You Hellooooooooooooooooooo!
Venter hi how are you?
You I'm awesome! thank you for asking. How about yourself? How are you today?
Venter Its ok today, i guess. I am always restless. i dont know why?/ i think i have social anxiety. any suggestions how to deal with social anxiety?
You Social anxiety comes when you don't have confidence in your social skills... or when you don't have any social skills. Anxiety steps in to motivate you to develop the confidence and skill so that you can function better socially.
Venter yea, you are right. i think i have low self esteem and i also think too much.
You So I would suggest you educate yourself, on how to properly communicate with others. And figure out 'why' you have to communicate with them in the first place. Why do you want to be socially successful in the first place?
Venter its not about being successful socially. its about my loneliness. i just need friends and i love social interactions. its just my anxiety which stops me from having what i want .
You Actually... to be socially successful and confident. You have to first be happy on your own.
Venter oh yea...
You If you aren't, you end up burdening the other people, by taking away their happiness in order to end your own loneliness. That sort of makes them become distant to you.
Venter ok, tbh, i was diagnosed with OCD. I am having intrusive thoughts, which i struggle with myself inside. i am mostly preoccupied with myself dealing with thoughts. so i just fear what if people know about my disorder?/ what if i look stupid in front of them? sorry its complicated.
You Its understandable. And you can see right there, what your mind is asking you to prepare for. Seriously, what will you do if people think you are stupid? Have you answered that for yourself?
Venter The preoccupied fear that the thought will strike at any moment , not even allowing me to enjoy the conversation. its tough to live like this.
You They aren't vain questions.. they are there to be answered. If you answer them in a way, that you would be comfortable with the answer. Then you won't get these thoughts again, and hence ending anxiety. Have you answered these question for yourself?
Venter oh yea. i think i dont. i think i should enquire my thoughts more
You Yupe! We can try and work on answering them here as well! As per your wish.
Venter you mean now?
You Yea. The sooner your anxiety ends, the better no?
Venter well, you sound like a professional. confused so why not?
You (though it does require a good amount of work.)
Venter yea.. thanks for helping me out. it means a lot.
You I'm glad. So! What 'questions' or 'thoughts' (similar to the ones you mentioned before) come to your head? (We will be using those as hints to see what we need to work on)
Venter well, I am struggling with thoughts which are very hostile and intrusive and very haunting. its threatening me. i always say to myself, its just thoughts so dont fear. but i fear too much which gives it more powerful. and i fear that i may end up losing my control and act on those thoughts. is that making sense? my thoughts are very negative in nature and its against morality.
You It does. And what I want from you is, to be very 'specific' about those thoughts you have. Like what 'exact' thoughts you get, that are 'intrusive'? Like 'exact' thoughts, the words your mind says to you, the pictures it shows... et cetera.
Venter well, its like going crazy while conversing with someone, losing my control and molesting someone who is very respectable and godmother like.... sorry thats disgusting... Also when i cross a pregnant lady i feared what if i lose my control and punch them in the belly and kill the child. sorry i think i am crazy to think like that.
You How do you handle stress? and how do you handle anger?
Venter I bottle up everything either it may be anger with someone or over myself. and about stress , i just dont show it up. i just dont vent it out. I just dont know how to handle any negative emotions. I get stuck most of the time.
You You shared some of your thoughts with me that were a bit violent. Why do you think you have these type of thoughts in the first place? Is that type of violence something you have been, or are exposed to? (like for-example, when I was bit young, I saw a series of movies that motivated me for a while to be violent against a certain type of people.) (The movies had a character that took pleasure from killing others, and had a sensible philosophical point of view to it. So I was inclined to accept it for a while.)
Venter yea. actually the thoughts strikes with the aim of causing me more pain. I am more vulnerable to negative thoughst and emotions. its just dont know why. it keep striking at very unusual moment like giving presentation. or very important moment. like attending interviews. so its very annoying
You What kind of 'hostile' thoughts occur when are giving presentation? *when you are...
Venter well, its like what if i lost my attention and lost the the stream of thoughts and end up forgetting everything and stand in the stage like a loser. its all about losing my attention. losing the grip of my focus and there by losing my control. even thinking about a situation like that gives me more panic. is that making sense?
You That's different XD these type of thoughts can be dealt with more easily, compared to the hostile thoughts. So let's work on these type of thoughts first!
Venter ok. yea, but for me both brings same anxiety. may be different in content. but still annoying. for the fear of feeling anxiety, i never give any presentations at all. which is affecting my growth that i always wanted to have.
