Dysphoriana

8 Years Later… it’s almost 2023

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My, how far things have progressed!

The year 2022 is coming to a close. While most of us are glad to see it go, I suspect that most of us are also not very hopeful that 2023 will be any “better”.

This blog started with a recognition that, in 2014, it seemed that we were living in dysphoriana, a place characterized by dysphoria.

Dysphoriana was a very different place. It was oddly etherial, and its advent was remarkable at the time.

In 2023, looking back, it’s very clear where we are now. We are clearly living the emergence of a dystopian society. When you examine the trending directions of select aspects of society, including civilized behavior, nurturing attitudes, kindness, charity, health & wellness, and even scientific and technical progress, you see it.

Once again, it’s as if those advocating for “change” while promising utopia, swiftly lead us towards dystopia. Towards ruin. Towards collapse.

Less clear, perhaps, is why, or what can be done to stop the fall, or to recover from the degradation of society and its systems of governance and control.

Dystopia is Relative

I must note that the dystopian character of our current society is relative. The blatant redistribuition of wealth away from the 1st World and its middle class, towards the wealthy elites and their select 3rd World Colonists, brings energizing change to parts of society, even while condemning the mainstream to live in Dysphoriana.

Although very likely to be short lived, it is a boost to many who find themselves to be recipients of the transfers. Will it be enough to engage those people into building a new society out of the collapse ? Are those recipients qualified and capable of carrying civilization forward? Will they be adequately empowered by the controlling elites, and gatekeepers?

Or will they live as temporary Kings, enslaving their underpeers, while paying tribute to the elites who granted them their new-found wealth and authority?

The near future seems predictable: 2022 was just the beginning, and 2023 is going to surprise everyone.

Uncategorized

Is Depression Caused by an Infection?

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Is depression caused by an infection? Is there some infectious agent that causes depression? Is there a “bug” causing depression?

This is a significant area of research. After they discovered that bacteria in the gut seem to exert “control” over the brain, via communications channels that may include direct travels between the brain and the intestines, more research is focused on connections between pathogens and human disorders.

The most obvious “big one” to look at is depression, since approximately 10% of the US population is clinically depressed. Another is inflammation: nearly all of the ailments we previously didn’t understand, have recently been connected in some way to inflammation: cancers, neurological disorders, neuromuscular diseases, and even thought-to-be skin disorders like psoriasis.

The growth of autoimmune research supports our new understandings of inflammation, and now the study of this exciting new intestinal ecosystem is spawning theories that things like depression may actually be caused by some infectious agent, like a bacteria.

This article is interesting… seems flawed in many ways, and this is a very early stage for such research, but definitely an interesting area to be investigating.

 

New York Times on Depression and Infection/Inflammation here

 

mental illness

I read the Internets on mental health and I’m like “Yeah, that’s me” – But I’m not sick!

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I look up this and that on the Internets, and everywhere I read about bipolar disorder, manic depressive, obsessive compulsive,  addiction, early Alzheimers, high-functioning Autistic, ADHD, etc… and I’m like “Yeah, that’s me!” but I know I’m not sick. I’m just me.

I read about mood swings and emotional collapse and heightened sensitivity and periods of rage and periods of unexplained sadness and not giving a shit but then suddenly giving a shit like my life depended on it. I read all this and I’m like “Yeah, I know!”

But there’s no way I am THAT clinical classification. Not me. I’m normal.

I once spoke at length with a clinical colleague about ADD/ADHD and “creative people”. She knew me only a little, but she knew how creative I was, and she knew how linear I was, when I wasn’t being “creative”.

And of course I was right there interacting with her for like 2 hours; a live specimen to be judged in real time. So I presume she had enough evidence to make her own (clinical) judgements.

“Creative people are just… different”, she taught me. Creative people don’t fit in, and once there is a miss fit, the “misfits” get revealed. And then the consequences of a misfit identified, take over. It’s what happens NEXT… that sets the stage for the future, and happiness (or not).

It’s how we HANDLE the missed fit and the labeling as “misfit” that matters.

She confessed that we “creative people” confuse her. She can’t understand how, if we are clearly so creative, we can’t seem to figure this part out. We can’t seem to understand that it is not the miss of the fit that matters, but our dealing with that miss fit label and the denial of our freedom of expression, that matters. How we deal with life is everything. If no one likes you. If everyone likes you. If you don’t like yourself. If you loooove yourself.And if you’re unsure.

And plenty of us deal with it poorly.

She is a counselor and life coach, and she helps people learn how to understand this, and deal with it better. Helps us to stay out of trouble, so to speak.

She teaches people how to recognize their oddness, and suggests that they not only recognize it for what it is (a benefit, not a handicap) but also celebrate it. But she suggests we try and do so within the rules of civil society.

She also hinted that there are plenty of ways to exercise our creative selves OUTSIDE of civil society, provided we are careful to make sure that what happens outside of civil society stays outside of civil society.

I wasn’t sure at that point if she was breaking the rules of clinical conduct or not. Actual, I was sure. The local board would not have been pleased.

