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[zabu of nΩd]

Fuck knows if I need it. I've had anxiety issues for a while now and bits of OCD and depression (as in not being able to focus on things and lacking motivation). The Prozac is more for the two former bits than the latter (the way the doc described it, it almost sounded like a personal panacea). When I went to get a physical today at the UMaine clinic they had me fill out a personal health assessment, and when I got to the Psychological part I checked off a bunch of stuff and so they handed me one of those official OCD scoresheets, and I scored about middle range between perfectly fine and criminally ill, which is severe enough to treat with drugs. So I might as well take it and see what it does.

Yeah certainly. It's not like you're gonna be on it forever. I took antidepressants for a few months in high school. I've probably done much worse things to my brain since then... like sleep deprivation.

 

[Vimana]

Fuck knows if I need it. I've had anxiety issues for a while now and bits of OCD and depression (as in not being able to focus on things and lacking motivation). The Prozac is more for the two former bits than the latter (the way the doc described it, it almost sounded like a personal panacea). When I went to get a physical today at the UMaine clinic they had me fill out a personal health assessment, and when I got to the Psychological part I checked off a bunch of stuff and so they handed me one of those official OCD scoresheets, and I scored about middle range between perfectly fine and criminally ill, which is severe enough to treat with drugs. So I might as well take it and see what it does.

I don't claim to know a lot about psychology, but I'd advise you to go into behavioral therapy. Judging by personal experience, the experience of friends, and some psych students I've met (as well as my mother who has a degree), it's better to go after the problem from a behavioral standpoint at first. Some people just develop neurotic, negative, or even OCD thinking habits, and medicine can help, but it's not guaranteed to get rid of the problem. Neither is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), but it doesn't have side-effects.

Honestly, I've met too many people who have been in a psych hospital multiple times for depression, anxiety, OCD, etc. who got the whole "what are your problems and what pills can I give you?" therapy that obviously hadn't worked. But pills can help with CBT anyway. I just wouldn't do just pills.

I've had issues with anxiety and depression for a few years now, and after years of pills and ending up in a psych hospital twice, CBT is what really helped me. I developed shitty thought habits that pretty much were the roots of all my issues. It was unbelievable how a little thing I never did that wasn't too hard to do actually fixed most things.

I majored in computer science and had an internship in college, so i came out with a decent resume that got noticed by the consulting company on Monster.com. I've been on 3 projects so far, the others involving testing and web development. I was really just looking for anything degree-related after college, and this is what came along.

But what if you can't find satisfying jobs in your field? Do you think you could?

 

[Zephyrus]

I don't claim to know a lot about psychology, but I'd advise you to go into behavioral therapy. Judging by personal experience, the experience of friends, and some psych students I've met (as well as my mother who has a degree), it's better to go after the problem from a behavioral standpoint at first. Some people just develop neurotic, negative, or even OCD thinking habits, and medicine can help, but it's not guaranteed to get rid of the problem. Neither is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), but it doesn't have side-effects.

Honestly, I've met too many people who have been in a psych hospital multiple times for depression, anxiety, OCD, etc. who got the whole "what are your problems and what pills can I give you?" therapy that obviously hadn't worked. But pills can help with CBT anyway. I just wouldn't do just pills.

I've had issues with anxiety and depression for a few years now, and after years of pills and ending up in a psych hospital twice, CBT is what really helped me. I developed shitty thought habits that pretty much were the roots of all my issues. It was unbelievable how a little thing I never did that wasn't too hard to do actually fixed most things.

See, that's the beauty of this whole situation. I've never paid an iota of thought to the idea of taking either drugs or therapy to deal with any apparent problems I have. And the reason is I interpret my problems philosophically rather than scientifically/medically and that I believe is the best way to address the issue (don't ask me to elaborate on this or you'll get me quoting Plato and Cicero ad nauseam).

But today I was especially in a crappy condition since I'm both physically sick with a cold and my girlfriend is apparently having some sort of issues she's not talking to me about, which most likely have jack shit to do with me, but too easily do I internalize everything and get paranoid that it's something to do with me. This all coincided just as I walked into the clinic today for a regular physical.

I might as well try the drugs and see if it does anything. Even if it does nothing, I'm a firm believer in the placebo effect and psychological "disorders" certainly can be mitigated psychosomatically more than other physiological maladies.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

But what if you can't find satisfying jobs in your field? Do you think you could?

Idk, possibly? I think the main thing for me is that there isn't much work to be done for others that i truly enjoy, and therefore i need a much lower work/life ratio than the average company allows. I'll probably settle into doing part-time for a while.

 

[Dak]

At this point, I'm planning on going back to college this fall, but starting fresh. Majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy, with the intent to have my own practice.

I see a great need for phsychological treatment that isn't psychotropic dependent. I actually don't believe in psychotropics at all, and more research is supporting this approach.

That would be sweet, keep me posted!

Have you met with any UMers before? Trying to remember if you and Cythraul hung out once.

Yes, I met Cyth during a break at a concert in Phx. He can attest that I am short, white, and non-lethal. Hrm, make that non-threatening.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

At this point, I'm planning on going back to college this fall, but starting fresh. Majoring in Psychology and minoring in Philosophy, with the intent to have my own practice.

I see a great need for phsychological treatment that isn't phsycotropic dependent.

That's a little different from your previous plan to go 'off grid' isn't it?

Yes, I met Cyth during a break at a concert in Phx. He can attest that I am short, white, and non-lethal.

 

[Dak]

That's a little different from your previous plan to go 'off grid' isn't it?

I don't see the grid having any influence over self employment in psychological counseling. In fact, a non-psychotropic focused/reliant psychological counseling practice is going to boom in the event of an extreme "post-modern" collapse.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

well psychotherapists do seem to charge a lot these days, so maybe there's a lot of demand.

why not something like mechanical engineering though? that seems pretty useful to a survivalist, with a lot of applications that are independent of getting money from other people.

