Larry Howard8 said:I managed to pull myself out of depression too, and faith isn't some "alternative therapy." Believing in yourself is what really matters most. There isn't a pill in the world that can heal your soul.
People who lack that—who don't believe in themselves—think medication is the magic fix. It's all just a placebo effect; if you put all your faith in pills or doctors, you might feel better for a moment. Or, you could choose to believe that Jesus, Buddha, or anyone else will help you; honestly, what's the difference?
I'm genuinely glad to hear you're doing better, but regarding your point about pills not being able to heal the soul—honestly, people on this forum have been telling you that for months in your thread. You made the choice to work on yourself by using faith as your foundation, and that's perfectly fine. That's your path and your decision. For me, it felt a bit unnecessary when you tried to tell GiRL that her way of dealing with depression was wrong and that yours was superior. Maybe it works better for you, but her approach is right for her because she also made progress and started living her life again. People are different; the causes of depression aren't universal, everyone experiences it differently, lives in different circumstances, and is a unique individual... Larry Howard8, don't forget that you also went through psychotherapy and were on Zoloft yourself; I'm certain that played a role in your recovery too.
As Morgan Bishop4 points out, OCD is deeply rooted in the need for control. And honestly, what they said about treatment is spot on too—the most effective way to tackle OCD is through exposure therapy. It’s about forcing yourself to face those fears head-on, like resisting the urge to constantly wash your hands or stopping those repetitive rituals before they start. In the beginning, it feels absolutely brutal, but if you stick with it, things definitely start to get easier over time... Hang in there, Michael Jordan
Nicholas Allen2 said:Sometimes, the most unsettling thought is the sheer pointlessness of it all. I worry about facing that same fate—becoming a monster myself. Do you ever feel that fear?
I don't fear that at all. Why does it weigh on you like that?
I have some reservations about this approach, primarily because science ought to be anchored in hard facts and objective, verifiable data. Whether or not God exists isn't something we can confirm through empirical testing or scientific evidence; it’s a matter of personal choice and individual belief. That said, I do think faith can be a helpful companion in treating depression when paired alongside established scientific methods, though faith alone isn't a cure for depression. In cases involving disorders like OCD, religious faith can actually be counterproductive if it becomes a catalyst for intrusive obsessions. However, when someone is undergoing proper treatment for OCD—specifically using CBT—faith can provide an additional layer of support once they have fully integrated those cognitive techniques and gained a genuine understanding of the disorder they are managing.
I wouldn't call myself an atheist, but I don't subscribe to the idea that faith and spirituality are magic bullets for every struggle in life. Sometimes, you have to take matters into your own hands. For someone spiraling into a deep clinical depression, prayer alone isn't going to cut it—mostly because when you're in that dark of a place, you lose the capacity to believe in anything at all. Everything feels hollow and hopeless. In those moments, you have to be able to help yourself by seeking out a licensed therapist who can stabilize your brain chemistry through medication and work through the trauma via weekly sessions. Once that physiological foundation is steady, if the person happens to be religious, then leaning into their faith and attending church can certainly provide an extra layer of strength and healing. But you have to follow that order of operations.
Larry Howard8 said:You have absolutely no idea how wrong you are. It’s exactly because you feel like you can't get anything done that you need to start. If you're telling me that illness was forced upon you... That’s exactly why you're out of your mind.
Look, Sweetie, you’d be much better off focusing on growing up and helping yourself instead of trying to lecture everyone else. From what I can see, Robert Collins2 managed to pull themselves out of depression and is doing perfectly fine in their daily life, whereas you're constantly looking for someone else to fix your problems—firstly demanding medication, and now pivoting to all these various alternative therapies...
If you’re feeling this way, you really need to reach out for some professional support. It’s incredibly difficult to pull yourself out of that kind of headspace on your own. I’d suggest heading to your primary care doctor to get a referral for a therapist, or if you have the means, maybe look into seeing someone privately. I'm sorry if I'm overstepping by offering advice, but when you say you're feeling this low, I just can't stay silent...
Dennis Hernandez52 said:If you’re asking about my situation, I honestly don't have the energy to even try anymore. It feels like life just keeps hitting me with one thing after another, and every setback just drags me further down into the dirt. I feel pathetic, hollow, and completely useless. The worst part is when I actually attempt to vent to someone; people immediately pivot to commenting on my physical appearance. It feels incredibly desperate to be sitting here typing to myself that I’m attractive, especially since I currently view myself as an utterly repulsive person. As for how a girl who looks like me could be struggling with this level of depression—I won't even get into my string of failed relationships. I harassed those poor guys so much that I still can't wrap my head around how they put up with me (though, obviously, they were likely only there for my looks, since I lack any other redeeming qualities). To top it all off, I recently lost someone I was deeply connected to, which is just one more crushing blow. I've also made certain choices in my life that I know I will never be able to forgive myself for. So, there it is. My life is a total failure.
You really ought to seek some professional help. Your perception of everything is likely distorted right now and isn't reflecting reality at all. Depression has a way of warping your view of the world. Didn't you mention earlier that you realize you actually have almost everything going for you? Isn't that a positive thing to hold onto—something that makes it worth putting in the effort to fix the broken parts of your life? I am truly sorry for your loss regarding your loved one😢.