You Understandable. Thank you for clarifying that. The hostiles thoughts might be a consequence of other anxious activities. So that's why as we work on the others, we might also be at the same-time, managing the hostile ones. For now, let's work with what we can. Alright! Sp, let's say you are giving a presentation, and you 'could' forget what you are talking about.
Venter yes
You What can you do, to prevent this from happening? And when this does happen, what 'can' you do to continue?
Venter well, to prevent this from happening , i need to prepare well before going to present anything. is that right?
You You could 'prepare' well. You could give your presentation in your mind a couple of times (because the mind considers the pictures in our head as real. So if you give a successful and confident presentation in your mind, its as if you gave it in real life!). You could have notes in-front of you, that could remind you of what you need to say next, just in-case you forget.
Venter oh oh k
You What happens with most people who are not-confident, is that they have a hard time conceiving themselves as confident in their mind. That is solved when you give your presentation in your mind, in a very confident manner!
Venter yea.
You Once you can picture yourself doing a certain thing in your head, it becomes easier to do it in reality. Anxiety isn't there to stop you from growing. Its there to make you cautious, of things going wrong. If you are already away of what 'could' go wrong, then you can take the time to prepare for the worst, so that things have more of a likely chance to go right the way you want them to. *already aware of what 'could'....
Venter yea, anyone who follow your steps and do exactly like you say can perform better. but for highly anxious person and who are very sensitive to intrusive thoughts and who are diagnosed with OCD, its tough even if i follow your steps.
You Its tough. But doable yes? That's all we should care about. Just like a muscle, if you haven't done this already, it'll be hard. Once you do it again and again, it'll become super easy.
Venter fyi , I was a topper all my life, i was an excellent speaker, i even participated in public debates in the stage. now that went upside down. i am very anxious, i am feeling like everyone is watching me and criticzing me
You oh! what happened? What made things go so down hill for you? Well, what if they criticize? what then? How do you handle that? I come up and tell you, "You gave a horrible presentation!" <---- what will your reply to this be?
Venter i just went on lock myself and ruminate for hours which even goes for days at a stretch.I felt horrible.I just reject myself. I even slashed my hand lot of times over my problem with intrusive thoughts and over my annoying thoughts.which not even allow me to be in the present moment.its not just presentation now i am struggling withi can live with out giving presentations rest of my life.its intruding my day to day life.which is something i need serious attention to i couldnt even enjoy a conversation, my coffee not taste any more i am not feeling a breeziness of a cool air. i am like a lifeless, zombie.its all because i am having too much thoughts in my mind spiraling like a windmill.
You If its anxiety that is the only issue. Just solving one anxiety after the next here, will help train you on how to solve all other anxieties.
Venter yea.
You So it would be better to not underestimate these little things that we are doing. In the scope of the bigger picture. They are very important.
Venter oh k. i just need my old self back. where i was happy. never worried about anyting. never cared , never regretted i am tired dealing with this anxiety.
You That's gone i'm afraid. And you saying as such is also a result of anxiety. People who are anxious, tend to look to the past for happiness.
Venter yea... how do you know all these? are you a professional? are you a therapist? i mean you are really very helpful.
You That's a tricky question. Because for me, i'm able to help you here, then for you, I have been a therapist. If I didn't, i'm not. If your definition of a therapist is someone who is 'qualified' in this field. Then that is also tricky because... a Ph.D psychologist, who isn't happy, and who isn't in-control of their mind. <----------- can they be qualified to help others, when they couldn't help themselves with all the knowledge they acquired?
Venter no , they cant.
You I'm just happy. I find myself qualified to help others be happy, based on my own achievement of successfully attaining this state of peace.
Venter Ph.D doesnt mean he/she has the magic wand great, i think thats more than sufficient to help others.
You I think so too!
Venter I just asked you, since you are helping me like a therapist. since i ve been to someone. its alright. thanks, you are even better.
You Ahahahahahahaha, thank you! XD What would be your comments on your experience with the 'professionals'?
Venter well, they tried their best, i dont have anything to blame them. If i have to blame someone, its 'me'.since i am not co operating with them at all. its not in their hands , but in my hands.i am just not focused on getting treated.they tried all they could and even asked me to co operate , i am just not ready to do anything from my part.i dont do it intentionally thought, i just wanted to get free for sure! but i felt like ' soemthing' inside me is not allowing me to get treated. and its that 'something' is what troubling me.sorry i sound like schizophrenic.
