h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am not psychotic, no.

Are you?

What a strange question.

Amanda

short version
i am kind of psychotic.
it IS a rather strange question

peteY!

Dear oh dear.

long version
i have a long explanation for everything.

psychosis is defined as
a break from reality [thought CONTENT is f**ked up]
OR
disorganized thought processes.

now, we both know that "reality" is subjective and there is no absolute reality, right? there are as many realities as there are humans, monkeys, etc... [whatever has a consciousness]

so, if there is no single absolute reality, then how can psychosis be defined? it's definition depends on deviation from such an absolute reality. but one does not exist. therefore, "psychosis" is not black or white, but shades of grey...

we are all psychotic relative to one another.

i believe that life's a bitch but whoever just won the lottery probably does not.

make sense?

all this psych stuff is really interesting. probably good for me since i'm a psychiatrist

anywho, the cognitive distortions of depression run along the same spectrum as psychosis. that's my unconventional opinion on the subject.

have you heard of depressive realism? i think you and i have it!

peteY out

Depressive realism?

Nope.

Please tell me more.

Amanda

hey, i wonder if all these conversations deviate from the original subject so much that nobody knows anymore what we were talking about initially

ok, depressive realism is the flip side of the cognitive theory of depression

first the cog theory of dep states that folks, like us, tend to view themselves, the world, and the future in a skewed negative way and this leads to and perpetuates their depression .

now, depressive realism states that depressed folks, like us, actually see everything MORE ACCURATELY. and, we are depressed because everything DOES suck a$$! those nondepressed people aren't depressed because they have positively biased, distorted perceptions about themselves [they think they're better than they really are], the world [they think it's better than it really is], and the future [they think it's more hopeful than it really is]...

how's this sound to ya?

btw, how can you say you're not psychotic with a name like "maniac"
hey, after my little "psychosis" lecture, would you say that you, too, are psychotic?

Petey out!

I might be a little psychotic then yes, going on your definition.

And I like your idea about depressive realism. It sounds like it could be quite right.
Maniac is a long story. I have used the name maniac since I was 18. And it just stuck.

i like "depressive realism", too. but, i think even more fundamental is my hedonic set point theory. Now, THAT is the TRUE determinant of whether of not life sucks and if so, how sucky life is...
it all boils down to your neurobiological state!
very humbling and very dehumanizing, but it is true, i tell you!

about your "maniac" name, didn't you say that it was b/c you had a really tough time getting your PC set up?

and, about being . i take it that you share these ideas with me:
1. there is no meaning in life
2. everyone is selfish [altruism is selfishness in disguise]
3. life ends at death
4. we are here b/c of a random series of events
5. there is no one watching out for us.
6. the ongoing pursuit of happiness is perhaps futile, especially for people like us, who apparently have lower hedonic setpoints

petey out!

Consider this.

An extinction Level Event such as a comet.
Armagedon is on the TV at the moment.
I have not seen it before as I HATE Bruce Willis, although I loved him in Sixth Sense.

PeteY - about being . i take it that you share these ideas with me:
1. there is no meaning in life
2. everyone is selfish [altruism is selfishness in disguise]
3. life ends at death
4. we are here b/c of a random series of events
5. there is no one watching out for us.
6. the ongoing pursuit of happiness is perhaps futile, especially for people like us, who apparently have lower hedonic setpoints


Don't think there is a meaning although like a lot of people have said in this thread, it means what you want it to mean.

Not everyone is selfish.

Life probably ends at death. (Maybe)

Random events? erm.. interesting. Maybe.

I think something looks out for us. Maybe people who have died look after us. (see 3)

If we look for happiness, at least we have hope.

Amanda out

amanda: "Don't think there is a meaning although like a lot of people have said in this thread, it means what you want it to mean."
petey: AGREED. i think that whole meaning of life debate does tend to be overdone. keep rehashing the same stuff

amanda: Not everyone is selfish.
petey: who isn't selfish? Gandhi? i think that we are selfish b/c of evolution. the nonselfish people didn't make it

amanda: Life probably ends at death. (Maybe)
petey: i see that you have been beguiled by hasselfree's eloquent argument for re-incarnation!

