I'm not shrinking anything on you buddy:) On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 6:50 PM, <[email protected]> wrote:
> *I want Spring to be my shrink!* > ** > *J.* > > > This is similar to walking across the bridge you want to jump off > of everyday to stare into the water and become familiar with the location as > a place to fight your demons. You survive that hard place, and really there > isn't anywhere but up after that. He visited his bridge with with a bungee > cord (disabled gun), therefore taking the full potential away... Disarming > the warhead. I can't understand how this could work with truly chemically > fucked people because they forget thier bungee cord. Case by case eh? I'm > for it - it can work. > > > On Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 10:13 PM, Liz Purkrabek > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> >> I would also add that the method used was steeped in personal importance >> and >> symbolism, and the method's effectiveness may reflect that. Other people >> volunteering to participate in a study relating to this one man's methods >> may likely find that the method is essentially useless to the volunteer >> unless the gun and particular thoughts and actions taken were also >> significant to them in similar ways. That would certainly be difficult to >> ascertain. >> >> I am somewhat skeptical of the long term effectiveness of his method for >> dealing with depression, but I realize I must be careful not to let my own >> struggles intrude upon my objectivity toward another person's. I can't >> imagine that any ritual or thought process would have changed the way I >> felt >> physically and mentally when I was at my worst. If it were possible, I >> would have done it. I tried everything I could think of and many things I >> didn't. >> >> Liz >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [email protected] >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jason >> (Memphis) >> Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 4:03 PM >> To: Memphis Freethought Alliance >> Subject: Re: Unconventional Approach to Coping with Depression >> >> >> The problem is that if this treatment is very effective even more so >> than any other treatment : 1) it would be hard to get it through a >> human rights/ethics review board to run the experiment; 2) it would >> also be hard to recruit participants once you described the treatment >> to them and 3) once you got participants, attrition (drop out) rates >> would likely be high because the treatment is inherently aversive and >> troubling to the individual and society at large. >> >> On Dec 21, 3:33 pm, "Liz Purkrabek" <[email protected]> wrote: >> > That's great if it worked for the guy. >> > >> > Liz >> > >> > -----Original Message----- >> > From: [email protected] >> > >> > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jason >> > (Memphis) >> > Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 2:58 PM >> > To: Memphis Freethought Alliance >> > Subject: Unconventional Approach to Coping with Depression >> > >> > Here is a story of an unconventional approach to dealing with >> > depression. This is a adult diagnosed with bi-polar from California. >> > I don't know the long-term consequences (that is, decades) but this >> > person claimed that it worked for a least the few years that I knew >> > him. >> > >> > This is his approach. >> > >> > PROBLEM: He had a problem getting out of bed in the morning and had >> > frequent "comfortably numb spells," which eventually led to a job loss >> > and other issues that accompanied the job loss especially relationship >> > (martial and divorce) challenges. That is not atypical for mental >> > health patients. So the following "solution" is his unproven, >> > extreme, unconventional approach that worked for him as far as getting >> > himself back into his life. He thought his problem was that he lacked >> > energy each morning to get out bed and contemplated suicide on a >> > number of occasions. He allegedly would "drown" himself in thoughts >> > such as "it is not worth it," "....it is too much effort...,' "nobody >> > care. i am nobody", " or "this is too overwhelming"...."life will >> > never get better what's the point..." etc etc. or just cried. >> > >> > SOLUTION: He bought a 9mm semi-automatic pistol but didn't buy any >> > bullets and damaged the barrel so it wouldn't work without a >> > replacement. Each morning he would reach under his bed, point the >> > defective 9mm to his temple, think about killing himself and slowly >> > apply pressure to the trigger. When he heard the click from the empty >> > chamber, he forced himself to imagine that he was dead and contemplate >> > the worthless of his life and how his death did not matter to the >> > people in the world around him--his insignificance. He would engage >> > in this "self-therapy" each more for about 30 minutes. If he got >> > depressed or was depressed, he would force himself to deliberately >> > embrace and repeat these negative thoughts. Then he would force >> > himself to state the direct opposite of this negative statements for >> > the next 30-min but still occasionally think about the negatives. He >> > then would get out of bed (when it worked), embrace these negative and >> > positive thoughts and spend the rest to the day distracting himself >> > with life. He claims that he also frequently felt overwhelmed with >> > negative feelings so in order to learn to embrace these out of control >> > overwhelming feelings, he would hold his breath and just accept that >> > he was going to die by suffocation and kept holding his breath and >> > accepting his death until he passed out (and he always woke up). He >> > used this as an analogy for his strategy for his negative emotions and >> > reported that it helped. These techniques did not always work, but he >> > claimed that it was the best self-treatment that he came across so far >> > that worked for him. And he still relied on some (albeit less) >> > medications. >> > >> > That is was just the oddest story from a mental health patient. >> > However, he seemed to work for him so who am I to criticize. When >> > Jeff was talking about unconventional mental health approaches, it >> > reminded me of this patient. >> > >> > Jason >> >> >> >> > > > -- > gnothe se auton > > > -- gnothe se auton --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Memphis Freethought Alliance" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/memphisfreethoughtalliance?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
