Fighting the blues

It happens every time I come to ATS on a daily basis for more than a few days... depression and anger.

No, I don't think there is anything wafting in from the website that steals my outlook. We are a fairly tech-savvy society but... I don't think we can do that yet. But I do allow for the possibility that ATS is a CIA, DIA, NSA etc. (or similar) front for keeping track of the world's most aspiring conspiracy theorists.

I really just can't get past the notion that... there would be no better way to identify and track those who don't buy the official store's goods than creating a website that would attract them like night bugs to a bonfire.

But again... does anyone else feel a certain degree of depression, reading all the negativity here and then, feel compelled to get the hell outta here for a while to reclaim whatever is left of your sanity?

\_/ " \_/ Toasting to happier days

it is amazing to me- you sum up exactly my feelings! but it's like i can't stay away from the new topics firehose. sometimes i think i'm happier not thinking about all this stuff. the thing is, even if 10% of the information on here is factual, the notion that we are being mistreated, apparently, by authoritative figures IS depressing. it's a hard world right now, and dwelling on all the ways we are being exploited, or our desires are being undermined, can be a heavy burden, to be sure.

however the alternative would be to stick my head in the sand. i don't know if that would be a good thing or not. i want to be happy, sure, but i feel a need to stay, um, informed (i guess i'd put it that way).

there are good folks here, however. but i often feel like i need to take a break. (then i wonder if THAT is by design).

very best to you.

reply to post by redoubt


Holy crap I feel a ton...If you go a week without this site suddenly things look brighter...comets seem less menacing...I come back mainly for the members who do a good job updating us on the news that is current or obscure....you need to stay away from the conspiracy stuff because so much changes...

I hear ya redoubt.
I intentionally limit my time here. Part of me HAS to come to ATS and places like this because I have to know what is going on. But it is possible to OD. I always check the jokes forum in between the juicy threads to kind of break things up a bit.
And I have been known to resort to sarcasm.....on rare occasions.
Humor can really help.

reply to post by chrismarco


Excellent advice!

reply to post by redoubt


Hmmm, it's an interesting point but dare I ask, are you sure there isn't something deeper in your psyche at work? For example, perhaps you start to feel depressed at an unconscious level and you head to ATS to read something thought provoking and in so doing so you find yourself gravitating towards threads that may increase your level of depression on a conscious level?

I find this happens with me. Look at the date I joined ATS then look at my post count. They don't make sense, in 4 years I've made around 300 posts. The reason is simple, 99% of the threads here will depress me and I won't reply to them, the ones I do reply to are intensely interesting to me. Solution? Ignore the bullsh*t and only read the stuff you find interesting.

Originally posted by PW229
reply to post by redoubt

 

Hmmm, it's an interesting point but dare I ask, are you sure there isn't something deeper in your psyche at work? For example, perhaps you start to feel depressed at an unconscious level and you head to ATS to read something thought provoking and in so doing so you find yourself gravitating towards threads that may increase your level of depression on a conscious level?

I find this happens with me. Look at the date I joined ATS then look at my post count. They don't make sense, in 4 years I've made around 300 posts. The reason is simple, 99% of the threads here will depress me and I won't reply to them, the ones I do reply to are intensely interesting to me. Solution? Ignore the bullsh*t and only read the stuff you find interesting.

Thanks. I've covered most of that over time. Over the years, I have authored blogs (and still do for that matter), read books, lost family member to cancer and got passed numerous angry drivers in rush hour traffic...

I've even survived two divorces... and a fall that could have killed me while I was caving once.

Father (4 times) husband (ugh), soldier, civilian. Taxpayer, poor man, middle class, dumpster diver, credit card junkie.

One step back from it all, and I don't wonder why our kids are such brats and grow up to be useless anarchists. Our system is broken and to even nominally exist in it, one almost has to become a machine. There only mistake is ideological... they think they stand a chance in hell of fixing things, lol.

I won't declare myself (or anyone else) completely sane because... there's really no benchmark offered that wasn't chalked up by anyone above the same possibility.

