Mental Health/Disorder/Illness Mega-Thread

[Matt23]

I wanting to see if a general Mental-health/Illness megathread would be a good idea. 

I imagine it having videos and resources (etc.) of things ranging from...

• Psychopathy
• Schizophrenia 
• Bipolar 
• Organic Brain Diseases
• Anxiety disorders
• etc.
• .. Even stuff about how people define such terms and labels (i.e., diagnostics)

You name it.  

Any clips, videos, people, books, and resources about all the various types of mental illness/disorders/health categories. 

I suppose this can be the start to see if peeps are interested.  

Hopefully it can...

• Help people with their own struggles.
• Help people see the variability of human psyches.
• Be an interesting exploration of the human mind and all that different types that exist.  

 

[Matt23]

To start it off, one of my side-hobbies is learning more about psychopaths and sociopaths.  I think because I might have a bit of a fear and vulnerability in regards to be taken advantage of, but also there's some sort of fascination in seeing how drastic people can be and just seeing the "evil" side of humanity. 

There might be more videos in this series.  

But I found it interesting. 

I also wonder how accurate the diagnostics are in identifying psychopathy.  Or even if there is one thing called psychopathy that is an actual thing (like in terms of specific brain, genetic, and nervous system makeup--- which I think is actually different in psychopaths), rather than just a general categorization of personality traits, etc. ( which I think is really how all these mental and personality categorizations really work).  

[Flowerfaeiry]

Good idea!  

I want to contribute Somatic Experiencing. It is a way of processing trauma through nervous system regulation using the body. 

Official website: https://traumahealing.org/se-101/

Couple videos: 

 

Personally experienced much healing with it. 

 

[RickyFitts]

@Flowerfaeiry Thanks for sharing, I love Emma McAdams' 'Therapy In A Nutshell' channel, she's amazing!!

Edited September 14, 2021 by RickyFitts

[Cathal]

@Flowerfaeiry hey i've done TRE a few times but i haven't really had any experiences, can you explain if you had an experience after one or two times or you had to build it up after a lot of sessions? 

i actually really have a gut feeling this could do something for me but when i've done it, it never really gets out of the hip shaking

[Matt23]

8 hours ago, catcat69123 said:

i actually really have a gut feeling this could do something for me but when i've done it, it never really gets out of the hip shaking

Do you do it with a therapist?  

In my experience, doing therapy has been most powerful when done with a therapist.  Whereas doing it myself is more low-key.  I almost feel like, for me anyways, doing therapies is better done in bigger chunks with a therapist and then maybe do it in smaller amounts on my own, like 5-10 minutes a day or something.  

[Matt23]

A video distinguishing between narcissism, sociopathy, and psychopathy. 

 

Here's a video of a girl who's got a condition that makes you friendly!  To lighten the mood.

 

[Flowerfaeiry]

@catcat69123 so yes, it is a practice that builds over time. Also, you can do specific TREs and/or you can simply sit down on a blanket or mat and for 20 minutes or so, pay attention to your body and go from there. Maybe your body wants to sit in stillness, maybe it wants to pound on the ground, or shake, laugh, cry or get weird. Allow whatever wants to come up to be expressed. You're not really looking for a specific feeling. Just allowing whatever arises to come through. 

You may not feel noticeably different after a session. That was one of my questions when I first started and it is normal. 

I did work with a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner. It is a fairly deep study so I think that would really help. However you can study it on your own.

[teraflu]

Hi guys.

 

Is it really impossible for narcissist or even a sociopath to change.

There is a bunch of information how to recognise a sociopath, how to avoid it, but almost no information about transformation.

What I found is that cognitive behaviour therapy and psychedelics might be helpful, but there is not enough proof or exploration done.

This specific case is not aware of his irresponsible actions. He honestly wants to change and with help of self improvement he already changed a bit throughout a year and became more aware of his actions. It is slow journey and of course some aspects of personality can be changed. But can narcissism be cured from roots? 
All his actions come from being hurt and being abandoned by parent at early age (2 years old). 

Please share insights or information about changes, I am aware that this could be a life long journey, but is it worth putting effort? 

[Matt23]

17 hours ago, teraflu said:

Is it really impossible for narcissist or even a sociopath to change.

I'm sure a prerequisite would be that they truly, deeply wanted to change.  Even then it would be really difficult I think, though, it's probably possible.  

Narcissists and sociopaths are probably more likely to change than psychopaths though.  Since, from the distinctions I've heard, sociopaths (and I assume narcissists as well) are mostly "nurtured" to be that way.  Whereas psychopathy is more of a trait people are born with. 

And a big issue with psychopaths, and probably sociopaths and narcissists, is that they don't see themselves as needing help or needing to change.  Why would you want to go through all that therapy and work to change yourself when you're happy with the way you are and don't see yourself as "wrong" in any way.  

Edited September 16, 2021 by Matt23

[4201]

19 hours ago, teraflu said:

Is it really impossible for narcissist or even a sociopath to change.

It's perfectly possible for someone to change and stop acting like a narcissist or sociopath.

19 hours ago, teraflu said:

There is a bunch of information how to recognise a sociopath, how to avoid it, but almost no information about transformation.

What I found is that cognitive behaviour therapy and psychedelics might be helpful, but there is not enough proof or exploration done.

