'special' in some way, but we have all been dumbed down by life/society/whatever.. that we fail to recognize our own greatnesses.

Not that I'm saying I buy everything I read here, heck I don't buy a lot of it. But I wouldn't go so far as to say everyone who thinks there is something unique or non mainstream as the rest of the world has something wrong with them. Maybe something else is wrong with the rest of the world

Living Perspective
I have thought before that the owners of ATS started out as honest truth seeking loving conspiracy theorists. But I am not so sure how it has progressed.

There is a real conspiracy here, and I feel we must investigate it. One thing that comes to mind is the fact that so many are labeled with mental illnesses, add, adhd, etc. In many other countries they do not have "add, adhd" because they do not isolate those individuals to this "disorder". Then they tell us that the answer to everything, to depression or else, is a pill! Pharmaceutical companies pressure us through medians to consume their product.

A friend I knew talked to his doctor about his depression, and the doctor offered several types of prescription. After a while my friend asked, "Is there anything I can do except taking pills?" which the doctor replied with, "Exercise." But apparently that doesn't fit into the regular American diet.

OCD, Paranoia, Schizophrenia, Psychosis -- social isolation through social indignation brought on by variable effects of environmental and societal circumstances. Of course we must not isolate the product either, for we must look within, and not externalize.


We are safe with love.


The big picture

What I dont undertand is why you didnt just post this in the thread it was on instead of trying to gain points.

reply to post by drflux


Actually I think the OP here should be given praise for starting this thread rather than replying in the UFO thread. How many times do we see threads in the UFO forum start only to be killed off by skeptics.

I am a skeptic, but I did not want to post in the UFO thread incase my comments there stopped people coming forward to speak about their experiences.

What I like about these two threads is that for the most part its been civil from both sides. Because we have to take time to read both points of view in the different threads it cuts out the name calling and heated debate.

Is this a way forward for discussing topics?

Regards,

JQ.

If you've ever encountered a shadow critter at your backdoor telepathically pleading to be let out, moving in frames with little beaty red eyes and wonder why I come here....and I was just going down for a shower before work for chris sake, you will know why I find my home here. My big black lab sealed the deal when he went buckshot for it down the stairs. I knew then we both needed scripts for xanax. lol

reply to post by cosmicstorm


I don't think you have a mental illness for feeling as you do.

Would it be fair to ask if the opinion you have of yourself is drawn from comparing yourself to others that you feel are less responsible? I know alot of 25 yr olds and will agree with you that most are immature. Having said that, I also know many 25 yr olds that are just like you, except I don't think they would interpret that as it being for a cosmic reason or "plan". It could also be that your particular geographical location (wherever it may be) has a higher percentage of "the less responsible" and this may taint your assessment in that if you lived somewhere else you wouldn't exactly stand out as special.

You said in the referenced thread, you had an abduction experience (by aliens?)) I would be inclined to think you've done some research into others who've been abducted and surely you have noticed how these abductees are told they are chosen, becoming psychic, wise, in touch with nature, etc and are part of a plan of which will be revealed to them "when the time is right". It's possible, and may not be the case for you, that as you immerse yourself in the information overload, you begin to adapt to this way of thinking without really realizing it, and could be doing so for reason's that may be to make the experiences less traumatic. Many abductees (if in fact they were abducted) are truly terrified and it can console them to know everything will be ok and not to worry because they are part of a plan. It offers some answers and prevents unwanted questions (by whoever the intruders may be or whatever the agenda is really about) to the experiencer.

reply to post by John Q


oh my apologies to everyone. i didnt realise it was in the ufo forum. i just look at a title most of the time.

Originally posted by jpm1602
If you've ever encountered a shadow critter at your backdoor telepathically pleading to be let out, moving in frames with little beaty red eyes and wonder why I come here....and I was just going down for a shower before work for chris sake, you will know why I find my home here. My big black lab sealed the deal when he went buckshot for it down the stairs. I knew then we both needed scripts for xanax. lol

your dog sensed it?
what the freak was it?
hey, it's as i always suspected: animals are very cool!

Are we nuts?

Maybe.

But what if a load of people are feeling it - are we all suffering from the same dillusion?

Maybe.

I don't know. All I have been doing is asking questions and telling others of my experiences in life. We have just discovered new animals in the shores off Antarctica, so maybe there is something about us that we don't fully understand yet.

Hell, we reckon we are ubermenshen and we don't even know the answer - and thats what we are searching for.

But to ask if I have a Mental Condition - I consider myself sane and everyone else crazy. Should I start a thread saying Do people who do not think like me have a Mental Condition? Because that is what you have just done.