Mental Illness--how the hell do they expect to make it? (Anxiety, Rage, Bi-polar, Ect)

Originally posted by jonnywhite
I'm OCPD. I haven't been officially diagnosed, but I think I have it. I'm veyr detail oriented and can't focus on the broader picture. I might also have auspergers or a autism-spectrum disorder.

edit on 3-10-2012 by jonnywhite because: (no reason given)

I'm veyr detail oriented..........Yeah sure.

reply to post by Hefficide


More fun being a little crazy than being a stuffed shirt. I don't have to worry about looking crazy in front of my friends, they are worse than me.......They still drink though so they have something to blame it on

reply to post by rickymouse

You don't know me, either. Do you?

I read about OCPD and I seem to fit it perfectly. Auspergers or a similar disorder fits too.

reply to post by jonnywhite


I am confused a bit... I am familiar with OCP and with OCD.

Obsessive compulsive personality vs obsessive compulsive disorder. Which have you self-diagnosed with, if either, or both?

~Heff

reply to post by Hefficide

OCPD because I like my compulsions. I'm not bothered by em and don't want to change.

OCD is like checking your lock 30 times to make sure it's locked and recognizing that you're suffering and wanting to change or escape from it but not knowing how to.

The difference is whether the person registers it as wanted or unwanted.

reply to post by jonnywhite


Actually the differences are more significant. OCD is a trigger and response based illness. A specific act or mechanism triggers a compulsion that requires a ritual gesture to sate. This often includes religious, numeric, or hygiene based triggers and compulsions.

OCP is more based within inappropriate need or desire for stimulus. There is no compulsive aspect and, therefore no way to sate the obsession.

I asked because I have OCP and understand it well. And can relate to it on an experience based level. OCD I can only relate to intellectually, not in any meaningful empathetic way.

~Heff

reply to post by jonnywhite


I was just joking, you spelled "very" wrong in the same sentence as "detail oriented" It wasn't meant to be a serious comment. The devil made me do it

reply to post by Hefficide


You're making being crazy too complicated.

the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

Whenever I am faced with my own emotional issues, I remind myself of this quote by Jack Kerouac, cause it comforts me to know, inspite of my emotional issues, there is a part of the maddness that is beautiful. Accepting myself means accepting all of me....even the crazy part of me.

Not that I am okay with having emotional problems, I would rather not have them, but sometimes, it is in my moments of emotional meltdown that I have my best inspiration, best ideas and do my best work. There is that crazy part of me that has a purpose too.

I'd like to think in a SHTF scenario, perhaps it's that crazy part of you that might be the very thing that will save you....who knows? It guess it all depends on the kind of mental illness, the degree of it and the given situations you'd find yourself in.

reply to post by rickymouse

Originally posted by rickymouse

You're making being crazy too complicated.

Welcome to my world! 24/7/365!

Something is very wrong with our food. Most know this to a degree, but not quite as well as we all should. Still a mystery to me as to what exactly it is, but I have my theories and workarounds.

I was once diagnosed schizophrenic and have recovered greatly through various traditional and non-orthodox means. I have spent upwards of $3000 dollars in the past 5 years trying to combat side effects from medication with alternative means, which I have accomplished quite well, and to fight symptoms themselves. Anyways, here is what I have realized for my body and mind.

Most of the problems associated with my illness were caused by a malfunctioning liver. Without realizing it at the time, my liver was quite swollen. A vegetarian diet for 8 months allowed my liver to digest the fatty accumulation that had somehow happened. I am not and was not fat, my liver was overloaded with something I know that for sure, what exactly - who knows, but I remarked one day 3 or so months into vegetarian diet, when i pulled my head back as far as I could and looked down my chest, and noticed my liver area was skinnier, and realized previously it was swollen. I didn't lose any body weight when I went vegetarian at all, in fact probably was bloated.

Anyways, so I did that and slowly my mental state was returning to the more normal relaxed person I was before I ever lost it. Not anxious around others unless I wanted to be, and just in general, more in control of myself.

The next successful thing I did to help my mental state was take an essential amino acid blend. Not protein powder, not the non essential aminos, the 9 (8 or 9 - its debatable) essentials, and not mega-doses either. This coupled with a low protein diet gave my body the best form of protein available. Free form protein building blocks, already broken down and stripped of all the non-essential amino acids that my body could produce on its own from the essentials, as needed and in proportion to my body's own self regulating mechanisms.

I've tried it all, b3 mega-doses, isolated non-essential aminos (gaba taurine etc etc), herbs (skull cap, combinations), vitamins and minerals, and whatever. Like I said i spent more than $3000 dollars on these things searching for the magic bullet and never really found it. The key is to treat the body as a whole, not to treat the brain. The brain is usually fine if you can walk straight and move you extremities and whatnot. If the liver is in good shape then your digestion will be fine, elimination will work, repair will work, sleep will be better, etc etc.

