Anxiety-Fear-Depression and the Civilized Mind

[missnout]

This is a very good, and beneficial discussion! For me i am very ill, and short tempered alot of the time, also have some boughts of anxiety. I have never been treated for any of it mind you, maybe i need to, i dont know. I think our capitalistic society, contributes to alot of our problems, at least for some. I always felt like i never quite fit in to the, be a good worker bee and keep your mouth shut, and do what your told, hive mentallity (I was too independent). The problem is we define every one on what job they do. What do we do after we greet a stranger? The first question is usually, so what do you do for a living? We never look at the human side anymore, it's always what you can contribute too the system, that your judged on for your self worth. Its sad that we have discounted human value, for human $$ value only. We are finally becoming a product of our society, and that product is not very pretty IMHO!

 You took the words right out of my mouth, Iy seems as though i look right through busy people. Cant understand why they don't stop and be real. I love the forest and cant wait to be gone. I to have wondered about going to the RTR when I saw how crowded it gets. I've never been but im a quaint group kinda person.

 

[highdesertranger]

in the desert you can be as crowded, or as uncrowded as you wish. highdesertranger

 

[akrvbob]

highdesertranger is very right, it is a BIG desert! You can be close in to camp and be in crowds, are you can get further out and not see another person anywhere around you. Then you can come in for free food or a seminar that interests you or just to socialize, stay an hour or two then go back and be totally alone.

At the RTR, you are in control of your experience.
Bob

 

[offroad]

Rereading all the posts here. Am getting a few tips to sink in.

1) find a personal connection with nature.
2) do some exercise movement. Walking is good.
3) meditate and learn the benefits of inner active calming process.
4) handling groups of people can be overwhelming and is unnatural. Use tricks and timing to control being exposed to too many at once.
5) there are many broken parts to society. Do not own those broken paths. Find life style around them. Your personal peace path is valued.

 

[NomadMike]

Very good list Offroad! I will add a #6. Meditate on the inner self (find out who you are, and know thyself, and be at peace with you).

 

[B and C]

# 6 is a good one.  You need to be able to stand yourself.  If you don't like yourself, probably a lot of people won't either.  I like my own thoughts and don't need to have them drowned out with loud music or other distractions.  This is one reason I do not talk a lot but like to listen.  Nature calls me.  I was given two ears and one mouth for a reason.

Brian

 

[GotSmart]

# 6 is a good one.  You need to be able to stand yourself. 

When I cant stand myself, I go to town for  real shower. 

There is a lot to be said for sitting in the desert detoxing from "civilization."  

The next outing will involve a place that has more grass, and less dust.  I need to be able to hobble around without falling over rocks.

 

[Iggy]

I prefer natural highs and contentment, over pills to get me up or down. My psychiatrist prescribed pills for depression, anxiety, PTSD, and for sleeping.The side effects really sucked and I never felt like myself. I quit all of them when I moved into my van. Exercise, travel, keeping my mind active, no more TV, limiting sugar; have all helped. I still get mildly depressed at times but nothing like in the past. Loneliness is probably the biggest problem because I have a hard time making new friends while traveling. But Facebook, online forums, and conversations with friends back home help. Life is pretty good now.

 

[buckwilk]

Does anyone know if Steve has a pet? Depression and mental illness are individual and manifest themselves differently in everyone. The primary thing in situations like his, is to get professional help. Occasional mild depression is normal, what Steve is describing is not normal. If you have similar symptoms please see a professional. Does anyone have an update on Steve?

 

[GotSmart]

Does anyone know if Steve has a pet? Depression and mental illness are individual and manifest themselves differently in everyone. The primary thing in situations like his, is to get professional help. Occasional mild depression is normal, what Steve is describing is not normal. If you have similar symptoms please see a professional. Does anyone have an update on Steve?

Steve is around, he was reading the board earlier.  

He will chime in when he wants to.

