Has anything worked?

Polis wrote:

kohrev wrote:On the bright side, I've heard that symptoms become less extreme as we age. Maybe in twenty years I'll have a hammer AND a screwdriver. Jackpot!

This is the case for mental problems that are result of being overly emotional, apathy, and anhedonia gets worse with age.

I would've been better off without that.

meemai wrote:

LoneWanderer wrote:No, there's no hope for any of us. People can learn to cope with their symptoms to a certain extent, but we'll never be able to live normal, happy lives. I think we're all destined to live extremely dull, grey and cold existences until we either drop dead from natural causes or apply the business end of a blade to our wrists. Sorry (sincerely).

Thanks man just what I needed.

He's not wrong, although I don't find suicide so appealing. I'm dull as dull can be and at least my world is almost entirely grey. I don't foresee that changing, mainly because I don't see a need to change much of it.

Greatem wrote: well, if i am to live a gray life, might as well live it in different shades..
you know, 50 shades of gray.. puny.

Boooooo!!!!!! Boooooo!!!!!!!

Greatem wrote:that aside, your miserable existence =/= others existence.

You're right, I was being overly negative. Although I can't help but feel that my post is correct though, because I've been visiting this forum since late May last year, and I don't think I've come across anyone with SPD who is genuinely happy. I hope I'm wrong, but it seems like the best we can hope for is to be emotionally numb rather than depressed, and it seems like any sort of sustained, long-term happiness is completely out of our grasp. Like I say, I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but nothing I've seen or read about in regards to SPD suggests so.

LoneWanderer wrote:You're right, I was being overly negative. Although I can't help but feel that my post is correct though, because I've been visiting this forum since late May last year, and I don't think I've come across anyone with SPD who is genuinely happy. I hope I'm wrong, but it seems like the best we can hope for is to be emotionally numb rather than depressed, and it seems like any sort of sustained, long-term happiness is completely out of our grasp. Like I say, I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but nothing I've seen or read about in regards to SPD suggests so.

Happiness is in the eyes of the beholder. It also depends on your definition of happiness. Some people might look at somebody with SPD and think they are not happy because by their definition to be happy one needs to be constantly smiling, hanging out with friends etc. That person with SPD will probably have an entirely different perspective on happiness.

Focusing outward can have scary consequences.

I think it depends on your end point. If you want something to make you a social butterfly then a craniotomy might be in order, but if you're goal is to extend your social, emotional, and mental boundaries, then I think an experienced, compassionate therapist plus a well-thought medication plan is a good first effort. I do a little bit of both. On top of that, I try to not push myself so hard that I start to regress or rebound to bad habits. I try not to make too many changes or take on more stress than I can handle, but I also know when I am just making excuses. This keeps me honest so I can continue to try to move forward.

Vreedzame wrote:Happiness is in the eyes of the beholder. It also depends on your definition of happiness.

I thought the exact same thing.

In any case, nothing can work if you don't want anything in particular. If you want something, then you will have to determine it and plan for it. As far as I am concerned, I am quite happy with the way I live. It is other people that disagree and sometimes make my life miserable just to prove a point. But get rid of those idiots, and it is clear sailing.

I am actually surprised that people would want to change themselves like that. Either it is because they think they are better than what they are, which makes them unhappy, or they internalize other people's opinion. In each case it suggests a strong superego. That can be worked on in therapy quite easily. It is when you don't have one, that it becomes hopeless, but then it does not matter.

Freeform aesthetic expression is deeply therapeutic for me, it acts as though a pressure valve for the emotions I am constantly repressing. It is as though I am reaching through the well of my empty soul to offer comfort to the child who is stranded and alone at the bottom of it.

Please do pardon my pseudopoetic phrasing and cringey dramatisation, but that is the best way I know of expressing what states of mind I enter when I play.

It also allows me to express my innate spontaneity that rarely finds expression otherwise. It is deeply cathartic, and even sometimes rapturous.

LoneWanderer wrote:You're right, I was being overly negative. Although I can't help but feel that my post is correct though, because I've been visiting this forum since late May last year, and I don't think I've come across anyone with SPD who is genuinely happy.

Even if soneone with SPD was genuinely happy, that doesn't mean they would be able to express it all that well.

I hope I'm wrong, but it seems like the best we can hope for is to be emotionally numb rather than depressed

Yep, numbness is certainly the best I can hope for.

, and it seems like any sort of sustained, long-term happiness is completely out of our grasp. Like I say, I sincerely hope I'm wrong, but nothing I've seen or read about in regards to SPD suggests so.

I don't think that sustained, long-term happiness is within anybody's grasp. It seems to me that what normal people actually experience is a series of ups and downs.

Gentlesmith wrote:I don't think that sustained, long-term happiness is within anybody's grasp. It seems to me that what normal people actually experience is a series of ups and downs.

Just reading that I had a wondering thought. What If somebody was to reach "Nirvana" or a state of ultimate happiness. The person was at their biological maximum potential for happiness. Would they become desensitised to it over time?

Also, If they were to ever leave this state of perpetual happiness, would they find "normal" life incredibly tiring, boring and grey?