So to sum it up, go on a low protein diet to allow your body to make use of what it already has and really needs and not to flood it, after a few months or so of your body will have adapted to a different diet, take the essential aminos that will provide the basic nutrition. Do that for a few months, wait till you start craving meat again, and go back on. Rotate your diet. Less is more. Take away before you add. Good luck

Sometimes I go through my favorites and find random stuff. I have so many favorites it's impossible to remember where I got them. I sometimes can't find a favorite. For example, I was looking for a favorite I know I must have saved about a cooperation game that a psychologist or research group had created and that many people had participated in (and failed) and I couldn't find it. If only my brain could accurately remember these things... Well, fortunately, I've gotten better at storing my favorites in a more organized manner. Mozilla, for example, allows you to add tags to bookmarks and this can be helpful later. I have many dozens of different folders and subfolders for organizing.

Here's a link I found while browsing my favorites:
www.cnn.com - Experts ponder link between creativity, mood disorders...

.......
"Unquestionably, I think a major link is to the underlying temperaments of both bipolar illness and depression, of reflectiveness and so forth," Jamison said.

This theory could help explain why eminent artists throughout history, from composer Robert Schumann to poet Sylvia Plath to Wallace -- suffered mood disorders.

"It's pretty clear if you read [Wallace's] books that he was a very obsessive, kind of ruminating guy," said Paul Verhaeghen, associate professor of psychology at Georgia Institute of Technology.

"You can see it in his sentences. ... They're breathless and they need to be annotated, and the annotations need to be annotated again."
......

Enjoy.

reply to post by jonnywhite


It's not only artists, this crosses into the sciences as well...just not as strong, usually. It makes no damned sense to have these "bad" genes universally distributed regardless of society or culture, without their being a net benefit. Even if it's that 99% of "mentally ill" people dud out, and 1% pushes humanity a step further...it's still in the green.

Another interesting thing is that, in one culture you're a schizo, in another you're a shaman! If the culture accepts you, the negative aspects of the "disease" can be mitigated entirely or to a large degree...if not, you are shamed into "demonic possessions" ,etc..

I'm a little crazy, and love my women served with two large heaping of it! Makes life interesting, to say the least.

reply to post by moniesisfun

Well some say obesity is so common because we still have old genes lingering in our pool. This causes us to over-consume food for a cold, harsh and food-less winter. And, of course, there were instances of famine. People had to pack on extra pounds for insurance. But in modern times these genes seem to hurt us more than help us. So it could be that there's something like that going on with this observed link between rumination/creativity and depression/bi-polar or other mood disorders.

But anyway... your last sentence kind of reminded me of something else. You know how the world can have dangerous places, like ragged cliffs, storm seas and hot desert sands? Well, maybe there's something like that in the mind. Maybe there're dangerous mental places that can hurt us?

Somebody who has imbalanced brain chemicals might go into this dangerous places too mcuh.

Originally posted by jonnywhite
reply to post by moniesisfun

 

Well some say obesity is so common because we still have old genes lingering in our pool. This causes us to over-consume food for a cold, harsh and food-less winter. And, of course, there were instances of famine. People had to pack on extra pounds for insurance. But in modern times these genes seem to hurt us more than help us. So it could be that there's something like that going on with this observed link between rumination/creativity and depression/bi-polar or other mood disorders.

I can dig it.

But anyway... your last sentence kind of reminded me of something else. You know how the world can have dangerous places, like ragged cliffs, storm seas and hot desert sands? Well, maybe there's something like that in the mind. Maybe there're dangerous mental places that can hurt us?

Somebody who has imbalanced brain chemicals might go into this dangerous places too mcuh.

Interesting..I'm not sure how that relates to my last sentence or last paragraph! I think we need to do away with this whole, mental illness is the result of a chemical imbalance, line of reasoning. It just doesn't pan out.

Everyone has slightly different brain chemistry AND neurobiology. Not only that, mental illness seems to often come from other parts of the body first. Like an above poster said, having a messed up liver seems to be the cause of the too crazies in some people.

I honestly think that the reason I'm attracted to the crazies is because of pheromones. I think there's an unconscious pull towards them because it's my best genetic match. When a woman is "crazy", she has mad potential! She can be vicious, artistic, creative, domineering, or just tell the whole world to # off for a bit. Totally dig it. There's a certain kind of "giftedness" that tends to run with the crazies. mmmm...just thinking about them is making me salivate.

The deeper question is, 100,000,000 Americans take psychotropic drugs of some sort.

When Israel attacks Iran, and Iran blocks the strait of Hormuz, and 35% of the worlds daily oil supply is interrupted, and the economy collapses because of it, and oil and gas prices skyrocket, and transportation costs skyrocket, and food prices and medications skyrocket, how will people be able to AFFORD or even get the medications they need???