 

[SoulRaven]

Does anyone know if Steve has a pet? Depression and mental illness are individual and manifest themselves differently in everyone. The primary thing in situations like his, is to get professional help. Occasional mild depression is normal, what Steve is describing is not normal. If you have similar symptoms please see a professional. Does anyone have an update on Steve?

I don't have any pets, now, but have had some in the past. I just don't want any at this time of my life. It is just too hard on me when something happens to them. I couldn't take the heartache anymore.
I have improved on my depressive states and now I am handling things pretty well using self cognitive therapy. But I still have problems with the morning depression and panic attacks for no particular reason. I am somewhat controlling them with the CT and they seem to be manageable to a point. After I get up and start doing things and moving around things kinda go ok.
Well, that is basically where I am right now. Still tentatively wondering on going full time. I did about a 6 week solo road trip a few months ago to and through up the Natchez Trace, and up to Ohio, via Mammoth Cave, and Big Bone Lick State park (camping along the way). It was fun, and challenging at the same time.

I have been tossing around the idea of attending the RTR but am not yet decided. I would have to use my Ford Escape as my camping vehicle, and although I have set it up pretty well with a fairly comfortable bed, storage, and other facility type things......I am still back and forth on the idea. I know I could do it, but I am unsure of how comfortable I would be.

 

[buckwilk]

Steve, glad to hear you have a handle on some of the issues. Progress, however small it may seem at first, is a step towards healing. Keep up the good work and share what works for you, if you can. Take care.

 

[SoulRaven]

Steve, glad to hear you have a handle on some of the issues. Progress, however small it may seem at first, is a step towards healing. Keep up the good work and share what works for you, if you can. Take care.

Thanks, I certainly will.

 

[nobodyG17]

This is a great thread with a lot of great advice in it. 

Like a lot of the people posting in this thread I have suffered from anxiety my entire life.  A lot of the ideas posted are great ways to work on it and combat it. 

I would just like to echo what other said.  The desert is a very large place.  Don't let fear of large groups keep you away from gatherings.  You can park really far away, be by yourself for a few days, relax, and then see how you feel about it.  Maybe  attend an event or two.

I have never been to an RTR before and might end up hiding way away in the desert by myself(If I make it from Wisconsin), but if anyone works up the courage to make it and is not comfortable with groups I would like you to know that you can feel free to contact me here and we can exchange contact info be it phone number, skype, kik, email, carrier pigeon, etc. 

Don't let the fear win and work toward getting better at controlling your anxiety every day.  I might not know what I'm doing half the time but I'm a great listener and have been known to somehow give out decent advice sometimes.  If I could do something to help I would want to.

Even when you feel down and it seems the entire world is against you just know that it's not true.  

That's enough rambling for now!

 

[nobodyG17]

Bob has been doing this for so long he seems to have a good insight as to why people seek out the road. A lot of what he wrote seemed like he was speaking to me. I have PTSD, diagnosed with it in 1985 when the VA first acknowledged it. I don't have a fear of people but I do have a fear, or extreme discomfort  being around people. I had planned on going to this past RTR until I found out how many people would be there. Chickened out. Sat in my apartment and sold my van. Odd thing is that the couple that bought my van lived nearby and the lady called and asked if I would sell it for her, her husband had had a stroke. I just gave her their money back, so it(the van) just sits while I decide what to do. They had had it less than 3 weeks.

 Those who deal with some form of PTSD or whatever one calls it know how difficult change is. In some ways I may be a bit more fortunate than some as money is not an issue but getting off my ass and doing something is. I can,and do, make up a million reasons why I am just peachy hiding out in my little apt. doing little or nothing. My companion, a 20 something year old cat, had to be euthanize d April 27th. I miss him. 

 Got the new air conditioner for the van, along with a new refrigerator  and except for making sure they work have done squat with them. I am thinking there may be a small gathering of folks and venture out, or sell the van.. Hate to see it just sit. Anyone find a small gathering let me know..

