Rate your current mental health level out of 10

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

The world is a ####ing prison and we are all pretending it’s normal

We're all trapped in this massive prison called "society" and everyone's acting like it's perfectly fine. Nobody asked to be born into this bull####, yet here we are, forced to play by rules we never agreed to.

Think about it - we HAVE to work to simply exist. We have to pay taxes on money we earned by selling our time. We can't even act how we truly want without being labeled as "mentally ill" or "unstable." Want to opt out? Oh, you must be "depressed." Need "help." #### that.

The real insanity is how everyone just accepts this. School trains you to be a good little worker. Family pressures you to "fit in." Jobs demand you to conform to their culture. Every single institution is designed to keep us in line, to make us predictable, to strip away any real individuality.

You know who the only truly free people are? The "crazy" ones on the street who've completely checked out of this system, and the dead. Dark but true. Everyone else is just playing pretend, convincing themselves they're "free" while living in chains they chose to ignore.

I can't even feel normal emotions anymore - or maybe I feel everything too intensely because I see through all this bull####. It's like being both numb and hypersensitive to how ####ed up everything is.

There's no real freedom as long as we exist in this world. We're all just prisoners pretending we're not in a cage. The only choices we have are the ones our captors allow us to make.

I think we accept it because there aren't really better alternatives. Nobody is blind or ignorant to this, but it's typically more beneficial as individuals and members of society to work with the system/go with the flow.

You really aren't trapped in a suburb, in a city, in a condo/house/whatever. You could literally drive to a parking lot somewhere in the woods, maybe push your car into a lake if you want to hide your starting point, and just walk a few mountain ranges over and start a life of seclusion playing 100% by your own rules. Go up north and you'll never be found.

Problem is that would suck. Cold, hunger, disease, discomfort, injury, seclusion, loneliness, toil, danger, etc.

I do think we're sold a crock of #### when young that happiness is a goal or a destination. Realistically, happiness comes and goes and you have to work and prepare and plan to achieve as many moments of stressless relaxation and happiness as you can, but they're punctuations in your otherwise banal, stressful, hard, tiring, normal existence. It's the way it is and it's okay. I do think we're treated to - and ungrateful for - general comfort: indoor plumbing, relative safety, healthcare, HVAC, abundant food, etc. The general state of humans for most of history (and probably still today) is suffering.

Happiness isn't guaranteed. It's not even possible to exist in a state of happiness or bliss as some sort of general or permanent state. Happiness is just an offset or nice feeling compared to general hardship.

Some people are wired better to just exist in a happier state than others, but suffering does come for us all throughout our lives.

Personally, I do my best to try to increase the probability of the best outcomes while preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Don't get yourself into debt. Save your pennies. Try not to make enemies. Do right by people. Take care of your ####. Don't procrastinate. Nurture your friendships. The basics. Also plan for a fun thing every weekend and try to do something chill every week day (exercise, play cards, go for wings, read, wax your car, whatevs). You have to carve out time for fun. It's mandatory.

All easier said than done, of course, and let's get back to our wiring is going to dictate so much of our mood/outlook/happiness; however, for what can be controlled you have to control to the best of your ability.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

You won't. They don't report stuff like that.

I’m pretty sure if NB Stoney is shut down today around 96th ave that part would be mentioned. Not the jumper but the road closure.

[jayswin]

For a little bit on twitter or other socials. Suicide attempts on highways are posted as a "police incident" and generally if the person doesn't jump it will just be posted online during the event. For example "2:45pm: southbound deerfoot at Mcknight closed due to police incident, 3:15pm: update - southbound deerfoot reopens".

That won't make it tomorrow's news. Even if somebody dies and it's closed for hours they generally won't put the "police incident" in tomorrow's news because they're not allowed to say anything more than "The road was closed for hours due to a police incident".

[DoubleK]

Someone is in touch with fotze, right?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Someone is in touch with fotze, right?

I chatted with him this afternoon, not much really to say. I'll be seeing him shortly though.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by fotze2

The ones are even partially good definitely made things worse. I can’t go back and work for hours after that, it took too many living and sleeping hours after. Not even convinced it’s good for everyone, even with the top person on earth. You can’t yoga your way out things that are.

i need someone like that. I don't really have a good connection with the psychologist I am currently seeing.

I have made it up to a 3 or 4 out of 10 with the help of an SSRI, but what a wild ride the past few months have been.

[Deegee]

Originally Posted by Deegee

I'm 42 and two time divorced. My son has moved out, and I live alone in a #### hole city with no friends. I can't really afford to move for 5 years until I am done with support payments.

I've dated here or there and the longest I can seem to last is 90 days before I get told "I'm not ready for a relationship", or in other words I'm not good enough. Every dating cycle is the same.

I basically go through the motions in life at this point. I feel like I have nothing to live for. I know some people are comfortable living single for their entire life, but I'm pretty lonely.

Would rate myself a 3 or 4.