Included in her advice was a subtle assertion that if you are unable or unwilling to constrain yourself to the bounds of your “society”, as required by whomever is “accusing” you of being very far out there, you may get branded as someone who possibly suffers from a mental illness.  You may need to be “evaluated”.

And I project from that point, because I don’t remember the specifics of what she said vs. how I interpreted it, but I do remember quite well the way that I interpreted it:

For those wondering why all the fuss about their behavior, an “evaluation” is a determination if you will recognize the perceived seriousness of the problem associated with your “aberrant” behavior. Do you get that there will likely be consequences from continuing to not listen, or not comply beyond this formal and typically forced psychological evaluation. Basically it’s a wake-up call that says “hey, we want you to change your behavior, and if you don’t, we’re going to make you“.

For those asking for help, whether via carefully expressed words like “Can you help me please” or via actions like attempted suicide or violent outbursts to exhaustion, the “evaluation” is a moment of pause, restraint,and inquiry. The goal is to prevent further harm to yourself and others, while someone clinically qualified determines if you are in control or not, and to what degree, and basically just find out what’s going on.

The clinician can theoretically separate those in need of medical help from the rest of us, with that process. Medication? Check. Counseling? Check. Restraints? Check.  Whatever is needed, can be arranged. As long as all parties are willing.

A good deal of the “coping with mental illness” advice for people who have loved ones with these various “treatable conditions” can be summarized into “be nicer to me”.

Try not to upset me. Try to understand me, and not overreact to my outbursts. Try to work with me, not against me. And try to understand I don’t mean to be difficult or mean or cause trouble, I just can’t help it sometimes.

I like that. People should be nice to me.

Be nice to me, not because I am mentally ill, and not because I am “creative”. Be nice to me because I am human, and we are all in this together. In exchange, I will refrain from breaking the rules of civilization, up to the point where those rules are fair and respectable. But if they are not, well, try to understand me.

Disphoric

How to Deal with Negative People (Starting with Your Self!)

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I’m sure you’ve seen the articles in Social Media. “Ten Ways to Manage Negative People” or “How to Get Negative People Out of Your Life!”. There are even Personal Success and Life Coaching programs designed around that, because your belief that “negative people” are holding you back, enables them to take your cash!

That’s right. By acknowledging that you believe “negative people” are hindering you, you set yourself up to be monetized. There are plenty of gurus all prepared to sell you on some affirmation program that will make you feel better, for a mere monthly subscription fee.

But isn’t the real problem you?

By blaming others for how you feel, you may be avoiding the truth. The truth is that each of us needs to survive and succeed in the real world, not some false world of only happy people, or no “negative people”.

I know one manager who asks a set of interview questions “designed to detect negative people”. She believes that the answers she expects to hear from a “neggie” are, in fact, representative of a brand of people who hold back the other employees in her office. By screening for them and avoiding them, she believes she maintains a more effective (and profitable) workplace.

I’ve even heard business owners say they only hire people who are “positive”, as if the owner’s perception of what that actually means is flawless. How could it be a good idea to only hire people you think are upbeat and positive? Wouldn’t that result in a group of yes-people, or people who never actual have a real opinion, or who are very inefficient at expressing a contrary opinion in a business setting?

Yes, it would.

Of course it may be a good idea to avoid mentally unstable people, including people who are so dysphoric they cannot see the positive side of anything.

But the true “neggie” might be you. Your own abandonment of your responsibility for dealing with real humans (who can be negative at times, or tough to convince, or firm in their beliefs, or any of many other traits that can seem negative at a given moment) is manifest in your declaration that they are “negative” and you, are not.

I imagine there are some who right now are thinking that I am “being negative”. LOL.

 

 

 

 

Wellness

Mental Illness, Dysphoria, and the Grumpy Old Man

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I challenge any psychologist to come up with a meaningful definition of “mental illness”. The label has become a tool of commerce in our society. The term “mental illness” has significant commercial meaning (e.g. pharmaceutical sales, counseling sessions, etc.), and is also a legal basis for many forms of control (e.g. prosecution and imprisonment, liability in law suits, etc).

So the actual meaning of Mental Illness has been corrupted by commerce and society to the point that it no longer fits actual “mental illness” – the unhealthy state of mind that impacts behavior in ways that ultimately impact physical well-being.

Today we have individuals with “intellectually disabilities”, when yesterday we had individuals who were “mentally retarded”.

Yesterday “those people” were something (a label). They were someone who had something you and I don’t have (such as an illness or disease).

Today, they are someone just like you except they are LACKING something you and I have… such as intellectual capacity. Today, it seems, they are much more similar to you and I than they used to be.

The Grumpy Old Man is a classic example of changing times alienating an individual who holds outdated core beliefs, or for whom community has changed away from including him, despite his physical presence within that community.

Should he accept the modern ways and abandon his own beliefs, or simply move away? The only other option is to become the Grumpy Old Man yelling at the kids to “Get Off the Lawn!”

Dysphoria is most often used TODAY as a qualifier for transgendered people, or clinically when describing certain aspects of bipolar disorder. But the concept applies even to Grumpy Old Man, who suffers intense distress and unease in today’s neighborhood. If you want to question the concept, research the incidence of suicidal thinking among alienated elders struggling with this dysphoria. It’s more common than you might believe.

