I was thinking about this this morning and couldn't help but notice the apparent correlation between high profile people who have committed suicide recently and their profiles. All from arts/creative fields (Avicii, Kate Spade, Bourdain, Robin Williams, Heath Ledger, I'm sure there are more). Is there any scientific research that has explored the possibility that the wiring in the brain that makes people creative has…
There's a theory that creatives are much more sensitive (which is why they are so good at their work) and thus more vulnerable to crazy highs and lows. One book on the subject is, Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament.
The attribute you are looking for actually has a formal psychometric measure: neuroticism.
I was thinking about this this morning and couldn't help but notice the apparent correlation between high profile people who have committed suicide recently and their profiles. All from arts/creative fields (Avicii, Kate Spade, Bourdain, Robin Williams, Heath Ledger, I'm sure there are more). Is there any scientific research that has explored the possibility that the wiring in the brain that makes people creative has…
Slight nitpick, but Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose [0]. 0. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Ledger
Accidental is rather bold. I'm sure Ledger was aware he was playing with fire. I've taken hard drugs for chronic pain -- and the threshold of difference between pain relief, sedation, and ultimately death- it is a stark dosing and feeling difference, not easily overlooked. I'd garner 90% of overdoses from clean drugs (not fentanyl swap/cut with other things), 90% are people who have an existing death wish. The risk is like penance, self whipping or cutting or whatnot. It is almost cathartic because they think the result is binary; either death or numbness. But we all know that there are medical midpoints like brain death or organ failure..etc.. Depressed people tend to be catastrophic, taking complex odds and possibilities and projecting them onto a binary, almost altruistic pair of contrasting outcomes. Its sad..I only know this because I suffer the same way..just not with drug abuse anymore.
As much as I know all of these things, the attitude my loved one has has killed the love out of me. Constant negativity, agitation, it's just tiring. I just can't seem to not take it personal, and to have a mindset that it is the disease and not the person. I can't figure out how to start loving the person again.
Act in love, no matter how you feel. That takes emotional energy and strength. You have to find that somewhere other than out of that relationship.
That's how you send yourself to therapy. How long do you put up the act for?
>> ...but I've taken the time to prepare a set of scenarios under which I would no longer want to live, and think about what would need to be taken care of... I believe professionals would categorize what you wrote there as "planning suicide". So long as you have not started "taking care of" those things you have not begun executing your plan. Planning is a rather big step beyond contemplating - I hope you're doing b…
See, this is exactly what I am talking about. It's evaluating a set of contingencies. Like, the general staffs of armies make war plans that they will never execute, unless the particular parameters fall in place, all the time. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.
As much as I know all of these things, the attitude my loved one has has killed the love out of me. Constant negativity, agitation, it's just tiring. I just can't seem to not take it personal, and to have a mindset that it is the disease and not the person. I can't figure out how to start loving the person again.
If there are no children or other complications, I would not hesitate to leave. The relationship could be part of why the depression persists, and I don't mean that in a "it's your fault" kind of way. Some people just mix like oil and water.
It is possible to leave in a nice way. My divorce followed telling him "I'm tired of hurting you. I'm tired of being hurt. I think we both really gave it our best. If we could do this dance, we would have figured it out by now. I want a divorce." He breathed a sigh of relief and agreed. We both cooperated in making it amicable and not a disaster for any involved party.
Leaving doesn't have to be a case of abandonment or rejection. It can be a case of gently setting both parties free.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy is scientifically proven to work. Basically any CBT book on amazon on the subject, look for best sellers, read reviews - $3.99 plus $1.99 shipping is your cost. Another book, The Power of Now I personally recommend. Everything else you need is in the KJV.
KJV? Has self-directed CBT actually been studied?
Yes, most of the books start off listing the studies and the results. I seem to remember the best seller one, Feeling Good, actually goes into the history and discovery, including the actual tests and results incrementally, although I don't have my copy immediately available.
When I say scientifically proven, I mean it. If it doesn't work, the researchers would honestly like to learn about your situation and why it didn't work.
One thing that helped me was seeing depressed thoughts as transient entities, not belonging to me, but just passing through my mind once and a while. It's like a weird dream. If you have a weird dream, you don't think, "oh I'm weird", you think, "that was a weird dream". It's the same with depressed thoughts: if you see them as "oh that's a depressing thought", rather than, "I'm depressing", then it's easier for thos…
I found meditation practice immensely helpful in my struggle with depression. I learned that the present moment is the only moment, and I can let the thoughts pass through me and come out the other side.
I thought it was pretty hippie-dippy stuff when I started, but I was desperate enough to give it a good honest try, and damned if it didn't help more than talk therapy and everything else.
As a person who has experience with severe depression, studying evidence-based psychiatry, and conducting psychiatric services research, I wholeheartedly endorse the advice in this piece.
This is the kind of horror story I was preaching against. They don't do such things unless you become violent. This is not one flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.
I have to argue from personal experience and my own eyes that lesser offences can be harshly punished and everything that is legal or in the rulebook is not constantly followed. Of course this will depend on location but you're talking in absolutes.
It's not zero. The numbers are pretty big: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatment-resistant_depression... Treatment-resistance is relatively common in cases of Major Depressive Disorder. Rates of total remission following antidepressant treatment are only 50.4%. In cases of depression treated by a primary-care physician, 32% of patients partially responded to treatment and 45% did not respond at all. I'm not advocat…
> It's not zero. The numbers are pretty big Woah.. treatment resistance is nowhere near the same as being untreatable. It's an alarmingly huge leap to make, especially since the definition kicks in after only two anti-depressants have failed. > minimizing human suffering is worthwhile; I agree.. > then the idea of forcing someone to live a life of pain bothers me But I still take issue with the seeming over-simplicit…
> nothing but pain
That's an impossible threshold, so it's meaningless and you haven't conceded anything.
This is like the abortion debate. There's no common ground.