I suggested this to a friend who had ECT a year ago and is making suicidal overatures again. If there are no withdrawal symptoms for someone coming to it clean then maybe it can be that magic bullet.
Could you please show him this post? Here's what he needs to know, right away: *If the neurotransmitter reuptake inhibitors haven't already worked for you, they never will. Your problem lies not in serotonin/dopamine/norepinephrine, but the endogenous opioids. *ECT can only 'reboot' your brain, without ever touching the underlying condition. Unless you find a way to compensate for your insufficient endogenous opioid levels, any perceived 'benefits' of the ECT will be very short lived. The doctors are trying ECT on you; Not because it works, but only because they are desperate, and have absolutely nothing else. If they knew anything about endorphin deficiency syndrome, ECT would have never been presented as an option in the first place. *If you've tried opiates, and already know they can make you feel 'normal', that is your confirmation that listening to me is a good idea. If you've never in your life experienced the so-called 'runner's high', which other people talk about- that's another clue. *You can break your current 'wave' of suicidal depression by getting acupuncture. If the acupuncturist studied in China, he/she already knows that endorphin deficiency syndrome is REAL, and can be temporarily alleviated via the acupuncture needles. *Right after the acupuncture session, you'll feel just as lousy as you did before it- possibly even assuming it had failed. However, the next morning your depression will have miraculously lifted. See, acupuncture stimulates your brain to increase endorphin production, and this can only occur during a full night's sleep. *Becoming dependant on narcotics has its drawbacks, and LDN is one compelling alternative. I'm still learning more about LDN, and can't yet recommend it with any certainty at this point. *I know the depression is paralyzing you into inaction- I've been there too. Still, you should <b>know</b> you can't continue on this way indefinitely. You have <b>no choice</b> but to either kill yourself or get better. There's no third option, so you need to muster up your last ounce of strength, and make your move- NOW. Check my website for more.
I did, and I appreciate at the degree of empathy you seem to have. The inactivity you mention at this stage for him is particularly accute, and he is very poor, so I am not sure if it will convince him or he'll even be able to get it. But I do know that he will be dead soon without something. Meds and ECT were a miserable failure. Your halo effect did work as I wouldn't really give much attention to this natural opioid lack otherwise. I just had a very long discussion about the conclusions of your idea. I look at the markets as a metaphor for positive change in life, in that I am thoroughly convinced that you cannot be successful until you reframe your sensitivity to loss and pain. I've been depressed like my friend all my life, though his recent circumstances have brought him to the edge, and I have always had a very natural sensitivity to pain. The question I am struggling with is whether I can find a solution to my own life problems by simply taking action and immediately working toward my goals and "turning off" my sensitivity to pain -- thus whether it is true that what causes my depression is a lack of will power or a natural brain deficiency. This is probably why a lot of the addict accounts on that bupe site begin very specifically by stating that their addiction is a neurophysiological disease. Society heaps that stigma onto people that they are responsible for their problems. Your success in the markets, assuming you're not a fraud who has a specific cause and a need for attention (no offense, you can never be sure), actually presents a counterargument: that a person can be "fixed." As in, if you could shut off that pain sensitivity in trading with a drug then pain sensitivity on a grander scale could be mitigated. So, that's that. I still have to think about all of it.
Bingo! Another hallmark trait of Endorphin Deficiency Syndrome is oversensitivity to pain. Anyone ever diagnose you with Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis/fibromyalgia by any chance? Does any of this sound familiar?: <i> Pain: Pain in CFS may include muscle pain, joint pain (without joint swelling or redness, and may be transitory), headaches (particularly of a new type, severity, or duration), lymph node pain, sore throats, and abdominal pain (often as a symptom of irritable bowel syndrome).</i> I'm spot on here, aren't I?
Truthfully, I only <i>seem</i> to have that degree of empathy. Howard Hughes did some great things for mankind, but none of them were really done out of any true humanitarian motive. (Hint: It's not about money either.)
No problemo -- it explained a lot for me too, particularly in helping to understand my father and grandfather better. Re dogballoon's comments on 'fixing' one's self--or what I like to think of as pursuit of the integrated self--Phillip Eby has some intriguing thoughts: http://dirtsimple.org/2005/08/multiple-self.html
The stuff guy talks about is nothing new. I studied these concepts for years (yoga, Buddhism, Zen-Buddhism, Jung etc.) in hope to change behavioral patterns which really bother me. I have been doing concentration exercises in an attempt to "break" my habitual thought process which in effect would change my life experience (in theory). It never happened. Older I am more convinced I am it's your genes and childhood, after that you are stuck with that for life. Even old wise texts will tell you there is no gradual progress, you either reach certain level of self-awareness (which sets you free) or you are stuck in the same shit. And don't get me wrong, after weeks of playing around with this stuff, I'm still no superman or Zen master. After reading "weeks" I stopped reading. The guy knows, you are going to know and that's where it's going to end. ( I don't disagree with the guy) Concentration exercise really works in severely reducing anxieties, depression etc. For me, next step is psychedelic trip if I find safe conditions to do it (outside of the U.S.) and see what happens. P.S. RM thanks for the thread it helped me to figure out lots of things about myself.
For what it's worth, my personal experience has been the exact opposite. It's all about gradual progress--and that progress is very real. Every once in a while the big a-ha! moments seem to burst out of nowhere, but in reality they are the result of a slow build, the steady accumulation of insights and edges over time. Nor do I agree that there is a linear distinction between "stuck in shit" and "free." There are multiple levels of self-awareness, perhaps an infinite number of levels as far as general human purpose is concerned. If someone were to convince me my present level of self-awareness is the highest I'll ever achieve, I would be deeply depressed. To regress back to levels of five or ten years ago would be like having a substantial amount of life force drained away. And looking back, there was no single hallelujah moment when "shit" became "freedom." p.s. Eby's insights might be old hat to you, but that doesn't preclude them from being new, or insightful, for other people. Oftentimes an interesting observation serves as a doorway--and sometimes that's all it needs to be. p.p.s. one of the most important things I've discovered on my 'journey' is that sometimes it's necessary to keep going, even when there seems to be no hope. Like the old Chinese saying goes, "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed." I can't count the number of times I thought I was at an absolute dead end, but instead of quitting decided to say fuck it and kept going anyway... and then a new idea or a new insight came along, usually born of my frustrated efforts, and things were moving again. After this happened a few times, I realized the seemingly hopeless dead ends were illusions more often than not. But for those who turn back they are gravestones.