This seems like something I would have written a few years ago.  Don't ever give up hope.  I have been there so many times in my life.   The way I started combating it was two fold.  It's half F the world I want to fight because I need  to so that I am not stuck in this loop and half F it, what will it hurt if I get out there and do it?

It took me about a million times of fighting with myself but with time and being a stubborn jerk i think I made it there.

It's easy to say the words but hard to do it.   Best of luck to you and everyone else.

 

[gcal]

Has anyone considered that we, in the the US, are really just tremendously bored and inactive? Who are the depressed, suicidal people, in the general US population? I am asking because I do not know, not because I want to see any raised hands. Most of us spend all our time sitting at keyboards doing mundane tasks or doing repetitive, mindless, mild physical labor, or doing nothing at all. Then, we spend all our money on labor saving devices that save us from using our own brains and muscles at home. When was the last time anyone here had to outsmart their wily prey to get food or outsmart a wily predator to avoid becoming food? When is the last time anyone here ran for more than 30 seconds? Why do you think old soldiers are naustalgic about their time at war? Why do you think people turn to gambling or other high risk behaviors? Why do you think stories and movies and computer games about overcoming huge odds with huge consequences at stake are so popular?

Of course people feel a deep dissatisfaction with life. Most are bored out of their minds. They get fat and soft because they over eat out of boredom. It is something to do. Then, they can do even less. But we did not spend the last couple hundred thousand years evolving to live like that. We evolved to live on the edge, alert and active and surviving by our wits. Few of us do that, anymore. There are not many opportunities to do so, even if we wanted to. So, people get bored and they get depressed. They malfunction and they do not know why. Drugs may provide temporary relief, but they do not really get at the problem.

 

[Canine]

Good post,GCAL.I totally agree.No reason we can't find something to do to help someone else and also ourselves.I have had as many excuses as anyone.

 

[Roadtramp]

This seems like something I would have written a few years ago.  Don't ever give up hope.  I have been there so many times in my life.   The way I started combating it was two fold.  It's half F the world I want to fight because I need  to so that I am not stuck in this loop and half F it, what will it hurt if I get out there and do it?

It took me about a million times of fighting with myself but with time and being a stubborn jerk i think I made it there.

---------------------

I'm stubborn....and I think I've given up hope ...ptsr is a harsh taskmaster...

I call it ptsr (post traumatic stress response) - as it is a normal response to trauma - designed to keep one safe...I know, since my brain changed at least once to get into the ptsr mode, it can change back...

I'm just so weary of the constant work...

 

[akrvbob]

I can only speak for myself, not in any way speaking for anyone but myself.

I fought the hard fight against my demons and lost. I simply could not win.

So I called it quits and gave up. Surrendered like a coward and loser.

That was the best thing I've ever done and every good thing in my life has come from that one action. To this day it remains the foundation stone of my life. When the going gets rough, I surrender at the drop of a hat. Then I win.
Bob

 

[flying kurbmaster]

there is never an easy answer nor is anything simple. We all come with different capacities to deal with things based on our hard wiring from birth and as someone else said from generational angst.( The sins of our fathers) What I have learnt when I go black or wake up black for no reason, I have learnt not to fight it, or entertain it, I acknowledge it, become aware, accept it,  I am mindfull of it, I have learnt to sit with discomfort without reacting. That is usually enough to get on with my day and forget about it. I have had an epiphany about what happiness is, recently, I had it sitting down for dinner looking out over the greenery, I realized that I didn't want any one else around other then those present,  grateful for the wonderful healthy food, the environment, the company, myself amongst it. I was surprised to say that I was happy, it did not feel orgasmic, it just was . Happiness is not wanting anything to be different in other words just  being grateful for what is, right now. I think if you put the right things in place like good nutrition, physical fitness and lifestyle choices you stand a better chance of being mentally fit ( you become what you consume, your gut is like your roots, if you are feeding it poison your leaves will wilt, your stem will entertain disease, you will struggle to flower and bare fruit.