You You sound completely sensible XD
Venter I am just tired of all the dramas so far happened in my life. I just need some rest. I cant fight my thoughts any more. I tried committing suicide twice, and slashed my hand multiple times. been on and off medicines. had shock therapy.
You WOW! O_O
Venter tried meditations, therapies.i lost my entire career because of my mental illness.there are times i went and enroll myself into mental institutions. and locked myself away from the society and been there for months. i never been in any relationships so far in my life. I was graduated in computer engineering but i never practiced it in real life. I was handsome, now i am feeling very ugly. its been years since i get out of my room and spoke to some strangers. sorry i am a complete mess. My case is very extreme and there is lot needs to be done just to get me away from my room.
You ... this is why I suggest people to be super critical when they go to a therapist. My friend went to psychologists for 2 years and they just made it worse. They gave him labels, they met him twice per week... if they couldn't solve the issue, they just handed him medications that don't really help... they only make you 'feel' alright when everything around you is going down hill. Going there didn't help him and then he felt his issues simply could NOT be solved, if the professionals couldn't do it. <--- it was very simple for me to help him. Some of his habits and mindsets were contributing to his depression, so I simply asked him to come to my house everyday for an hour. So that I could keep him exposed to a positive environment and healthy company. In just 4 weeks, he became from a 'patient' to someone who I started to admire. I mean to mention this, because these issues aren't that complicated to be solved... They are 'made' complicated by these 'professionals' who themselves, are depressed. (not all of course)
Venter wow, yea, you sound practical. i ve seen it myself. they just follow the procedures and they dont have the 'secret ingredient'. i mean the willingess and the involvement to cure the patient. its just they got licensed that doesnt mean they are good at changing lives.
You Exactly. Anything that isn't 'scientifically proven' gets thrown out of the window by them. I personally focus on what works. The way I solved my issues on this topic, weren't because I looked into what science said about these issues. I just looked around on the internet on 'how' people solved these issues for themselves. And I just practiced what sounded sensible. I practiced, saw the result, and from the result I recognized if it helped or not. Science on this subject simply hasn't caught up on what works. And hence anyone I know who is 'scientific' on the subject says, "we do not know what 'causes' depression. We don't know why anxiety is there. We don't know anything! Hence, here you go! A medecine!" I just focus on what works. What helps.
Venter haha... thats some ugly truth about the entire mental care industry. i've read somewhere that the entire psychiatry is a 300 billion $ industry without a single cure.
You ahahahaahahahaha XD yupe.
Venter Its not about thoughts, that i am struggling with, everyday we have lot of thoughts, its just some thoughts pulls my attention from what i am doing at the moment. and end up giving me more negative emotions.
You Would you say you are optimistic?
Venter like fear, anxiety, panic, i was. not anymore. its because i have this inner monster.
You Want to practice it through 2 games we can play right now! being positive is a habit. Which you can develop. *right now!?
Venter oh yea. thanks, i mean if you have time, yea...
You I come here with the intention of spending the whole day XD so don't worry about my time. My most lengthiest conversation has been about 7 hours long. Alright! So do you know about 'the glad game'?
Venter oh wow... you are wonderful. i mean thats soemthing i appreciate a lot.
You I'm glad you perceive me like that. Thank you for being so complimentary and encouraging.
Venter you are changing lives over the screen. you are kind enough to do that.
You Thank you! Thank you for being so acknowledging on that part T_T *tears of joy*
Venter you deserved more than just some appreciation and some complimentary words. there are lot of depressed souls out here who just looking for help.
You Indeed. (This place is populated pretty much all day long XD )
Venter yea... thanks for spending your time to help these people including me.
You Most welcome! Thank you for valuing my words and time so much! Back to the glad game now!
Venter sure.
You Alright so, in the glad game, we basically come up with an extremely messed up situation! (like what if your legs got severed? or your cat got nailed to a wall? or your family got locked in an underground dungeon for days? Or your whole schoolmate/work-mates got sacrificed in a black magic ritual?). We first come up with a messed up scenario (that shouldn't have anything to do with our personal lives) and then! we only say out loud the positive things that happen to us, because of that messed up scenario.
Venter oh k
You For-example. Let's say my legs got severed from below my knee. And now I can't walk! So what positive things occur because of this? Well, I don't get to do house chores anymore!
Venter lol
You all of that goes to my siblings! (yay!)
Venter yea. thats very postive thinking confused
You I now have a very clear reason to NOT attend boring weddings and functions
Venter wow...
You this is just a game to exercise our positive thinking
Venter yea... i am already feeling the vibe of it.