 

[Dak]

well psychotherapists do seem to charge a lot these days, so maybe there's a lot of demand.

why not something like mechanical engineering though? that seems pretty useful to a survivalist, with a lot of applications that are independent of getting money from other people.

Frankly math is my weak suit. I have relatives with their own construction related and auto mechanic businesses, and I intend to pick things up there as I can.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

fair enough. i actually majored in mech. e. initially in college, and got owned by the math. i switched to compsci so i could do something less mathy but still highly practical.

 

[Dak]

fair enough. i actually majored in mech. e. initially in college, and got owned by the math. i switched to compsci so i could do something less mathy but still highly practical.

I enjoy computer networking related stuff, but I do not see an off-grid future for it (obviously), not to mention, even without a post-modern collapse/off grid situation, I foresee less human techs required for maintenance.

Conversely, either in the event of a collapse, or if our current urbanization trends continue, the epidemic of mental maladjustment will continue and grow.

 

[Vimana]

Weird how we agree on something. Yeah, humans are more lonely than ever. We have tons of issues, and we are going about it wrong imo. As much as I'm becoming part of the problem, it still scares me that there will be a future where people who are more forever alone than I am are more common than I am.

Edit: That is with the current trends.

And it's especially scary seeing how "well-adjusted" those forever alone types can be according to some corners of the internet where they congregate.

 

[zabu of nΩd]

I enjoy computer networking related stuff, but I do not see an off-grid future for it (obviously),

what again makes you think the 'grid' is going to collapse?

not to mention, even without a post-modern collapse/off grid situation, I foresee less human techs required for maintenance.

there's still a lot of software development to be done, i can say that at least. we're far from automating every possible useful activity in the world.

Conversely, either in the event of a collapse, or if our current urbanization trends continue, the epidemic of mental maladjustment will continue and grow.

what do you mean by mental maladjustment?

 

[Zephyrus]

The world's so interconnected that people now assume that all their problems are everyone else's.

 

[Vimana]

The world's so interconnected that people now assume that all their problems are everyone else's.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-22-friendship_x.htm

This may not be a global issue, but I don't see why it can't be. Cultural barriers against social isolation (like the extreme family orientation in Latin American culture) can only last so long. The forever alone page on Facebook is in Spanish, and many people who like it are Latin American.

 

[Dak]

what again makes you think the 'grid' is going to collapse?

The grid is dependent on a massive amount of cooperation and vulnerable (and aging) technology. TPTB, regardless of nationality, view the unbridled internet as dangerous, and the actual electric grid that all our interconnectedness is based on is extremely vulnerable to cheap EMPs, solar EMPs, and a number of other possible disasters, both intentional and unintentional.

there's still a lot of software development to be done, i can say that at least. we're far from automating every possible useful activity in the world.

I always preferred hardware to software. Coding was never much fun to me, even when HTML was the main web language. Hardware is much simpler and will remain so.

what do you mean by mental maladjustment?

The inability of the average human mind to adjust to the rapid transformation of civilization, particularly urbanization and the technological social alienation, among other modern issues, is well documented. I do not believe that the widespread inability to cope/adjust is mental illness but instead an indicator of a healthy mind's response to a rapid advance in an unhealthy direction in civilization.

 

[Vimana]

I wouldn't call the direction of our civilization unhealthy, but I think some of the symptoms of its progress are.

 

[Dak]

I wouldn't call the direction of our civilization unhealthy, but I think some of the symptoms of its progress are.

Symptoms are a result of a root sickness. Japan is a leading indicator in the problems of our modern technological based civilization, and the results are staggering. Skyrocketing suicide and *forever alone* issues, gender not withstanding.

The bombardment of stimuli, increasingly sexual, but pervasivaley stressing, on the human brain, has led to an epidemnic of mental disorders. The disintegration of the stereotypical/historical nuclear family/traditional extended family unit due to industrialization and social feminism has been heralded as "progress" but has arguably caused the rise in the bipolar disorder and other sociopatholigical disorders.

 

[damnromulans]

Symptoms are a result of a root sickness. Japan is a leading indicator in the problems of our modern technological based civilization, and the results are staggering. Skyrocketing suicide and *forever alone* issues, gender not withstanding.

The bombardment of stimuli, increasingly sexual, but pervasivaley stressing, on the human brain, has led to an epidemnic of mental disorders. The disintegration of the stereotypical/historical nuclear family/traditional extended family unit due to industrialization and social feminism has been heralded as "progress" but has arguably caused the rise in the bipolar disorder and other sociopathological disorders.

Paragraph 1, yes.

Paragraph 2, how did you come to the conclusion that social feminism and alteration of the family unit are the factors to blame in increased instances of bipolar disorder, versus simply a society that's overstimulated and deluded into thinking a blue day = depression?

 

[Einherjar86]

Symptoms are a result of a root sickness. Japan is a leading indicator in the problems of our modern technological based civilization, and the results are staggering. Skyrocketing suicide and *forever alone* issues, gender not withstanding.

The bombardment of stimuli, increasingly sexual, but pervasivaley stressing, on the human brain, has led to an epidemnic of mental disorders. The disintegration of the stereotypical/historical nuclear family/traditional extended family unit due to industrialization and social feminism has been heralded as "progress" but has arguably caused the rise in the bipolar disorder and other sociopatholigical disorders.

The only reason those conditions are understood as "disorders" is because they prevent the individual subject from being an effective and productive member of our society. The "history of madness" isn't so much a history of objective mental disorders as it is a history of the changing psychological structure of the human mind, and society's acceptance and espousal, or disavowal and condemnation of certain behavioral types.