Posted by Tancred62 on March 17, 2004, at 15:32:59
In reply to Re: Depression as response to reality, posted by pegasus on March 17, 2004, at 11:50:33
Well, winged one, I see your points. However, I should point out that I never said anything about pessimism; I noted cynicism, stoicism, skepticism, and nihilism. Cynicism is about maintaining virtue, self-control, and independence. By stoicism, I mean an approach to pain and suffering (or its opposite) whereby extremes of emotion (not emotion itself) are avoided. As someone once said "Things are never as good, or bad, as they seem." Yes, it sometimes can be kind of a balloon buster, or a bit of rain on the parade, but it also can make you survive rough times. Like you said, that's just my way of approaching life. I like to save my emotions for events or situations that merit them. Skepticism is wise for everyone, especially when so many false promises are being made by commercial interests. Finally, my nihilism is a basis for action, an acknowledgement of the essential meaninglessness of the world that makes all we do, or not do, extremely important. Now, your story of improvement and self-empowerment (with the help of medication and therapy) is encouraging, and is actually an example of you taking action. That's good. Now that you feel better, you are making meaning for yourself. I just feel that these SSRIs tend to be the "great leveler," making me and others I have talked to emotionally flaccid. I'm getting tired of that even keel, not to mention the side effects. I just hope that someday you and I both can have that virtuous life without medication. Just reading about the medication-related problems on this site is pretty scary. Seriously, I try to avoid pessimism, despite the percentages I noted earlier. But I also don't want to see life as a Hallmark card or a hideous Thomas Kincaid painting. Good luck, winged one.
poster:Tancred62
thread:324687
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040313/msgs/325345.html