Of course, we need to implement much harsher penalties for the most heinous crimes. For some people, the sheer fear of consequences is the only thing that actually acts as a deterrent. It’s a necessity. But the problem we see here is the inconsistency—we have people getting hit with massive sentences for something as minor as a little marijuana, while actual monsters are out on parole after just a few years. That simply isn't right.
Nicholas Allen2 said:Fair point. Whoever did this is clearly disturbed, but there's no sense being shocked or angry. The real issue is figuring out how to stop these crimes before people turn into monsters.
The issue is that many criminals find justifications for their actions, and sometimes even the law fails (or chooses not) to stop them. So why be surprised when people get angry? I agree that vengeance is the wrong path and quite dangerous (I mentioned that earlier, along with several others, though you seem to think everyone participating in this thread is an enemy of humanity), but please don't act surprised by the public's rage. Criminals who go unchecked become a major threat to a civilized society, which triggers these rebellions. The problem is they don't realize when they themselves become bloodthirsty.
Why are you judging Endimion17, who feels the need to judge those who feel the need to judge "monsters"?😍
Prevention should be the priority. Understanding is fine, but one must also prevent the very people they are trying to understand. Tolerate the individual, but never the crime.
Conscience isn't something you pick up in a classroom, nor does it flourish in an environment defined by insults, much like this thread. I agree with your point, though I suspect your approach to proving how dangerous their views are is flawed. You're talking about them the same way they talk about "monsters"—as if you're dealing with people of lesser value.
I suspect that turning a blind eye is exactly what drives people toward rage. When you're suffering and even the legal system makes no effort to stop criminals, you start feeling like taking matters into your own hands.
I doubt anyone is solely responsible for their own actions. It would be useful to understand what turns a person into a monster, but more importantly, one must accept that there are no truly innocent people in this world.
Let’s be clear: war isn't the only thing that can break a person. Where exactly are you getting this idea that monsters come from "pleasant" backgrounds? In what way are they pleasant? I highly doubt it. Most of them probably never felt loved, and if anything, the world likely failed them repeatedly. There are countless factors that turn someone into a monster; I find it hard to believe many of them ever had the luxury of a stable environment or the chance to choose otherwise.
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If we actually had the answer to that, the world would be pretty much a perfect place. When it comes to crime prevention and stopping the descent into monstrosity, I suspect we'll only see progress through slow, incremental steps. Some potential ways to stop people from becoming monsters—and to reduce physical, psychological, and sexual abuse within families, among peers at school, or even by colleagues in the workplace—would start with the home. It would be a massive win if we could focus on the family unit and ensure kids have a healthy childhood, since those early years are so foundational to who they become. Most people lacking empathy or suffering from deep-seated issues likely wouldn't have ended up that way if they hadn't experienced horrors themselves, though there are certainly exceptions. But honestly, putting those solutions into practice? That's the hard part.
There’s bound to be a reason why you're being so self-destructive. Take some time to reflect on yourself and address it; I'm certain that with enough hard work and patience, this issue can be resolved.
Oh, man, exactly! That thing with the sneaker? I do that with pretty much everything! I feel this frantic need to correct an action because I have this nagging sensation that I've altered something permanent. Obviously, I know logically that I haven't (I'm not actually that crazy...), but the impulse is just there, driving you to fix it. You described that feeling perfectly.
I tried being wild too... but after a while, I realize I haven't cleaned everything up properly, and then I just get this constant internal nagging that things aren't right!!
I'm the same way. Except I never took it that seriously. There were plenty of times I'd just stop and ask myself, wait a minute, who is the actual lunatic here? 😁 I only recently realized that it's okay to let go. There's something else, though—not sure if you guys deal with this too. When I wake up and look at the clock, say it's 9:36 AM, I feel like I can't leave bed until 10:00 sharp because I can only get up on the hour. But enough of that crap, I'm cutting these stupid habits out. I just wonder... is it actually possible to reach a point where you don't even think about them anymore? Hmm... 🤔
Once you start breaking those habits, they'll start feeling less important, and the urge to follow them won't make any sense anymore. Eventually, that drive to "fix things" might fade away entirely. That’s really the only way to do it. It isn't even about stopping the thoughts themselves; the most important thing is becoming indifferent to them. Once the impulse loses its power over you, you've won.
crimsontinker7 said:The stress is hitting hard :/ Setting OCD aside, my anxiety is also through the roof... What kind are we even talking about? What are the different types out there? Honestly, I didn't even realize I had OCD until about six months ago when I started wondering if that was what was happening. My thought is that it might be better to just stop overanalyzing it entirely, because dwelling on it just creates more problems... 😁
I have pure O, which is that type where you don't see any obvious compulsions because mine are all mental. I've actually pushed most of those compulsions away because I just couldn't live that way anymore, though the anxiety still lingers in a smaller way. Dealing with anxiety is really just part of the OCD cycle—you perform those compulsions specifically to try and dial down the anxiety. It doesn't make much sense to dwell on those intrusive thoughts or hunt for some deep meaning in them, because there truly isn't any. If you can manage it, though, try to resist doing the rituals or at least scale them back, because every time you give in, you're just feeding the OCD. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I want to warn you; my OCD was manageable once, but then things took a turn for the worse and it became completely unbearable.
