Disclaimer: My opinions are solely my own and not based on psychological science (at least as far as I know).
I’ve always thought that things like depression and anxiety have some genetic component (the mix of chemicals in your brain) and some environmental ‘trigger’ component. You may not be able to do much about the genetic component, but if you get rid of the environmental component you can go a long way towards getting better.
I also have anxiety disorder. A lot of happiness has to do with being financially secure, having a fulfilling job/career, having a good social circle, eating well, having a good mix of hobbies, and working out. I’ve noticed that in my life whenever I was lagging in one or more of these areas, the anxiety and depression started bubbling up again. But whenever I tried taking care of these issues, I was mostly happy.
If someone is depressed, I don’t think it will do to just give them some medications or tell them to do yoga, as you say. But maybe giving them meaningful employment or an exercise regimen will make them happy. Of course, people who are depressed get ‘stuck’ in a cycle where they are unable to ‘break out’ and obtain these things.
Again, these are solely my own opinions. Some of them might be stupid, others obvious.
That’s sometimes a very frustrating thing to read- the “get rid of environmental triggers” thing. Speaking solely for myself here, my triggers are either really, really difficult to do anything about (financial difficulties) or a bad idea to try and get rid of (my academics). Sometimes you’re just stuck at a point in your life where you can’t fix your triggers.
I think there must be more we can do than get rid of triggers, or add more meaningful things. Maybe not as effective, but mental illness is a complex thing. Complex things have weak points. Sometimes I wonder of we’re ignoring the trees and just seeing the forest here. Mental self-help advice is so… formulaic.
Just getting rid of stuff is one way to stop a trigger. Building up a way to deal with it is another. Like, you could come up with a plan for your finances, and practice bringing up your finances and saying that plan, so you build another association with your finances that isn’t a loop of anxious thoughts. Like role-play therapy, where you plan out and practice your reactions to someone saying something before hand.
I am assuming a heluvalot about you with that advice though, sorry if that doesn’t even make sense.
Well, I’m not the only person who struggles with anxiety, much less mental illness in general, so while your advice may not apply to me it probably applies to someone else. Focusing all of the discussion of mental illness on the one mentally ill person who started the discussion is… well, not exactly what I started the discussion FOR. So, any advice you have is totally welcome and appreciated.
I guess that disclaimer was a bit of a cached reaction, since the main forum where I talk about mental illness issues is Tumblr, and I need to explain that I know I’m not omnecient on Tumblr, and can’t prescribe treatments better than the people it would effect, just suggest ideas.
I did catch the extra disclaimer that you are not to use cognitave therapy on other people without their consent or knowledge, because in lw I expect you already know that and I won’t get status from pointing out that people have, like, agency and stuff. You can’t just do things to people. Wow. So much friendship for hitting such a low bar of decency. All the applause lights. Ramble ramble ramble.
I sometimes think that LWers actually underestimate the help that individuals suggesting ideas can be. More than once, a friend has said something that made me think, “holy crap, I’ve approached this not just from the wrong angle, but the wrong freaking plane.” I also have noticed that suggestions without disclaimers tend to get downvoted here, so I suspect the cached reaction is a good cached reaction.
Disclaimer: My opinions are solely my own and not based on psychological science (at least as far as I know).
I’ve always thought that things like depression and anxiety have some genetic component (the mix of chemicals in your brain) and some environmental ‘trigger’ component. You may not be able to do much about the genetic component, but if you get rid of the environmental component you can go a long way towards getting better.
I also have anxiety disorder. A lot of happiness has to do with being financially secure, having a fulfilling job/career, having a good social circle, eating well, having a good mix of hobbies, and working out. I’ve noticed that in my life whenever I was lagging in one or more of these areas, the anxiety and depression started bubbling up again. But whenever I tried taking care of these issues, I was mostly happy.
If someone is depressed, I don’t think it will do to just give them some medications or tell them to do yoga, as you say. But maybe giving them meaningful employment or an exercise regimen will make them happy. Of course, people who are depressed get ‘stuck’ in a cycle where they are unable to ‘break out’ and obtain these things.
Again, these are solely my own opinions. Some of them might be stupid, others obvious.
That’s sometimes a very frustrating thing to read- the “get rid of environmental triggers” thing. Speaking solely for myself here, my triggers are either really, really difficult to do anything about (financial difficulties) or a bad idea to try and get rid of (my academics). Sometimes you’re just stuck at a point in your life where you can’t fix your triggers.
I think there must be more we can do than get rid of triggers, or add more meaningful things. Maybe not as effective, but mental illness is a complex thing. Complex things have weak points. Sometimes I wonder of we’re ignoring the trees and just seeing the forest here. Mental self-help advice is so… formulaic.
Just getting rid of stuff is one way to stop a trigger. Building up a way to deal with it is another. Like, you could come up with a plan for your finances, and practice bringing up your finances and saying that plan, so you build another association with your finances that isn’t a loop of anxious thoughts. Like role-play therapy, where you plan out and practice your reactions to someone saying something before hand.
I am assuming a heluvalot about you with that advice though, sorry if that doesn’t even make sense.
Well, I’m not the only person who struggles with anxiety, much less mental illness in general, so while your advice may not apply to me it probably applies to someone else. Focusing all of the discussion of mental illness on the one mentally ill person who started the discussion is… well, not exactly what I started the discussion FOR. So, any advice you have is totally welcome and appreciated.
I guess that disclaimer was a bit of a cached reaction, since the main forum where I talk about mental illness issues is Tumblr, and I need to explain that I know I’m not omnecient on Tumblr, and can’t prescribe treatments better than the people it would effect, just suggest ideas.
I did catch the extra disclaimer that you are not to use cognitave therapy on other people without their consent or knowledge, because in lw I expect you already know that and I won’t get status from pointing out that people have, like, agency and stuff. You can’t just do things to people. Wow. So much friendship for hitting such a low bar of decency. All the applause lights. Ramble ramble ramble.
I sometimes think that LWers actually underestimate the help that individuals suggesting ideas can be. More than once, a friend has said something that made me think, “holy crap, I’ve approached this not just from the wrong angle, but the wrong freaking plane.” I also have noticed that suggestions without disclaimers tend to get downvoted here, so I suspect the cached reaction is a good cached reaction.
Also, thanks for the giggle.