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Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

blogs.scientificamerican.com

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Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#11

Post by Infernal »

visarga wrote: post #9
tarellel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same here, I have had severe anxiety and depression for quite some time. I was prescribed a few SSRI's bet, but my doctor was a dick and pretty much state I need to just get out and do more, get my mind off shit. So on trying to improve my mental health I started taking nootropics. Some of them people SWARE BY, yet I never experienced any noticeable effect. But by chance I ordered a batch of Magnesium L-Threonate and…

I have had a similar experience. Magnesium lowered my anxiety and made me feel 10 years younger. My sleep is better too. And it's so cheap, yet none of the doctors mentioned it. I only discovered it by chance, when I bought a tube of effervescent pills to sweeten water while travelling (didn't trust the taste of water where I was going). So many schooled doctors, and yet none of them made such a simple suggestion! An…

Are muscle cramps the source of your back pain?

Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#13

Post by iliketosleep »

Fascinating that Behrens reward game showed that humans were able to mentally model volatility at the level of an "ideal learner". But in the variation of the game where there was punishment instead of reward, non-anxious people still performed as "ideal learners" whereas anxious people's predictions became totally out of whack. In other words, the overly anxious mind temporarily lost its capacity to correctly formulate heuristics, which can lead to all kinds of mental chaos.

Personally, I remember that I was once in a job interview where I had to code on a whiteboard. I was so overwhelmed with anxiety that I was temporary incapable of completing simple coding tasks. In the face of extreme anxiety, I literally become stupid.

Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#14

Post by emerged »

iliketosleep wrote: post #13

Fascinating that Behrens reward game showed that humans were able to mentally model volatility at the level of an "ideal learner". But in the variation of the game where there was punishment instead of reward, non-anxious people still performed as "ideal learners" whereas anxious people's predictions became totally out of whack. In other words, the overly anxious mind temporarily lost its capacity to correctly formul…

I can remember interviewing at Google on a whiteboard, with an employee who was: disinterested, overly specific, and antagonistic. Left that building wondering which was less healthy: my anxiety or their culture.

Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#15

Post by iliketosleep »

visarga wrote: post #10
curlcntr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"naming is the origin of all particular things" - Tao Te Ching. That quote, first page, stopped me in my tracks for a long time. I often recall it when I'm tempted by the naming (categorization, abstracting, ...) of some X imagining I understand more about it than I actually do. Similar to as you note, I think.

Oriental philosophy has had a lot to say about names and their vacuity, but at the same time constructed its own extremely elaborate abstractions and conceptual systems. They don't give due credit to abstract and conceptual thinking though. It's not like we can understand the world any other way, we have to use names and abstractions, but apparently that comes in conflict with spiritual practice. I think the practice…

The point of dropping the abstractions during meditation is not to deny the usefulness of them. It's to prevent getting caught up in abstractions to the point of extreme delusion. In this way, it improves the executive function of the mind which can have practical benefits. I view meditation as a way of giving the brain some "fresh air" and keeping abstractions in check.

Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#17

Post by bojackstorkman »

visarga wrote: post #10
curlcntr wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"naming is the origin of all particular things" - Tao Te Ching. That quote, first page, stopped me in my tracks for a long time. I often recall it when I'm tempted by the naming (categorization, abstracting, ...) of some X imagining I understand more about it than I actually do. Similar to as you note, I think.

Oriental philosophy has had a lot to say about names and their vacuity, but at the same time constructed its own extremely elaborate abstractions and conceptual systems. They don't give due credit to abstract and conceptual thinking though. It's not like we can understand the world any other way, we have to use names and abstractions, but apparently that comes in conflict with spiritual practice. I think the practice…

I find the phrase "oriental philosophy" to be problematic in addition to being quite vague.

Additionally, your statement that this "oriental philosophy"(?) doesn't give "due credit" to abstractions, which seems like a very wide dismissal of an undefined subset of philosophical groups.

Then you go on to dismiss meditation as a practice as well, as an "escape from reality". I am assuming that you would agree that since abstractions and definitions are important, the term "reality" isn't well-defined within your statement.

I am curious as to what you mean in general, because it seems like you're trying to tear down some sort of philosophy that we aren't privy to without offering any meaningful alternative counterpoint.

Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#18

Post by DoreenMichele »

Infernal wrote: post #11
visarga wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had a similar experience. Magnesium lowered my anxiety and made me feel 10 years younger. My sleep is better too. And it's so cheap, yet none of the doctors mentioned it. I only discovered it by chance, when I bought a tube of effervescent pills to sweeten water while travelling (didn't trust the taste of water where I was going). So many schooled doctors, and yet none of them made such a simple suggestion! An…

Are muscle cramps the source of your back pain?

I up my consumption of calcium rich foods and B vitamins for low back pain. In my case, it seems to be immune distress. The pelvic bones are the largest well of bone marrow in the body.

Re: Is Chronic Anxiety a Learning Disorder?

#20

Post by fromthestart »

bojackstorkman wrote: post #17
visarga wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oriental philosophy has had a lot to say about names and their vacuity, but at the same time constructed its own extremely elaborate abstractions and conceptual systems. They don't give due credit to abstract and conceptual thinking though. It's not like we can understand the world any other way, we have to use names and abstractions, but apparently that comes in conflict with spiritual practice. I think the practice…

I find the phrase "oriental philosophy" to be problematic in addition to being quite vague. Additionally, your statement that this "oriental philosophy"(?) doesn't give "due credit" to abstractions, which seems like a very wide dismissal of an undefined subset of philosophical groups. Then you go on to dismiss meditation as a practice as well, as an "escape from reality". I am assuming that you would agree that since…

>I find the phrase "oriental philosophy" to be problematic in addition to being quite vague. oriental philosophy

And I find your tone to be unnecessarily confrontational. People have been writing about consistent differences between Eastern and Western philosophies for at least a hundred years. Hell, there's an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to Eastern philosophy[1]. I'm curious as to what exactly you find "problematic" about GP's post.

1.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_philosophy

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