Jump to content

Steve81

Senior Members
  • Posts

    294
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Steve81

  1. I see psychology doesn't qualify as a science here. I have no further observations to add. @Phi for All feel free to close the thread. Thanks in advance. Please clarify? PM is fine for contact.
  2. All accurate observations in my experience. Also why I speculate a link to ADHD. Perhaps bipolar disorder IS untreated ADHD, and environmental issues turn it into bipolar disorder.
  3. Quite probably my father was undiagnosed bipolar. My son has ADHD. Not sure of my mother's issues, but she was a hateful, abusive shrew.
  4. As @Genady noted, this was the method Kay Redfield Jamison - Wikipedia utilized to discuss things. I will obtain the book for further research on the topic, as clearly I have a vested interest in the issue. I'm not sure *how* more research can realistically be done. Bipolar patients hide things, even from their therapist. I certainly didn't open up completely to my therapist in the way that I'm able to do now. Shame is extremely powerful, and in bipolar disorder, it's a severe problem. I have no opposition to MRIs and other brain studies on the subject, but I had put this in the psychology / psychiatric part of the forum for a reason.
  5. Have you ever read a psychological case study? I have. This is what they look like.
  6. I provided rigor by providing a detailed account of my personal experiences with bipolar disorder (including my tendency to stutter). @Genady also provided a handy reference that I'm happy to purchase and review and see if it provides further evidence.
  7. I clearly stated this was a speculation.
  8. I’m overeager to share my thoughts 😄 Speculation: ADHD link?
  9. Thanks for the reference! It is my speculation that bipolar disorder has defied understanding for so long because of the hesitancy of those living with it to open up, even in therapy. It takes a bipolar individual who has broken free to adequately explain their experiences as a case study to move the needle on understanding. Another speculation: I wonder if cases like the Uvalde shooter suffered similar pathologies. He was at least noted to have a stutter, and was obviously socially isolated.
  10. Good morning! Pulling from the Wikipedia link: I do not disagree with this at all. The affect interest-excitement is considered a genetic trait, as observed by Silvan Tomkins (more info on observed affects). Now, if you would allow me, let me relay you a few personal experiences. I was always considered "annoying", even by family members growing up. My excitement even now, clearly annoys certain people. I was bullied, harassed, etc. growing up, and began excluding myself from any social contact. After getting expelled from one high school for bad behavior, I was able to find a home at a new school towards the end of my sophomore year. As it relates to self-esteem, something interesting happened between sophomore and junior year of high school. I lost weight and experienced a conveniently timed growth spurt. Instead of being a short, dumpy looking kid, I was a bit taller, and in quite good shape. In my junior year, in part thanks to the self-esteem boost generated by my achievement and favorable feedback, I was able to make a few (but not many) friends. None of these friendships were close, but it was enough. My academic performance soared. By the time I graduated high school, I had obtained acceptance to George Washington University with a scholarship to study chemistry. I basically slept through AP chemistry in class, though I was fascinated by the experiments; our teacher even let us do our own experiments towards year end for demonstrations to the entire school (this was a small private school). My demonstration was thermite; while I'm not entirely sure I got it to actually ignite properly, I still got the desired reaction from the crowd. I also had an interest in history, physics, and math, and scored well on those AP exams. The transition to college life was a hard one, especially since none of my friends went to GWU; I had begged my parents to let me attend Catholic U, where I also obtained a scholarship, and my friends went; the "prestige" of GWU was too much for my mother to disregard, and my high school counselor agreed with her. So, in a new environment, I once again had no friends, and a distinct nervousness about approaching people to make new ones. Still, I made one friend, a lovely woman named Kristina. I was smitten with her, but too immature/intimidated to do much of anything about it. We hung out all the time, and my academic performance remained stable for my freshman year at GWU. Things took a marked turn of events when Kristina informed me that she had to leave GWU at the end of freshman year; I knew she had to work and go to school at the same time, and that she was far from home. She was transferring to Rutgers. This had an absolutely devastating impact upon me. Sophomore year, my grades hit rock bottom, I lost my scholarship, and ultimately dropped out. I was so overwhelmingly upset I literally moved to California with nothing more than what I could carry with me in my car. One unfortunate sidenote, to indicate the kind of people my parents were: I later learned after I moved back to Maryland that Kristina had tried to keep in touch with me. I found a number of letters and cards in my old room, that my parents (who had visited me in CA) never bothered give me. I hope this story demonstrates how my personal experiences informed my opinion, and aren't merely written off as a useless anecdote. Thanks for reading!