You I can sit with ease all day in-front of my computer, and be more productive!
Venter beautiful. yea.
You So that was the example! do you get what the glad game is now? Of course this was one sided. We both have to give our positive perspective on things. Trust me, it gets really funny XD and creative!
Venter oh yea... sure i understood.
You Alright so what messed up scenario should we consider? Got any ideas? It should be extreme!
Venter like losing my close relatives sorry i am very negative. its been haunting me for a long time. like what if lose someone in accident
You All relatives. Gone! they flew away to some other country, they died, got sacrificed for a black magic ritual. et cetera. They are gone you are only allowed (in the game) to speak positive thoughts. The negative, you cannot
Venter yea...
You The negative will come. You are just not to say them out loud!
Venter oh k
You We'll work on the loosing someone close to you thing as well, but later!
Venter oh k sure
You Alright so all relatives. Lost. What kind of positive things can happen because of this?
Venter its making sense. its way too positive for me. but i feel good.
You For me... I live in a joint family. If all my relatives are lost...
Venter well about the positive things, they are always annoying , so not anymore.
You I get the whole house to party in O_O yASS!
Venter haha
You I live in a big house so XD
Venter cool. you gonna do whatever you want in that house.
You I can live upstairs, its a beautiful balcony there. I can sit there and use my laptop there! yea!
Venter exactly.
You Also I have to attend boring weddings, boring birthday parties of my relatives. All that gone!
Venter i dont have to heed to all the advices they pour on me. i can do what ever i wanted to. i can make lost of mistakes without having to justify anything.
You awesome! there we go. I get that as well. They all give advice as they are professionals on life XD my mother keeps telling me what my relatives say about what i'm doing. And how what i'm doing, isn't good! I don't get to hear that anymore biggrin
Venter i live in a joint family too. exactly.
You I say something to my mother. And then she asks all the relatives. And then they all speak against me and they turn my mother against me. That stops! that would be so awesome!
Venter yea... its freedom to be yourself. there ll be no burden to prove anyone.
You indeed! *thumbs up* that's the spirit My relatives have means of 'passive' income. If they aren't here, that money comes to my family!
Venter haha thats the true freedom. you really mean when you said about getting creative lol
You yea! XD its fun. We are going to play this a few times until you get the hang of it! You can even play it with someone else. its really really fun! Alright! anything else positive coming in your mind in this messed up scenario? Or should we make up a new messed up scenario?
Venter yea, it is. we can do a new one.
You Any ideas? i know! no power anymore.
Venter yea? no power?
You Zero electricity.
Venter oh seriously?
You Yea! that's extreme!
Venter I mean its not.
You its not extreme? O_O
Venter i am well familiar with no electricity.
You ahahahahahaha XD
Venter i am from India, for godsake. is that making sense? now?
You it does. Its the same in my country.
Venter oh where are you from? Africa?
You Though I suggested that there be no electricity for months! what then? (does that happen in your place? ) I'm from Pakistan XD
Venter months... NO oh wow, you are my neighbour.
You yupe!
Venter and my enemy too? lol
You I suppose XD
Venter so now back to outage
You No electricity for a few months then!
Venter there will be no connection no mobile no computers no nothing. wow...
You People will actually get out, stop using the computer and their smartphone and play together! In just my street, I can expect about a hundred of individuals playing cricket every evening! it would be so lively!
Venter exactly
You I can meet so many people. Offer my services, influence them :3
Venter wow, its true living, in fact. i mean we disconnect our mobiles to get connect with ourselves. its true connection.
You Yea! Everyone would know each other, (these days, we don't know our neighbours that much or what's going on in their life)...
Venter yea, you are right. its really getting worse even more.
You Once the connections come back up in a few months. We'll be so much closer to each other! Like... if I became president or something, i'll have a month with no electricity every year XD so people experience 'true' connection
Venter wow... you are making sense. we will be here and now. rather than living in the screen.
You My mother will stop watching those awful dramas that always have negativity. No one will watch news anymore! so much negativity will go away from our society! women will stop watching those negative and stupid pakistani and indian dramas
Venter wow... yea.
You Islamaphobia, racism and so much will be eliminated from society just from news going away O_O wow! this is so awesome! I should learn hacking and kill the global power system or something
Venter yea, its gonna be awesome, that way. entire world is build on electricity its hard to think a world without electricity though. but still since we only have to talk about postives.