I went to a hypnotherapist, and while i am skeptical on this kind of stuff, it was life changing. As someone who has dealt with anxiety related issues all of my life, I feel at peace for the first time that I can remember and it's almost overwhelming.

I don't know if I am healed or repaired, but the feelings of anxiety don't exist anymore. It's really hard to explain, and I don't know if it works for everyone. It's been about 2 months since I went.

Would rate myself a 6+ now to be honest.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Deegee

I went to a hypnotherapist, and while i am skeptical on this kind of stuff, it was life changing. As someone who has dealt with anxiety related issues all of my life, I feel at peace for the first time that I can remember and it's almost overwhelming.

I don't know if I am healed or repaired, but the feelings of anxiety don't exist anymore. It's really hard to explain, and I don't know if it works for everyone. It's been about 2 months since I went.

Would rate myself a 6+ now to be honest.

That's a really interesting approach. Was it covered by insurance? How much was it? How many sessions did you go through? Sorry if the questions are intrusive.

[Deegee]

It was not covered by insurance and I went once. It was about $263.00. I figured what the heck it's worth a shot. https://www.francishypnosis.com/ This is the one I went to.

When I finished I was in my car almost laughing processing the experience as the anxiety was missing. I thought it was kind of silly during the experience as I felt I was awake and not hypnotized or in a trance, but then I realized I could hear the hypnotist and myself snoring and that was really interesting.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Someone is in touch with fotze, right?

In touch relatively regularly with him. Don’t think he deserved a lifetime ban, just my opinion. Was always part of his schtick and disappointed in the decision. That thread is a bit of a train wreck oh my. CP is undoubtedly worse off without him.

I won’t get into details out of respect for him as I really don’t know what he would or wouldn’t want shared but I think one part of his life that was stressful is improving soon. He’s a great person with a solid head on his shoulders and acutely knows right from wrong. Got a big heart and obviously A+ sense of humor. His kids are stud hockey players too.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think we accept it because there aren't really better alternatives. Nobody is blind or ignorant to this, but it's typically more beneficial as individuals and members of society to work with the system/go with the flow.

You really aren't trapped in a suburb, in a city, in a condo/house/whatever. You could literally drive to a parking lot somewhere in the woods, maybe push your car into a lake if you want to hide your starting point, and just walk a few mountain ranges over and start a life of seclusion playing 100% by your own rules. Go up north and you'll never be found.

Problem is that would suck. Cold, hunger, disease, discomfort, injury, seclusion, loneliness, toil, danger, etc.

I do think we're sold a crock of #### when young that happiness is a goal or a destination. Realistically, happiness comes and goes and you have to work and prepare and plan to achieve as many moments of stressless relaxation and happiness as you can, but they're punctuations in your otherwise banal, stressful, hard, tiring, normal existence. It's the way it is and it's okay. I do think we're treated to - and ungrateful for - general comfort: indoor plumbing, relative safety, healthcare, HVAC, abundant food, etc. The general state of humans for most of history (and probably still today) is suffering.

Happiness isn't guaranteed. It's not even possible to exist in a state of happiness or bliss as some sort of general or permanent state. Happiness is just an offset or nice feeling compared to general hardship.

Some people are wired better to just exist in a happier state than others, but suffering does come for us all throughout our lives.

Personally, I do my best to try to increase the probability of the best outcomes while preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Don't get yourself into debt. Save your pennies. Try not to make enemies. Do right by people. Take care of your ####. Don't procrastinate. Nurture your friendships. The basics. Also plan for a fun thing every weekend and try to do something chill every week day (exercise, play cards, go for wings, read, wax your car, whatevs). You have to carve out time for fun. It's mandatory.

All easier said than done, of course, and let's get back to our wiring is going to dictate so much of our mood/outlook/happiness; however, for what can be controlled you have to control to the best of your ability.

This is an awesome post and you have wicked perspective.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

In touch relatively regularly with him. Don’t think he deserved a lifetime ban, just my opinion. Was always part of his schtick and disappointed in the decision. That thread is a bit of a train wreck oh my. CP is undoubtedly worse off without him.

I won’t get into details out of respect for him as I really don’t know what he would or wouldn’t want shared but I think one part of his life that was stressful is improving soon. He’s a great person with a solid head on his shoulders and acutely knows right from wrong. Got a big heart and obviously A+ sense of humor. His kids are stud hockey players too.

He didn't get a lifetime ban, as someone pointed out earlier. The mods that are left over don't have the understanding of the mod tools to sin bin anymore, so they're forced to lifetime ban and then give a lift date from there. He's back in a couple weeks, I believe.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by jayswin

He didn't get a lifetime ban, as someone pointed out earlier. The mods that are left over don't have the understanding of the mod tools to sin bin anymore, so they're forced to lifetime ban and then give a lift date from there. He's back in a couple weeks, I believe.