  11. I have done so. I have accepted my flaws, and improved my self-esteem, possibly breaking the cycle.
  12. I understand. I’m seeking to see if it’s a plausible explanation based on the logic I used, i.e. are there flaws in the logic I’m missing before I proceed to the next steps. No point in continuing if there’s a fundamental flaw in my analysis. Basically, instead of troubleshooting a computer, I’m troubleshooting myself 😛
  13. That’s why it’s a hypothesis 😆
  14. This hypothesis is based on personal experience and reflection. The hypothesis is thus: Bipolar disorder is caused by an overdeveloped affect of interest-excitement. This leads to habits which others find annoying / odd (stuttering, interruptions, etc.), which in turn leads to social rejection and depression. The individual learns to cope, developing a more reserved, euthymic presentation. The cycle repeats as the individual gains self-esteem and attempts to express themselves again. The individual will also be more prone to depression than other individuals due to low self-esteem. For discussion: are there any logical flaws that you can note in this hypothesis? Suggested treatments if my hypothesis is considered a plausible explanation for bi-polar disorder? Thank you in advance for your kind participation in this thread!
  15. I appreciate all the thoughtful comments on this topic, especially @swansont's helpful link to Wikipedia (why didn't I think of that 😆). A question from one snippet of the content at Wikipedia: Does this suggest a spectrum, explaining the tendency of some males to be more effeminate, and in the ultimate case, gender dysphoric?
  16. I would recommend watching The Dark Knight. Two Face is in it, but Heath Ledger as the Joker is an absolutely fascinating character. His observation that nobody has a problem with "the plan," even if the plan is horrifying, makes an interesting point. He used the example of gang-bangers killing each other, and a truckload full of soldiers getting blown up as horrifying things that happen every day, as a matter of course. He then observed that by making an attempt on the life of one little mayor, everybody freaked out, as he had upset the plan.
  17. Indeed! I don’t know you well enough yet; are you familiar with Batman comics and the villains Two Face? I ask because he carried around a double-sided coin, with one side defaced, and flips it to make his decisions.
  18. It occurs to me that this little philosophy could use a bit more structure, lest it become confusing. Rules: Irrefutable items, like not being spread by force, and seeking the path of least harm Guidelines: Subject to additions, things to try and live by to guide you towards happiness Ideals: A statement of what we strive to achieve, such as seeking truth, being loving towards our fellow human beings, etc.
  19. As an observation from the "happy" perspective, it makes you want to share the wealth, so to speak. It has benefits in ordinary interactions, and can be rather important in more complex scenarios. It also helps cope with pain. For example, as I learned today from a trip to the ER for a kidney stone, befriending the doctors and nurses treating you, and understanding why they do what they do (even if it seems annoying), makes a huge difference in outcome. Outside of the unpleasantness of the pain, my day has been pretty good so far. Appreciated! Just for fun, let's turn this into the trolley problem, with a few little modifications. Suppose a train/trolley is running down it's track and there are three people in the way; you, a distant observer, have a switch to divert the train/trolley to a siding where only one man is standing. Now let's assume the three men on the main line are drug dealers, and the lone man on the siding is a physician. What do you do? I personally wouldn't save the three drug dealers and kill the physician, if I, the distant observer had the requisite information. Without that information, all I can do is attempt to save the three individuals, and accept the fact that it may be the wrong decision.
  20. Thank you for the link; I actually posted there some days ago about an IT issue!
  21. Hopefully we learn more every day, whether or not we realize it.
  22. Regarding the first part of your post, that’s why I posited the irrefutable rule. With respect to the second, see the first part of the post you quoted, i.e. my reply to TheVat. Still, if you want to know what I would do in the scenario, given the high probability that I would get seriously injured or killed trying to stop a gunman on my own, I would call law enforcement for help, and follow their instructions. I concur.
  23. Ethics is hard under certain scenarios, for example the case of Scot Peterson. But these scenarios rather miss the point. These are guidelines on how to live happily; they aren’t meant to solve each and every problem that will arise in one’s life. Would changing the verbiage to such be agreeable? Why would this individual not notify law enforcement vs taking the situation into his own hands? This is part of asking for help.
  24. Then clearly we’re talking about a society where my philosophy wouldn’t take hold, and any who subscribed to my thoughts that were unlucky enough to live there would flee for their lives.
  25. Law enforcement officials and the judicial system typically; with your hypothetical individual, that is a decision they must make themselves.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.