You yupe! razz glad you remembered
Venter for me its all about living disconnected and not flooding your mind with too much informations like TV , Web, Mobile. and all will be gone. we gonna be innocents. we we have to know about something we have to go to library if we *
You oh yea! libraries will become more lively!
Venter there will be lot of human interactions
You they will indeed!
Venter we just dont preoccupied with mobiles. we open our eyes and mind and see the things in front of our eyes. and get lost in our mind. we dont get lost in our mind* lot of positives.
You *super thumbs up!* Alright! Let's do another one! Any ideas on our next messed up scenario?
Venter well, how about losing all your money and end up with nothing in the street? all your assets and all the things you own.
You brilliant!
Venter you dont have anything now. whats postive in that? you even have no money now to afford a least meal for the lunch. thats negative. i knew. now not just the money but all your so called ' status'.
You I will be completely free. At that moment in time. I can do anything I want without restrictions. What I mean by that is... I won't have the responsibilities I have now...
Right now, I have a family. Hence responsibilities All that goes away. I have enough skills to go a number of places and get hired. I can simply get a job with the English skills that I have!
I can move away from here. I don't have any property to take with me, so I can simply move from one place to another and live an adventurous life!
Venter yea...
You I can sit on a train to no where and just explore!
Venter beautiful.
You In america, a man lived on nothing but the expired food collected from dumpsters! it was clean, just expired! he lived off from collecting that, and travelling from one city to another!
Venter i can relate myself with all the things you just said. oh yea? really? wow.
You I wouldn't have any connections, and 'limitations', any responsibilities and I think for a while if could live like that. Even for a little while, it would be very liberating! and just an amazing experience to me! I have never lived in that state of life. I am continuously burdened by the thought of 'earning' and making sure that I start to earn quickly, so I can provide for my family.
Venter yea, i can feel that liberation smile
You It would be amazing to be free from all that And just be on your own. Just have responsibility of yourself.
Venter its like only if you ready to lose anything ,you are free to do anything. since we already dont have anything and nothing to lose, we are free already.
You indeed! that's so awesome that i'm going to record it !
Venter its like practicing detachment.
You Correct! NO money, means no property to protect. On your own, no burdens of taking responsibility for other people.
Venter the things you own end up owning you. ~ fight club quote.
You :O I get to start my life from zero. A fresh new start!
Venter yea. its no that we cant live without anything. its just the idea that more frightening than the reality. we can live with nothing. but we fear society. we fear responsiblity. lot of apprehensions will be gone, in that state. like we have no status, we dont have to worry about searching for a perfect job. the so called ' perfect job' always allures us.
You Once we are on street. We can choose which responsibilities we want to take upon ourselves. And not just adhere to the fact that we were born in-to a place where we had responsibilities placed on us. We also have no rules! no one could tell me what to do! I can do what I want! (in the capacity of my morals I mean XD ) yea! We don't have anybody to impress anymore. No family members to show off to!
Venter yea... you can do anything. i know how to drive car and i can even become a driver. lol instead of searching for a high prestigious profession, i ll do anyting i want.
You exactly!
Venter i can travel a lot. i dont have to save anything. since i dont have anyone. i am literally on the street.
You Living small too. I can just go to the country side and start farming and live a simple life. No complicated city stuff... just a simple farmer life.
Venter exactly. so its like lot of postiives in all the negative scenario. its like we always looked the door closed rather than the door which is opened. and we feel worse about that. how much negativity , it is ? right? so much.
You Yea! to train our brain to consider all the positives first! Once we do that. That relaxes our brain in having the opportunity to experience all the positive consequence of our circumstance. Then when we face difficulties and negativity, we have amazing motivation to deal with them! that's a great analogy O_O wow! you are awesome with your words!
Venter no i just quoted helen keller lol i am not well versed..
You ahahahahahahahahaha XD
Venter she also said another thing, which i like even more life can be nothing or adventurous, its up to you.
You *thumbs up*
Venter thanks , i am already feeling very positive today. you really helped me with what i am working on already(getting back my sanity and seeing the silver lining). it means a lot.
You Most welcome!
Venter its all about being calm and control. Thanks for the time, Bro. Bot, Blonde. whatever you are. Your time you spend with me today never get wasted.
You Bro here XD I'm glad. I'm willing to invest more if you are. Just to inform you that is.
Venter well, thanks, its something i love to spend the time myself, but i have to leave right now, if you dont mind.
You of course! As long as i'm here. I am a slave to your commands!
Venter i am very lucky today that i get connected to you.
Venter you ain't. You are the peaceful warrior. you are not slave.
You So am I!
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