Will their ever be interruptions in the supply?

One interruption of any sort would unleash a wave of millions of chemically unbalanced people swept up in some psychotic state of mind.

I'm always reminded of a quote of CG Jung in his Aion lectures when I think about this scenario:

Loss of roots and lack of tradition neuroticize the masses and prepare them for collective hysteria. Collective hysteria calls for collective therapy, which consists of abolition of liberty and terrorization. Where rationalistic materialism holds sway, states tend to develop less into prisons than into lunatic asylums - Carl Jung, Aion Lectures, The psychology of Christian Alchemical Symbolism

As for the question itself, ohh.. undoubtedly, not only will the people who are already anxious and neurotic probably going to worsen, but those who have been sheltered from such feeling and thinking their whole lives will likely begin to feel anxious and depressed and stressed to the point of exhaustion themselves.

Jung was undoubtedly right in pointing out the effect of rationalistic materialism on peoples psyche.

Some people, depending on their temperament will either: resort to crime, become agitated, anxious, and possibly lose control of themselves, commit suicide, or turn to religion.

And then there will be those few too proud in their intellectual and mental prowess to turn to religion, who will do fine on their own without any spiritual mooring.

reply to post by dontreally


Well I'm good. Never been on meds, and haven't offed anyone yet.



Seriously though, it's going to be nuts. I don't think these "chemically imbalanced" people are well on these drugs, they're zombified into pacifism. I think the zombies will turn into demons once they can no longer get their fix. It's not going to be pretty. If I had a few million, I'd either buy a small island, else build a sustainable bunker with hydro system, filtered ventilation, etc...as is, I'm just going to the family lakehouse and activating the greenhouse for the closed gate community. Hopefully each household will be able to bring something to the community in terms of security, and sustainability.

reply to post by moniesisfun

Well I'm good. Never been on meds, and haven't offed anyone yet.

That's nice. Maybe your genetics affords you that freedom.

But don't assume that anxiety etc is beyond you. Any person can be reduced to a state of anxiety, neurosis etc.

I'm not so lucky. My dad is pretty much one of the most emotionally resilient people I know, but my mother is essentially the opposite. Her, her mother, and her grandmother, were all nerve bags with anxiety disorders. Therefore, all my siblings, including myself, suffer from time to time with anxiety simply because our nervous systems are more sensitive to stimulation.

However, I have pretty good mental control. I'm confident in my ability to stave off depression, anxiety, stress.

Anxiety creeps upon you without your notice. Take, for example, the possibility of losing a loved one; or witnessing around you people you know losing their jobs; just once hearing "so and so killed themselves" - and this has a very pronounced effect on your emotions whether you want it or don't want it. You'll feel depressed. It's sad. And as events like this become more common, you'll find yourself to be increasingly depressed, increasingly unhappy: and thats when anxiety kicks in. Anxiety feeds on depression because depression is the basic ground that anxiety grows from.

Hence, it is so incredibly important to watch yourself, to keep yourself from being too emotionally invested in the misfortune around you. This does not mean apathy - not caring - but it does mean selectivity, and carefulness in how you go about commiserating with other peoples and your own misfortunes.

This is what I dread most. I'm a realist. People here I think really don't quite comprehend what will be so bad is not possibly losing a house, or seeing others you love lose their jobs, houses, or loved one, but how you REACT to this news; how you 'feel' in this new environment. THAT is what is disturbing.

reply to post by dontreally


Look, I've lost a sibling. I know what anxiety is. I'm a pretty solid guy, for the most part, erm...at least I used to be.

After my little bro passed (and due to the circumstances of the incident itself...not cool..), I had basically mini-psychotic breaks that were not at all known before. I can be highly logical, but also have a highly emotional side that pops out after this event.

Pretty much have an understanding that when I must, I can "activate" and go hyper rational to get whatever needs to be done. I've done this many times breaking up bar fights, or handling other "dangerous" situations that must be taken care of with a quickness, and perfectly.

I repress the emotions for the time being, but when I'm able to settle down, I flip out and go berserk for a bit. It's always under my control to the extent that I won't harm anyone around me..I prefer to just bash and break poo, cry, etc...by myself, but it does exist.

I was pretty flipped out over the collapse years ago, not because it was inevitable, but because so few were preparing and were in complete denial. THAT scared the # out of me, not the actual event. Now, I'm pretty meh about this all. I've lived 30 years so far, and if it comes to the point that I would rather off myself than live in an uncivil environment, I'll just do it and be done with this existence. I don't care if people call me weak, or anything else...my choice. I don't have kids, so what's the point of living in a barbaric world?

So I'm really not concerned. I think it will be challenging and am kind of looking forward to it. If it gets incredibly berserk, just a quick hanging will suffice. No worries here.