Dysthymia/atypical depression

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Kidicious
One thing that I do now, that I had to learn (or condition myself for) is not to hurry (as well as worry). I live in the moment but without a sense of urgency. I had to learn to do that because my perspective was all wrong. That's what depression is, bad prespective. I have other problems besides depression, but I think it's similar.

Depression is a different perspective, not necessarily a bad one. It's only bad if you want to lead a successful, happy life.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Lorizael


Depression is a different perspective, not necessarily a bad one. It's only bad if you want to lead a successful, happy life.

And that's what makes mental illness difficult to recover from. You often believe that your perspective can not be the problem, that there is nothing bad about it. If you suffer from mental illness you can't start to recover from it until you realize that your way of thinking is all wrong. That's a very difficult thing to do.

[Wezil]

We're trying to help you to that realisation Kid.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Kidicious
And that's what makes mental illness difficult to recover from. You often believe that your perspective can not be the problem, that there is nothing bad about it. If you suffer from mental illness you can't start to recover from it until you realize that your way of thinking is all wrong. That's a very difficult thing to do.

You're completely wrong. I have no delusions that my skewed perspective is not (at least partly) to blame for my own continued depression, for example.

All I'm saying is, the skewed perspective is only a bad thing if you happen to value happiness.

You can lead a very productive, fruitful, and creative life as an interminably depressed maniac without ever changing your perspective. Just look at all the greatest artists and writers in history.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Lorizael
You're completely wrong. I have no delusions that my skewed perspective is not (at least partly) to blame for my own continued depression, for example.

All I'm saying is, the skewed perspective is only a bad thing if you happen to value happiness.

You can lead a very productive, fruitful, and creative life as an interminably depressed maniac without ever changing your perspective. Just look at all the greatest artists and writers in history.

If you see some value to your depression you are mentally ill. You've got much bigger problems than depression.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Lorizael

You can lead a very productive, fruitful, and creative life as an interminably depressed maniac without ever changing your perspective. Just look at all the greatest artists and writers in history.

That strikes me as a bit too romantic for your own good. And like a lot of romantic notions, its probably false too.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Kidicious


If you see some value to your depression you are mentally ill. You've got much bigger problems than depression.

He seems to think that his depression will help his writing. That seems hopelessly romantic to me.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Nostromo


He seems to think that his depression will help his writing. That seems hopelessly romantic to me.

I don't even know if he was refering to himself. But sometimes people think that depression is part of who they are, and if they were happy they wouldn't be themselves. I think that's a very bad place to be in, mentally.

[Lorizael]

It's a point of view I used to adhere to, and I know many other depressed people that think in similar ways. I'm still depressed, but it's not because of that.

I don't believe that being depressed will help my writing. In fact, I have no will to write whenever I am depressed. Whenever I do manage to write something, I know it's a sign that I'm doing better.

[Blake]

With all this talk of perspective... I want to offer some advice to you people who keep looking for the perfect psychological disorder for you (as I used to), I'd like you to take about an hour out from your quest and experience another perspective, it wont be perfect but it might just be good enough.

Dealing with the Emotion

Ajahn Brahm teaches us how to deal with difficult
emotions and to learn how to experience more positive
emotions, more often.


Now, stop thoughts like "It's not for me"! You don't even know what it's like!
Go listen to like the first minute of that video and see if it's actually anything like what you'd expect .

It's only your time, you really do have nothing to lose - I mean like you're just going to waste that time anyway.