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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Michael83 on May 25, 2006, at 1:26:33
I've been thinking about my problems (see 5/18/06 post for this) and reading many other people's problems, specifically those who suffer form depression.
Has your therapist ever recommended that perhaps you need to find something to perhaps keep your mind of the negative thoughts?
Most everyone in their life has experienced this energy you get when you become "connected" with the passions in life what make you happy.
I also find that when I have having the most problems is at night, when I'm alone. I feel like the only human living on the entire planet. It helps to be near the crowds, near the energy, something to stimulate your mind.
Are we hiding ourselves from some sort of stimulation that makes us happy?
Posted by bailey777 on May 25, 2006, at 5:33:12
In reply to Has your therapist ever recommended this?, posted by Michael83 on May 25, 2006, at 1:26:33
Sure -- it's a habit and a learned behavior. I'm come from an extremely negative family and I myself can be negative. I used CBT to retrain my outlook on life, but not only that, how I perceived the world. Once you stop your self from negative thinking (which is a form of depression), things and YOU can really change.
Posted by Michael83 on May 25, 2006, at 8:50:31
In reply to Re: Has your therapist ever recommended this?, posted by bailey777 on May 25, 2006, at 5:33:12
I think it's more than just stopping negative thinking. I think everyone has something that can trigger a positive energy. Some "passion" they have about something. I think THAT'S the key.
Posted by orchid on May 25, 2006, at 13:15:10
In reply to Re: Has your therapist ever recommended this?, posted by Michael83 on May 25, 2006, at 8:50:31
Yes. What you have said and found is true. It is very important not only to eliminate negative thoughts, but to fill up our mind with positive ones. And it is not possible to just think positive thoughts and fill up our mind with that. You have to *do something* positive. You have to take proactive steps which will lead to positive and happy experiences for you.
They could be as simple as taking the effort to go out and meet some friends when all you want to do is to lie down in your bed and be alone. It could be to listen to some good music, watch a comedy show, do some gardening, go play something. All these little little things add up in the end. One of my friends remarked to me a long time ago, "It is not possible to fill up a pond in one shot - it has to be filled up through millions of droplets of water. Same way, happiness and positive mind frame has to be built little by little". Both my therapists recommended me to do any and all of the above activities.
Also, in addition to it, finding one or two causes for which you are dedicated, helps you to maintain a positive frame of mind. It helps to know that you are here for a purpose - whether it be to serve the society, or serve God, or protect nature, or protect the most endangered species - in whateve form, having a higher goal in life than oneself helps to maintain happiness.
Also, unfortunately, modern society is leading to more and more aloofness and loneliness in the name of privacy. No one in the right form of society should stay in the night all alone by themselves. It is a hard task for our emotions - possibly triggers age old fear of living alone. So, try your best to find someone to stay with (maybe find a roomie) or something. That will definitely help. I am like a tiger in the day time, but a very weak and scared cat in the night. And it is the truth for many people, whether they admit it or not. It is one of the basic protective instincts for any zoological species - built by millions of years of instincts based on the most primitive self protective mechanisms and when modern therapists say that you should be able to be happy to be all alone, they are wrong.
Hope this helps.
Posted by Jost on May 25, 2006, at 13:49:26
In reply to Re: Has your therapist ever recommended this? » Michael83, posted by orchid on May 25, 2006, at 13:15:10
I recommend "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and the "Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert-- on Comedy Central.
They've helped me any number of times. Not a solution, but a few minutes of humor--
Jost
Posted by pseudoname on May 25, 2006, at 15:45:02
In reply to Re: Has your therapist ever recommended this?, posted by Michael83 on May 25, 2006, at 8:50:31
Hi, Michael.
What you're describing sounds like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow: the psychology of optimal experience" (1990). It's about things that you lose yourself in, things that are worth doing not for their outcomes but for the sake of doing them. Things that are “intrinsically motivating.” Is that it?
Posted by orchid on May 25, 2006, at 18:37:47
In reply to Flow? » Michael83, posted by pseudoname on May 25, 2006, at 15:45:02
Posted by Michael83 on May 25, 2006, at 23:32:49
In reply to Flow? » Michael83, posted by pseudoname on May 25, 2006, at 15:45:02
Very much like that! I hope many people here suffering as I have can find something to submerse themselves in that will bring them happiness and erase the constant bad thoughts.
This is what lifts me from the bad thoughts and fears. It really works. It's not always easy. Sometimes I just cannot get any traction with something that motivates me, but in the end, it's what saves me.
Sometimes I just need to tell myself, "Quit worrying and live life!" Not always easy to convince myself of that, but it works a lot of times.
> Hi, Michael.
>
> What you're describing sounds like Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "Flow: the psychology of optimal experience" (1990). It's about things that you lose yourself in, things that are worth doing not for their outcomes but for the sake of doing them. Things that are “intrinsically motivating.” Is that it?
This is the end of the thread.
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