AMANDA: I think something looks out for us. Maybe people who have died look after us. (see 3)
petey: you're joking, right? i see that i'm gonna have to undo some of hasselfree's teachings
hey, if dead people don't look after us, then what else could that "something" be?

amanda: If we look for happiness, at least we have hope.
peteY: lack of hope is one of the biggest determinants of suicide attempts.
have you ever thought about suicide? i have, but only passively. i made a flipbook of myself blowing my head off
some 12 yo girl thought it was "funny", so she copied it.
weird, huh?

peteY out!

I have thought about suicide, but only fleetingly.
Never contemplated it though.

Do you not believe in ghosts?

I think I do.

Amanda

?????

no way! you do?! really?!
so, you MUST believe in something like a "soul" that persists after our bodies decompose, right?

what makes you tend to believe in ?

petey

oh, btw, i'm glad to hear that you haven't really thought about offing yourself. however, if it came to that, i could give you some rec's... if you try it, you wanna do it right...

I have had a few 'weird' experiences which lead me to believe in
It might be a soul I am thinking about.
I am contradicting myself again arn't I?
I think I do believe in something after death. Dunno what it is though.

Amanda

no! please say it isn't so! i'm trying to find another human on this planet like me and susY
check out my bio and you'll notice that you're in there

so, what were these "weird" exp?
and, where could a soul come from?
and, are you sure it isn't just wishful thinking about something after death?

what would it take for me to convince you that there is no such thing as a "soul" and that we should not expect anything after death?

good grief, you might become even more if you hear too much of my thinking

and, what about those methods of suicide? interested, just for kicks?

petey

Maybe stuff is wishful thinking and my mind playing tricks.
I lost a brother and strange things have haapened since. Too many to go into, but things that make you wonder, that's all.

A soul could come from..erm..dunno.
Could our body not be a carrier for our soul.
The thing that is us, is not our body. If we were just a torso and a head, we could survive in this medium, so why not survive after death in another medium? ie, without a body?

I still think me and you are thinking along the same lines, maybe I am trying to think like we continue to make myself feel better.

Amanda out.

hey, did you know that you could do this for "erm"?
and, about your brother.
i don't wanna get you more down, but i gotta be mr cynical here as always
i think that the "soul" is thought of as one's self awareness or one's consciousness, right?
now, all the evidence suggests that this is correlated with some physical event[s] or state[s] in our brain and, thus, depends on this.
for example, if you destroy too much of the brain, then the self-awareness vanishes, or so it seems...
it just seems that the logical assumption would be that the mind-brain connection leads us to the inevitable conclusion that when the biological substrate ceases to exist, then the "subjective" correlation also vanishes...

petey's depressing amanda, huh?

I sometimes get fed up with the smileys. Can't remember what they all are.

I have opened a smiley window so I will put some more in here.

Spose you are right. If we get brain damaged and lose self awareness, we are no longer. I spose Death can constitute brain damage.

I am not depressed no. Don't worry.
I am watching Bruce Willis trying to save the world in Armagedon and talking about life and everything else online. What more could a girl wish for.

i have a smiley window, too. so many options... i just wish i could use something like this
i laughed out loud at your death = brain damage idea! i would consider death to be the ultimate brain damage
i thought armageddon was decent. i won't spoil it for you, though.
guess if it hits Earth...

hey, you're not depressed at all ? is your prozac working that well

i'm still depressed on celexa

I like that one!

I have good days and bad days.
The prozac is quite good. Restores 'normal' parameters.
Makes me shake though in the morningsm, that's a bit of a pain.
I think I may have seen the end of this film. It's starting to look familiar now.

Don't be too

is not good.

Amanda

For you.

"normal parameters"? what are you, an android like Data?
i think i need to try somethin' else. maybe ECT or an MAO I
do you think that there's something that could help you in addition to meds? like therapy? get this... i'm starting therapy next week...how's that for f**ked up?

tx for the

hey, i have some ideas about factors in depression, esp in younger folks. wanna hear it? sure you do. but, first, i have to know if you're single.

to you, too

petey out!