Cheers

Originally posted by Neysa
I hear ya redoubt.
I intentionally limit my time here. Part of me HAS to come to ATS and places like this because I have to know what is going on. But it is possible to OD. I always check the jokes forum in between the juicy threads to kind of break things up a bit.
And I have been known to resort to sarcasm.....on rare occasions.

Humor can really help.

Agreed. Sarcasm and humor are often like a cold beer on a hot day

Originally posted by chrismarco
reply to post by redoubt

 

Holy crap I feel a ton...If you go a week without this site suddenly things look brighter...comets seem less menacing...I come back mainly for the members who do a good job updating us on the news that is current or obscure....you need to stay away from the conspiracy stuff because so much changes...

I'll take that into consideration, I promise

Originally posted by godWhisperer
it is amazing to me- you sum up exactly my feelings! but it's like i can't stay away from the new topics firehose. sometimes i think i'm happier not thinking about all this stuff. the thing is, even if 10% of the information on here is factual, the notion that we are being mistreated, apparently, by authoritative figures IS depressing. it's a hard world right now, and dwelling on all the ways we are being exploited, or our desires are being undermined, can be a heavy burden, to be sure.

however the alternative would be to stick my head in the sand. i don't know if that would be a good thing or not. i want to be happy, sure, but i feel a need to stay, um, informed (i guess i'd put it that way).

there are good folks here, however. but i often feel like i need to take a break. (then i wonder if THAT is by design).

very best to you.

I doubt seriously that my concepts of ATS in league with those intelligence agencies is fact... but it feels good to speak it sometimes and see what response I get.

I really do adore this website... I just can't take too much of it for too long. Kind of like drinking too much rum or falling for the wrong person at the wrong time. Right and wrong often mix and mingle... and you have to be able to make the right decisions or there will be hell to pay on so many levels, lol.

Thanks for the good advice and your time

I agree with you wholeheartedly. But the problem is most news is like this, no matter what. They focus on murders, disasters, accidents, wars, and other sensational stories.

I've noticed in my own life that news gets me down, but I have an appetite for it. I can't fully explain why I'm drawn to read these kinds of stories. Part of it is that I do not trust my government and want to know what is going on. The other is that news tends to be filled with negative things. It's funny how a drive to the local supermarket is so peaceful. The people are smiling. I'm happy. The world is good. The boats on the river and the wind in the trees and everything is so smooth. What the hell happened? How does ATS take something like that, that's so nice and invigorating, and ignore it completely? Maybe the smiles people have are fake?

Here're some sites that're more positive:
www.wired.com
www.newscientist.com
www.space.com
www.c-span.org
www.physorg.com

Those're just a few of the GOOD sites that do not focus on negative stories.

I do not believe this world is as evil as many people claim. But I DO believe we're vulnerable. I just always look at the best part of a person, even a bad person. To a fault. To understand me, I can give an example of my idealogy. There's a book named Naked Empire written by Terry Goodkind. In it, a bad man coerces a nation of people to attack an enemy. This enemy just happens to be the good guy. So the hero rounds up the good guys and convinces them to attack the aggressor's troops in a city (or something like that). When they come upon their foes in the city, they're met by innocent bystanders. They're told to kill the innocents if the innocents act in a way that foils their plans. Inevitably, crowds of 'innocent people' are killed. The idea is that the innocent people were brainwashed and there must be no mercy; even children must be killed. This whole idea of killing everyone so that you can kill the bad guy bothered me. It seems 'negative'. These innocents were not troops, they were (mostly) attempting to be good citizens. You invade their home and you expect them to support you? I don't buy it. Anyway, this is me.

The book had lots of subject matter directed against people who "see no evil". It tried to make the argument that evil exists and must be killed where it resides. People who do not see evil should be considered evil if they do not try to stop evil. Etc. I felt attacked by this book because I have never truly seen evil in people. When I think about a bad person, like a serial murderer or a genocidal dictator, I just see a very warped personality that has some kind of pathology. I don't see good or evil when I look at the world. I don't like to be judged as evil because of this.