crimsontinker7 said:I’ve never actually said this to anyone before. Honestly, I’d rather just hear what you all think... Ever since I was a kid, I’ve felt like a slave to my own set of rules and rituals. I’ve always had these rigid principles about how things have to be done. Even today, if I’m making a sandwich, there has to be an exact, symmetrical number of slices of turkey and cheese laid out perfectly. It’s the same with brushing my teeth. There’s a specific sequence I follow—exactly how many times I wash my face, how many times I spit out the water and toothpaste, and so on. If I accidentally break one of these rules, I feel compelled to invent some kind of penance. For instance, if I wash my face four times instead of three, I have to pour water over the sink faucet twice. If I fail to follow my own internal logic, I get incredibly frustrated. That’s why I invented these little "punishments"... they’re meant to restore balance to my rules. I know, it sounds bizarre. 🙂 And then there’s the talking to myself. It happens constantly. Sometimes, while I’m talking, I’ll feel like I didn’t pronounce a word quite right, so I’ll repeat that same word over and over until it feels "correct." When I’m thinking about something, too, I often find I can't control the direction of my thoughts. For example, if I visualize a man running, eventually he’s going to take off sprinting. No matter how hard I try with my mind, I can’t force him back down to the ground. It happens with any thought—a bicycle, a plane, anything at all... When I’m watching a movie, I’ll sometimes get the nagging feeling that I missed a tiny, insignificant detail. So, I end up rewinding the film just so I can be absolutely certain I saw and heard everything. Or when a song comes on, I have to listen to it until the very end, even if I’m in a rush or supposed to be somewhere else. I have these other patterns too, like which months I need to trim my hair or when I start wearing a jacket. Sometimes I’ll walk outside without a coat and freeze my ass off because it's freezing, simply because my "jacket season" doesn't officially start until next month.😁 I am obsessively focused on details. When I clean a shirt or my sneakers, there can't be a single speck of dust left on them. I won't miss a single stray thread. I wipe down my computer mouse every single time someone else uses it. When I write a text or an email, I check it multiple times to ensure it's written perfectly... There's so much more, really. I can't even remember all the different rules and habits I have... there are just too many. I often wonder how interesting it would be if the whole world operated by my rules. I don't see this as a problem within myself. Besides, nobody else sees it anyway; it’s all just happening inside my head. Could this be some kind of OCD or something similar? I don't know. What do you guys think?
That is almost certainly OCD. On the bright side, it seems like the specific type you deal with is easier to manage than most. Just keep an eye on your stress levels and your overall quality of life so things don't escalate—though that isn't a guarantee, and I truly hope it stays manageable.
Exactly. No matter how annoying someone might be, there’s really no need to go out of your way to humiliate them. I’ve always had a strong distaste for people who feel the need to kick those they perceive as "weaker" than themselves. Personally, I’ve always preferred taking on the "heavyweights"—you know, the ones who make a habit of mocking others. When it comes to people like that, I haven't been known to show much mercy, haha.
To Brenda Cooper3: I’ve been lurking on this forum for about a year now, which has actually helped me figure out exactly who I vibe with and who I don't. As for posting, my motivation is pretty hit-or-miss; some days I feel totally inspired to write, and then I'll disappear for a while because I just don't feel like it.
Regarding the topic at hand, I’ve always felt a certain level of sympathy for people who get ostracized by their social circles. Even if they deserve it in some cases, I try not to make sweeping generalizations because every situation is unique. I can certainly empathize with the author’s frustration regarding being interrogated; personally, I find it unbearable too. Being someone who struggles with anxiety, being questioned feels like an immediate trigger for my panic attacks😁. That said, if someone is acting with good intentions but is simply oblivious to how exhausting they're being, I think it’s important to gently point out where they're going wrong. People often truly lack any self-awareness about how they come across to others.
Come on, just take the compliment with some grace—you’re such a rebel, aren't you?🤣 Anyway, my apologies to the moderators if I’m cluttering up this thread; I'll make sure it doesn't happen again.
Brenda Cooper3 said:What gives it away? Is it their eyes? The way they phrase things? Specifically, what is it?
As someone once put it, you're rejecting anyone who isn't an absolute carbon copy of the rest of the population. Good grief, if you want a war of clones, why not just have everyone wear the same clothes, get the same haircuts, and follow a manual on "proper" behavior? Give me a break... 🙏
Yeah, well, I'm one of those people who smells a bit off... my eyes wander when I talk and I'm terrible at small talk. I'm not "normal," alright?
At least I don't obsess over the Hollywood red carpet. I'm still doing okay on that front. 🤣
Personally, I think you're totally cool because you're genuinely different from the crowd. It's weird to me that you don't really have friends—you probably just ran into the wrong people. To me, you're actually pretty interesting.
