Posted by beardedlady on March 6, 2002, at 11:46:30
In reply to Re: feel guilty because I feel better., posted by Anna Laura on March 6, 2002, at 11:09:44
>I had a few moments during which i could feel life again: feelings weren't so strong like before, but i was confident that if only i could have held back those feelings a little longer, they would have grown stronger and stronger
My dad thinks that if he calls his favorite ball teams "losers" and "idiots," they'll win their games. I always seem to sleep better when I wear this origami crane necklace and amorphous ring I have. But these things have nothing to do with each other. Holding back your feelings when you feel good doesn't lead to better mental health. In fact, studies support pretending to feel good! That old notion that smiling is contagious? It's sort of true. If you act as if all is well, you sometimes get close to feeling it. Sometimes. Nothing is foolproof.
> You know, human being are very presumptuous creatures.
> They think they deserve what they have when they feel good. They don't even think about the eventuality of loosing everything they have.And why don't they deserve the good stuff? And why should you sit around when you're feeling good thinking about the possibility of feeling bad again? That's certainly going to ensure you will feel bad again!
> A woman i used to know had a spontenous recovery after two years (lucky her). Despite her 36 years, she was very childlish and immature: she was envious and had a horrible temper also. She believed she had healed because of a silly new-age like psychotherapy. She insisted i had to do the same. When i said no, she would say something like: "Well, if you go on like that, you'll never recover: you don't feel the energy of the universe because you're egocentric and you never question yourself!"
I'm not trying to be critical, but getting better--whether by new age goofball psychotherapy or pills that make other parts of you sick or Jesus or Buddha--is a terrific thing. So she's self-righteous about it. Maybe she is just trying to help you! When we stumble upon a treatment that works for us, we want to share it with the world.
You don't have to be open to her way of thinking, but you do have to believe that something can help. Or nothing will. And that is the truth. If so much of physical health is mental, why can't much of mental health be mental? (Mental health is certainly physical; exercise definitely improves symptoms of depression, if you can get motivated enough to do it!)
> Don't feel guilty, enjoy it!
Take this advice yourself, Anna Laura. I hope things begin to look up for you.
beardy : )>
poster:beardedlady
thread:19372
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020305/msgs/19392.html