The concept of “mental illness” is a false construct, originally used as a way to assure ourselves that we were not like them, and not at risk of becoming like them (because we don’t have what they have). Mental illness is currently used as a label, or excuse to exert control over individuals.

Yet, each of us suffers mental illness of some sort, at some time. Of course we don’t ever want any clinician nor bureaucrat to apply that label to us, but if we want to be healthy, we must recognize that illness is not the opposite of wellness. Illness and wellness are on the same continuum.

We move through various states of wellness (which includes illness) throughout our lives. Or, one could say we similarly exist along a continuum of illness throughout our lives. It’s the same thing.

In 2014, the United States lives in a state of relative dysphoria compared to prior times. People are down, angry, reluctant, anxious, and negative, and it seems many more suffer “mental illness” than previously recognized in other times. The news media is full of craziness. The actions of others seem inane. The norms are being tossed about. We are each, in various ways and under various conditions, being alienated and labeled.

But rather than focus on the definition of normal or “them” vs “us”, life is really about maintaining wellness and health in these challenging times.

How are YOU doing in this Dysphoriana we live in right now? Are you doing well, or getting sucked down into the muck of dysphoria?

 

 

 

 

Blinded by Dysphoria, Dysphoriana

Dysphoria in the Wild : People Are Stupid and They Suck

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Observed in the Wild: A web entrepreneur reported his startup company failed after a manufactured product entered the marketplace with defects. He blamed the vendors who had produced the flawed products and sent them to the fulfillment warehouse.

How could this happen?

He explained that the design was good. He had used several vendors for various parts of the product, all in the USA. Management wanted to ensure higher quality than he had witnessed with a previous product they had manufactured in China.

He explained that the pre-production product was tested and inspected, and was good. Since the manufacturer was to then send the production run product directly to the drop shipper for fulfillment, management didn’t know about the faulty product until it was already sold to customers. But by then it was too late, and the company folded in the face of shipped faulty product and a warehouse full of similarly faulty product.

So where is the dysphoria and blindness? Looking back at what went wrong, this is the comment about the vendors:

“…only one of the 5 supplier companies did what anyone should have expected. “

The entrepreneur goes on to say that this experience confirmed for him the following core beliefs:

  • Most people are stupid/ignorant.
  • Most people suck at what they do.

which he followed with “…it’s just hard to find people who really know what they are doing, care enough to do it well, and actually do it well.”

Dysphoriana… a world where things just suck, and those “things” are to blame when things go wrong.

No consideration of the failure of company management to institute Quality Control or Quality Assurance programs, to evaluate product coming off the production line before it was shipped for distribution.

No thought that the manufacturers would need specifications for testing methods, inspection points, or check lists in order to detect problems and prevent shipping flawed product, if that was even contracted or included in the bid/pricing process.

An underlying belief that people are stupid and people suck, which enables him to explain away failures and relieves him (and the rest of business management) of blame. This is the blindness.

There seems to be an assumption here that hiring contractors to do parts of the process and then testing the initial product before a production run should be enough to ensure success, as long as no one screws up. When has that ever been true in business?

If business was that easy, we’d all be rich and hardly any of us would have to work. But in Dysphoriana, it’s because other people suck at their jobs, no one (else) cares enough about the success of the project. The deck is stacked against us!

If it weren’t for those other people screwing up, we’d have been successful, because we work hard and care and do great work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disphoric

Disphoriana : Where We Live Now

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Welcome to  Disphoriana. It’s where we live now.

dysphoria definition and trend chart
Mentions of “dysphoria” in published media over time… interesting!

Dysphoria is commonly defined as a “state of unease, or generalized dissatisfaction with life“. The word dysphoria is derived from the Greek dusphoros or dysphoros, which translates as “difficult to bear“.

We, my fellow Americans, are living in a dysphoria :  a state of difficult-to-bear angst, or psychological discomfort. And it is effecting everything we do (i.e. our behavior).

In the  free-market-capitalism,  rule-of-law society we have here, the impact of this dysphoria is severe. Because our systems of commerce and governance adapt to our behavior as consumers and voters, our behavior is changing everything about our society…just as our society is cashing in on our dysphoria.

Marketing is pandering to our state of dissatisfaction and generalized sense of angst, telling us with increasing frequency and convincingness how right we are to feel that way.

Our government and the big business behind it is also cashing in. Let’s face it : a fearful people is easier to control. A group of emotionally exhausted, disconnected lost souls is easier to steer, and easier to monetize.

Sadly, these influences are increasing the depth of our dysphoria. It’s a vicious cycle of destruction. The downward spiral erodes our core values; the very things that make us human.

As the dysphoria erodes our individual identities, it consumes the hope we have for a brighter future, erodes our personal sense of self worth, and devalues our respect for others.

People are stupid. People are idiots. Everyone is in my way, preventing me from being the good, successful me I was born to be. It all sucks, and we’re all doomed.

I call this world Dysphoriana.