The "information" on how to recognize a sociopath is simply labelling. A set of behavior patterns are identified as being "of a sociopath". Whether one can stop "being a sociopath" is the same as asking whether one is capable of dropping those behavior patterns. Are you capable of acting in your own will? Do you have free will?

I cannot provide a proof that transformation is possible, because that would be the same as providing a proof that you have free will. But through your own personal experience you can see for yourself whether you can control your behaviors and act however you want. If you ever attain this true freedom, through meditation or other practices, then labels like sociopath will no longer apply or matter.

This exploration into yourself and what you are capable of (and whether you have free will or not) is an exploration that has been made by many others in the past, about themselves. Except due to the subjective nature of this investigation, no amount of self-investigation of other people tell you anything about yourself. I do encourage anyone to explore their experience deeply and find out what they really are, but unfortunately the knowledge we get in investigating ourselves cannot be shared. The best we can share is a pointer asking others to go within themselves.

[Matt23]

47 minutes ago, 4201 said:

The "information" on how to recognize a sociopath is simply labelling. A set of behavior patterns are identified as being "of a sociopath".

I mean, ya, that's what basically any psychological diagnosis is.  I wonder if most people recognize this and instead get lost believing there is actually some physical or "real" thing (or perhaps a common underlying thing) called bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, etc..   I think there's a lot of room for refining how we think of psychological diagnoses.

Yet, I would say that how people are diagnosed and labeled by a psychologist/psychiatrist, etc., is a lot more nuanced and refined than, say, your friends or even oneself reading some books or watching some videos and then feeling like they know how to use the terms properly (which I think should include knowing how the terms were devised in the first place-- the method).  

47 minutes ago, 4201 said:

Whether one can stop "being a sociopath" is the same as asking whether one is capable of dropping those behavior patterns.

I wonder about this.  Like, whether some psychological disorders can be altered simply by free will etc..  This goes into the whole "what is and isn't possible" debate, rather than the "what's really really really really really hard to do vs. what's pragmatically doable".  Or even I consider maybe some things are just "baked" into the mind.  Hardwired, and are unchangeable.  I imagine that exists, especially in things like psychopathy where they say the actual brain and nervous systems are different than the average person.  Seems like trying make a turtle turn into a bear, though, not as drastic since I have heard of tests where they deliberately train a psychopath to do empathy and they've seen parts of the brain light up associated with empathy.  Though, apparently, permanently inducing that empathy in a psychopath hasn't happened.  

...

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On a different note, as per the thread:

 

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Matt23

[4201]

9 hours ago, Matt23 said:

I wonder about this.  Like, whether some psychological disorders can be altered simply by free will etc.. 

If your "free will" has a catch clause that says "you must act like a psychopath", I wouldn't call it free will. One might argue they have "conditional free will", the free will to do anything they want except when it comes to their mental illness. One must recognize that this idea "I have a condition that conditions my free will" is an idea, which one has free will to believe or not.

10 hours ago, Matt23 said:

Or even I consider maybe some things are just "baked" into the mind.  Hardwired, and are unchangeable. 

You can consider things to be hardwired if you want but again this consideration is not hardwired. You are free to consider your mind to have "hardwires" or not. If you stop considering things as being hardwired (applying the label) is anything really hardwired? You can observe many things in life but you will never observe the "hardwiring" of your own mind, that is simply an idea one can believe about themselves, or not.

Why would one consider this idea? To explain unexplainable past behavior patterns. Yet if one believes they have certain behavior pattern, they can simply act them out in accordance to their belief. Anyone who isn't "hardwired" can act hardwired if they believe that's what they are but whether you actually are hardwired or not can only be determined through your own personal observation. If one doesn't look inside to see whether those behavior patterns are actually hardwired or not, they'll never know. 

Everything I'm saying with the label "hardwired" can apply to any label. If you think a label defines you, you will act in accordance to it. If you ever want to discover what you actually are, you need to drop the labels.

Why does it "feel unchangeable"? Because it has been thought to be like this and even perhaps unchangeable for many years. That doesn't make it "feel right" or make it true. This simply might be your homeostasis, your thoughts which even if untrue feel comfortable because you are used to think like that and you successfully went through life with those thoughts. If you want freedom however, you have to let go of those thoughts and feel inside truly. You might believe "it's not possible for me!" but that's just another thought which can be let go. Letting go would feel amazing and bring a lot of clarity. In the end it's up to you.

 

[Matt23]

On 9/16/2021 at 8:02 AM, 4201 said:

If you stop considering things as being hardwired (applying the label) is anything really hardwired?

I would say ya, it's possible.  Meaning the "hardwiring" is beyond my beliefs or attitudes about it.  Like, it doesn't matter if I believe it's hardwired or not, the thing will be as it is with no regard as to my beliefs about it.  This is kinda what I'm thinking is possible with some "disorders" or psyches+nervous systems.  I suppose this implies there is a "physical" or other world beyond what's observable directly, which I think is wise to consider, at least as a pragmatic consideration rather than believing it out-right and not questioning that.  I dunno.  

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In Thread News:

 

[Matt23]

He lost both of his eyes to cancer, but is able to walk around, play video games, and even play basketball and ride a bike by using echolocation, just like bats, by using clicking sounds.

Edited September 17, 2021 by Matt23

[Matt23]

This guy's channel is basically identical to this thread's purpose and service.  

Interesting stuff.  

[Flowerfaeiry]

@Matt23 I love his channel! 

[Matt23]

Thurmbs urp