According to a text I received from him yesterday he believes he has a lifetime ban- so, not sure. Shrug

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

According to a text I received from him yesterday he believes he has a lifetime ban- so, not sure. Shrug

Ah, tell him to check in with mods. They aren't very good at this stuff and very understaffed.

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Ah, tell him to check in with mods. They aren't very good at this stuff and very understaffed.

Is there a way to volunteer? I'm not necessarily putting my hand up but maybe there'd be others who would want to help?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I think we accept it because there aren't really better alternatives. Nobody is blind or ignorant to this, but it's typically more beneficial as individuals and members of society to work with the system/go with the flow.

You really aren't trapped in a suburb, in a city, in a condo/house/whatever. You could literally drive to a parking lot somewhere in the woods, maybe push your car into a lake if you want to hide your starting point, and just walk a few mountain ranges over and start a life of seclusion playing 100% by your own rules. Go up north and you'll never be found.

Problem is that would suck. Cold, hunger, disease, discomfort, injury, seclusion, loneliness, toil, danger, etc.

I do think we're sold a crock of #### when young that happiness is a goal or a destination. Realistically, happiness comes and goes and you have to work and prepare and plan to achieve as many moments of stressless relaxation and happiness as you can, but they're punctuations in your otherwise banal, stressful, hard, tiring, normal existence. It's the way it is and it's okay. I do think we're treated to - and ungrateful for - general comfort: indoor plumbing, relative safety, healthcare, HVAC, abundant food, etc. The general state of humans for most of history (and probably still today) is suffering.

Happiness isn't guaranteed. It's not even possible to exist in a state of happiness or bliss as some sort of general or permanent state. Happiness is just an offset or nice feeling compared to general hardship.

Some people are wired better to just exist in a happier state than others, but suffering does come for us all throughout our lives.

Personally, I do my best to try to increase the probability of the best outcomes while preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Don't get yourself into debt. Save your pennies. Try not to make enemies. Do right by people. Take care of your ####. Don't procrastinate. Nurture your friendships. The basics. Also plan for a fun thing every weekend and try to do something chill every week day (exercise, play cards, go for wings, read, wax your car, whatevs). You have to carve out time for fun. It's mandatory.

All easier said than done, of course, and let's get back to our wiring is going to dictate so much of our mood/outlook/happiness; however, for what can be controlled you have to control to the best of your ability.

I agree with what you have here. For me personally, I struggled until I made minor changes in my lexicon that IMO made major differences in how I approached and thought about my own personal ethos and philosophy.

Instead of happiness, it's peace and acceptance. Happiness implies perfection and something specific I want. Peace and acceptance can be none of those, but I am OK with it and I can move on. Happiness is fleeting and often only a smaller piece of something bigger. I think that's why happiness seems so odd at times. It's the final product of a longer journey/wider situation. The journey is just as, if not not more important, than the small point in time where the happiness shows up.

Instead of struggles/suffering/life/living, it's merely different states of survival. Whether it's a day to day with wealth/poverty, or the day to day of my own mind, making it to the next day is just part of the circumstances that is required. Every day has something you have to overcome. Sometimes these things are familiar, other times, they are not.

Instead of control, there is only influence and self fulfilling prophecy. The best self fulfilling prophecy I have identified for myself, is to choose self fulfilling state of peace. I cannot control the environment perfectly for a specific outcome, but I can little things to influence the odds of an outcome I desire and the way I think when the outcome is not what I desire. If I cannot do something to make myself smile right away, it also doesn't hurt to try to do something to try and help someone else smile to pass the time.

IMO, these minor differences in wording helped me better understand things like the psychological principals of reversed effort, serenity prayer, Hakuna Matata etc. I'm not going to say I've figured everything out, but I will say that I feel like embracing this has helped me a little in being faster in figuring out if something is worth doing or thinking or not.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

I left my phone at home when I went out this past weekend.

There were moments of tedium, sure, but it was a great little dopamine detox with a lot less extreme highs and lows that allowed enough uninterrupted quiet to actually brainstorm a few solutions for myself. And overall, the mental health was really good. A big part of that was not being overstimulated. Even just reaching for your phone to check if an email came in or what a buzz was about can split your attention from what you're doing and overwhelm you over the course of a day. And seeing news headlines and angry tweets isn't putting you more at peace, it's draining your peace a little bit each time while also taking you out of the present.

You don't realize what being plugged in all the time does to you until you consciously experience what unplugging feels like and compare the two.

I'd say that while unplugged from devices my mental health gravitates to about an 8 (after the initial discomfort subsides) while plugged in it drifts into the 4 range if I'm continuing to engage with it (scrolling social media, news, forums, etc).

[Dion]

"Happiness is a state of mind" means happiness primarily comes from your internal thoughts, attitudes, and perceptions, rather than external circumstances. This perspective suggests that individuals have the power to cultivate and experience happiness through their mindset, choices, and how they react to life's events, not just by possessing certain things or achieving external goals. While emotions can fluctuate, a state of mind implies a deeper, lasting contentment and peacefulness that can be developed from within.